Critical Theory for Artists: Texts & Contexts

3 units

As critical theory is ever more embedded in the dialogue of contemporary art, artists not only engage in theoretical arguments but help shape them. This course equips students with the language, background, and context to enter the theoretical arena and expand conceptual inquiry within their own practice. Readings include foundational philosophical, art historical, and contemporary critical texts, covering a wide variety of topics from deconstruction to spectatorship to gender performance, threaded through with the artist’s voice as author, subject, and critic. This course is a reading and writing seminar, and requires discussion participation, presentations, and a final research paper.