Art, Vision, and Difference

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Art and visual culture have shaped our conceptions of ourselves and others. In this course, we will explore trends in contemporary art in order to consider the role that looking and visual subjects play. By closely examining our relationship to art objects like paintings, sculptures, photographs, crafts, and videos, we will ask how art contributes to, reflects, or affirms specific stereotypes of places, roles, and values. Some topics we will discuss include the body, standards of beauty, and explorations of gender and sexuality; craft and ornament; race and identity (and its popular manifestation in genres like hip-hop); performance art and multiculturalism; and the role of art in relation to issues of social justice and ethics. Most of our focus will be on contemporary American art and culture (post 1970), and many of the objects and paintings that we examine will explicitly challenge our conception of what constitutes "good" art. The artwork will often appear to be explicitly deskilled, unattractive, or otherwise antithetical to our understanding of aesthetics. We will consider why such approaches to art making might be adopted and, furthermore, why it is reasonable to alter our conception of "art" to accommodate such frameworks. While this course will be challenging, no prior art history knowledge is required; assignments will include exams and short papers.