ARTHIST 231

Framing the Viewer: 20th Century Art

Please note: this is archived course information from 2018 for ARTHIST 231.

Description

The rise of modernism saw the development of art which is reflexive, which draws attention to itself and its facture, as well as the illusion of representation, making us "reflect" on what art is and how it affects the viewer. Many different kinds of art utilised strategies to address the viewer and to explore subjective responses involved in viewing. This course is designed to enable students to develop their own reflexivity and critical awareness through a study of the "classic" movements of the Twentieth Century, such as Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop and Conceptual Art and contemporary art.

The course aims to show that an important function of art is to enhance the ability to see the world from a number of different perspectives increasing the breadth and depth of a viewer’s self-awareness. An essential, underlying theme is how the viewer’s vision is addressed and explored in the art of the Twentieth Century, and how the gaze is related to the construction of the viewer’s own identity. Not only do the art works of these different periods challenge the viewer imaginatively to adopt a multiplicity of identities and roles, they also reflect back different conceptual, emotional, psychological, political and social ways of seeing.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course students will have acquired the skills to discuss art meaningfully and to personalise encounters with works of art, channelling these experiences into new and creative ways of thinking and exploring vision and the visual world

Students will learn how to structure arguments and compose thoughts in spoken and written form that add strength and clarity to communication and presentation.

Students will gain a deeper understanding of how art is an essential medium for the exploration and expression of diversity: of ideas, lifestyles, attitudes, social and cultural identities and political perspectives.

Students will gain confidence in exercising independent and critical thought and will learn how to acquire the most important "C-skills" valued by employers, academics, designers, artists, psychologists and theorists: communication, creativity, curiosity, collaboration and caring not only about others, but also about the freedom that emerges from questioning dogma, tradition and prejudice.

Trying to frame or target the viewer’s responses needs and realities in art has a long history. In this course we will focus on FOUR major approaches:

- Social Context

- Facture

- Sensory perception and emotional response

- Conceptual and Philosophical response

The course will pay attention to the fact that within each of these broad categories of address and response, there are different cultural, personal and individual inflections, and that it is possible to focus on certain themes which cut across these different types of response, such as the representation of women, or non-Western cultures and ethnic minorities, which involves looking through a whole range of addresses and responses outside of the dominant white, privileged Western male’s perspective that so much of Western art leaves unchallenged.

For Stage II there will be an image test of 10 art works in 60 minutes requiring identification and short paragraph answers, while Stage III will write two short essays during test time. There will also be a research essay and examination.

Availability 2018

Not offered in 2018; planned for 2019

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Professor Gregory Minissale

Points

ARTHIST 231: 15 points

Prerequisites

15 points at Stage I in Art History and 30 points passed

Restrictions

ARTHIST 331