2010-11 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Art History [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days of Week | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters |
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Anatomy of Abjection
Laura Citrin and Shaw Osha (Flores) aesthetics art history cultural studies gender and women's studies psychology sociology |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | “These gestures, which aim to establish matter as fact, are all associated with making something dirty. Here is a paradox: a fact is more purely defined if it is not clean….the truth of things is best read in refuse.”-Roland Barthes on Cy Twombly In Julia Kristeva’s (1982), she introduced the concept of the , that which is situated outside the symbolic order, that which breaks down the boundaries between self and other, and that which is repellent and simultaneously desirous. Utilizing the abject as a rich source for aesthetic and psychological inquiry into the body and embodiment, we will explore the ways that seemingly opposing dualisms—such as normal/dysfunctional, inside/outside, order/disorder, dirty/clean, raw/cooked, black/white, citizen/alien —function in our lives. These dualisms will enable a discussion of such social psychological themes as cultural alienation, marginalization, stigma, disgust, purity, and moralization. Through the study of art, visual culture, and art history, we will work to translate a larger narrative on these themes into material form through visual art. The program will explore notions of epistemology (ways of knowing, ways of producing knowledge) and consider as a form of epistemology. Utilizing a social psychological approach, we will explore connections between the psychology of the individual and the larger historical, cultural, political and social context in which she resides (looking and seeing broadly); and utilizing an aesthetic/visual culture approach, we will examine art and art history via close reading (looking and seeing very closely). In this interdisciplinary program, all students will learn the fundamentals in 2D representation and figure drawing, as well as the fundamentals of social psychological research methodology. A final project will engage both practices/approaches by creating art that is informed by psychological research, and research that is informed by aesthetic/visual ways of seeing and knowing. Potential readings include: Julia Kristeva’s, ; Craig Houser, Leslie Jones, Simon Taylor, and Jack Ben-Levi’s ; William Miller's ; social psychological experiments by Paul Rozin on disgust; Freud's ; Sander Gilman's ; Mary Douglas' ; Victoria Bynum’s, ; and Barbara Creed’s, | the arts, cultural studies, and social sciences. | Laura Citrin Shaw Osha (Flores) | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Art History I: Temples and Tombs
Nancy Bishop |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Weekend | WWinter | If you have always wanted to know what a ziggurat is for, you should take this class. Art History I is an exploration of the surviving art and artifacts of the most ancient Western civilizations: the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The European middle ages will also be covered. In addition to a text students will critically read primary source documents to facilitate their understanding of the cultures, religions, and the role of visual art. | Nancy Bishop | Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||||
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Art History II: Order and Chaos
Nancy Bishop |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Weekend | SSpring | The second half of this overview of Western art examines the major movements from the Renaissance on. Tension between strong oppositional forces drive a stylistic evolution from the calm order of the structured perfection of the Van Eycks and Leonardo to the diversity of our post modern and deconstructivist world in the 21st century. | Nancy Bishop | Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Art History: The Middle Ages
Nancy Bishop |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | SuSummer | This course presents a comprehensive survey of the art traditions of Western Europe from roughly 300 to 1400. A principal goal is to deepen student appreciation for the complexity of the visual expressions of so many art forms and to understand how they reflect medieval thought and life. Class time will involve lecture and discussion with an occasional film or other activity. Previous study in art history is helpful but not required. | Nancy Bishop | Mon Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | ||||
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Art Since 1500
Olivier Soustelle |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Day | SuSummer | This class surveys world art history since 1500 from the High Renaissance to the 20th century. We will focus on paintings, sculpture, architecture and the decorative arts in Europe, North America, and Asia. Credit possible in either art history or world cultures/civilizations. This is a companion class to "Europe Since 1500." | art history, teaching, visual arts, world cultures | Olivier Soustelle | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | |||
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Art, Time and Narrative
Shaw Osha (Flores) and Marilyn Freeman aesthetics art history cultural studies media studies visual arts writing |
Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | "The wall between artist and audience is very thin, all you have to do is walk through."- PICA on Portland’s Time-Based Art Festival Contemporary art considers maker and audience, it can be materially based and conceptually based, and it can be multi-media and interdisciplinary. How do the various practices relate and inform us as both makers and audience? In this program we will consider the relationship of drawing and writing to other media as a means of examining basic ideas around time and narrative. What is our relationship as art makers and viewers to our perceptions of time? This visual art and writing program will explore concepts of time and artistic practices with references to temporal space by developing foundational skills in critical thinking, drawing and 2-D art, creative non-fiction and analytical writing, audio recording, basic photography and multimedia editing in the context of contemporary visual culture and art history. We will use personal narratives to explore time, memory, and perspective through words and images; and we will consider the relation of moving and still images, drawings and sound and what happens when we confound the senses by juxtaposing them. The context of art history and critical theory will be integral to our inquiry. The curriculum will include studio practice, writing, workshops, lectures, readings, research, seminar, screenings, gallery and museum visits, multimedia production and presentations, and critiques. There will be one field trip each quarter to either Seattle or Portland. In fall quarter we will develop personal narratives in essay form and drawing. Students will be introduced to theories and practices relative to time- and process-based art. Fall quarter work will culminate in collaborative word/sound/image projects on everyday time. In winter quarter we will advance the study of relationships between art, time and narrative through a comprehensive integration of writing and drawing in the mode of graphic creative nonfiction. We will start working immediately on creative and research projects that will culminate in a final edition of works on paper and multimedia presentations. This quarter will include additional theory-based texts and figure drawing instruction as well as in-depth studio and writing workshop time. There will be an overnight trip to Portland for First Thursday gallery openings. This rigorous program is designed for students who are ready for an immersive college experience—academically, creatively, personally. Students are expected to join field trips and attend off-campus film screenings, to participate fully in all program activities, and to work about 40 hours per week including class time. | visual arts, media arts, creative and critical writing, cultural studies and art history. | Shaw Osha (Flores) Marilyn Freeman | Freshmen FR | Fall | |||
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Arts in New York
Ariel Goldberger architecture art history dance music theater visual arts Signature Required: Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | The program will immerse students in studying the intense and lively cultural life of New York City, the most active arts production center in the United States, and perhaps the world. Classes will meet weekly in different cultural institutions to participate in art events as active audience members, to develop an educated and critical appreciation of the richness, complexity and current trends of artistic production in New York. The class will spend two weeks on campus doing preparatory research in areas of the student's interest in order to create the structure for an individual project or practicum. Students may choose to create a project by engaging in artistic work, research, or both. Students will be responsible for making all necessary arrangements for room and board, as well as budgeting for individual event tickets. All students will be expected to present a final report of their experience and project by week ten in Olympia, unless specifically negotiated in advance with the faculty. After the initial two weeks research and preparation, participants in the program will fly to New York City for six or seven weeks, where they will engage in group and individual activities, depending on each student practicum or project. Students will attend a mix of both all-program events and events related to each student's project. The class will attend events in a wide range of sites, from established world renowned institutions to emergent art spaces. Depending on the season, performance events may include events in places such as PS 122, La MAMA, The Kitchen, HERE Art Center, off-off-Broadway small theaters, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Broadway productions, and Lincoln Center. Regular dance events may include modern dance performances, experimental works, festivals at the Joyce Theater, and more traditional ballet events in venues such as the New York City Ballet. Specific visual arts events may consist of trips to the gallery "scene" in Chelsea, PS1, MOMA, DIA Arts Center, The Met, under the radar spaces, and other sites. We may attend poetry readings at places such as The Bowery Poetry Club, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The St. Marks Poetry Project, The Academy of American Poets, The New York Public Library, other spaces. The class will also endeavor to attend other culturally relevant institutions such as the Japan Society, the Asia Society, The Jewish Museum, The Schomburg Center, The Dwyer Cultural Center and El Museo del Barrio to experience a wide range of cultural diversity. Most weekly group activities will be followed by a discussion or seminar. The final week of the quarter will be spent back on campus in Olympia, completing final report presentations for the whole class. | humanities, cultural studies, arts, social sciences, and the leisure and tourism industry. | Ariel Goldberger | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Dada and Surrealism: Art as Life - Life as Art
Bob Haft and Marianne Bailey aesthetics art history literature visual arts Signature Required: Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | SSpring | – , Friedrich Nietzsche This program is designed for serious, advanced students with an interest in the artistic and literary movements of Dada and Surrealism. Like the Surrealists, you must have a strong work ethic and total commitment to our independent and group work; you must also be fearless in the face of disturbing and even dangerous ideas to which we will be exposed. Our goals are to introduce students to the depths of the creative, philosophical and psychological levels of the movements, and to show the profound effects that the movements and their continuing metamorphoses have had on the arts and humanities since the 1920s. In winter quarter we will study works of the Dadaists and of antecedents, beginning our studies with an intensive look at both the bourgeois society into which Dada erupted, “la Belle Epoque”, and the fringe thinkers and artists who had prepared the way. Dark Romantic poets longed for the Abyss, imaged a chaotic inner sea, and flirted with Mephistopheles. Friedrich Nietzsche unmasked God, Truth and Self. Painters and psychologists were obsessed with altered states of being, with madness, dream and hallucination. And thinkers spoke of Flux or Will as underlying all apparently solid constructs, from space and time to identity and language. We will look at the devastating blow World War I struck to humanism, to Western society, and to individual psyches of artists themselves, and at the weird birth of Dada, the wild child, in the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland, a quiet eye in a raging storm. To assist in our creative endeavors, students will learn the basics of drawing and photography. Students will work in small groups on projects that arise from our studies and will present or perform them at the quarter’s end. Spring quarter will find us concentrating our studies on Surrealism. We will explore the movement as a theory, state of mind, a gift and a world view. We will attempt to participate in that world view through studying, interpreting and critiquing works by the Surrealists, and by creating (both as individuals and groups) art objects and artistic spectacles. We will follow the Surrealist example by keeping dream journals and using them as a source for hypnagogic imagery. We will seek the Marvelous, as Surrealists did, expanding our concepts of the real. We will explore chance or synchronicity, attempt to live creatively, and to create ourselves/our lives as works of art. We will ask what values Surrealists created when commonly accepted values had been negated. We will delve into the relationship between ritual and Surrealist arts, drawing upon Surrealists’ reactions to medieval arts and to Haitian, West African and Pacific Island arts. Students will collaborate to create, print and edit Dadaist and Surrealist literary/artistic journals and performances. In addition, each student will be responsible for an individual research project of their choosing, exploring evidence of Surrealist tendencies in contemporary arts and thought. | 20th century art history and literature, drawing, photography, teaching, and the arts and humanities. | Bob Haft Marianne Bailey | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Doing Thinking: Working Wood, Crafting Ideas
Gillies Malnarich and Daryl Morgan aesthetics art history cultural studies education sociology visual arts |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | FFall | WWinter | What do we know about how people learn "something" well? What is the relationship between thinking and doing, between the work of the mind and the work of the hand? Why does working through "the hard parts" move us closer to the elusive nature of mastery? How do novices become experts and apprentices turn into artisans? We will explore these questions in a learning environment which intentionally cross-fertilizes workshop and classroom learning experiences. The practice of begins with conceptualizing something and understanding its purpose. We choose a shape, size and structure; we select the material from which to make it; we assemble tools appropriate to the task. But, to actually make the object we must possess the necessary skills. requires a similar level of discipline: the process is as imaginative, intentional, and skill-based as . Intellectual work turns into tools for analysis. invites us to re-conceptualize our understanding of tools as instruments of both the hand and the mind as we address the program's overarching questions. Throughout the program, we will develop both our abilities to make things of consequence from wood and our abilities to work with ideas that matter in the world and that are worth understanding. | education and art-related fields. | Gillies Malnarich Daryl Morgan | Mon Wed Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Drawing From Place
Lucia Harrison |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | Rather than viewing the landscape as an object of conquest or consumption, Drawing from Place explores the role of art and artists in helping people develop a deep personal relationship with a place. This all-level program is designed for beginning artists who would like to learn to draw and to make artworks that are inspired by their connection to a specific landscape. In the first half of the program, as a case study for place-based research and inspiration, students will study the Nisqually River Watershed. Through reading and field study, students will learn the history of the watershed and its communities, study its basic ecology, and learn about current conservation efforts. They will develop beginning drawing skills and practice techniques for keeping an illustrated field journal. Through lectures and readings, students will study artists, including environmental artists, whose work is inspired by their deep connection to place. In the second half of the quarter, students will create a series of drawings inspired by their own relationship with a particular place. | art and environmental education. | Lucia Harrison | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Experiments in Theatre and Dance
Walter Grodzik and Robert Esposito aesthetics art history consciousness studies cultural studies dance linguistics literature somatic studies theater Signature Required: Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | SSpring | How do literal and non-representational gestures combine to create a unique poetics of action? How are emotions and ideas rendered in movement? How does the abstract design of space, time and motion support or subvert the spoken word? This two-quarter program will engage students in an active exploration of theater, movement and modern dance. Winter quarter will be devoted to building competency in separate modern dance and theater workshops, with two collaborative performance projects aimed at developing a final concert project in spring quarter. Students will continue building performance and collaborative skills through theater, movement and dance workshops, improvisation and composition in spring quarter. We will explore how verbal and non-verbal performance works contextualize and enhance each other by reading and analyzing various texts on theatre and dance. We will explore theories of dance theatre through structured solo and group improvisation, by creating original compositions, and in seminar discussions. Spring quarter will culminate in a public, collaborative concert. : Theater emphasis-20083 (Freshmen), 20084 (Sophomores-Seniors) Dance emphasis-20366 (Freshmen), 20367 (Sophomores-Seniors) | theatre, dance, and the performing arts. | Walter Grodzik Robert Esposito | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Individual Study: Fiber Arts, Non-Western Art History, Native American Art, Creative Writing
Gail Tremblay Native American studies art history cultural studies visual arts writing Signature Required: Spring |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | In the fields listed, Gail Tremblay offers opportunities for intermediate and advanced students to create their own course of study, creative practice and research, including internships, community service and study abroad options. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individual students or small groups of students must describe the work to be completed in an Individual Learning or Internship Contract. The faculty sponsor will support students wishing to do work that has 1) skills that the student wishes to learn, 2) a question to be answered, 3) a connection with others who have mastered a particular skill or asked a similar or related question, and 4) an outcome that matters. Areas of study other than those listed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. | the arts, art history, literature and creative writing, especially poetry, and the humanities. | Gail Tremblay | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Individual Study: Fiber Arts, Non-Western Art History, Native American Art, Creative Writing
Gail Tremblay Native American studies art history cultural studies visual arts writing Signature Required: Fall |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | In the fields listed, Gail Tremblay offers opportunities for intermediate and advanced students to create their own course of study, creative practice and research, including internships, community service and study abroad options. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individual students or small groups of students must describe the work to be completed in an Individual Learning or Internship Contract. The faculty sponsor will support students wishing to do work that has 1) skills that the student wishes to learn, 2) a question to be answered, 3) a connection with others who have mastered a particular skill or asked a similar or related question, and 4) an outcome that matters. Areas of study other than those listed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. | the arts, art history, literature and creative writing, especially poetry, and the humanities. | Gail Tremblay | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Individual Study: Interdisciplinary Projects, Arts, Consciousness Studies and Humanities
Ariel Goldberger aesthetics anthropology architecture art history classics communications community studies consciousness studies cultural studies field studies gender and women's studies geography international studies language studies leadership studies literature music outdoor leadership and education philosophy psychology queer studies religious studies sociology somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Winter |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unqiue combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research or internship in the humanities, or projects that include arts, travel, or interdisciplinary pursuits are invited to present a proposal to Ariel Goldberger. Students with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply. Ariel Goldberger supports interdisciplinary studies and projects in the Arts, Humanities, Consciousness Studies, and travel. | humanities, arts, social sciences, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||||
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Individual Study: Interdisciplinary Projects, Arts, Consciousness Studies and Humanities
Ariel Goldberger aesthetics anthropology architecture art history classics communications community studies consciousness studies cultural studies field studies gender and women's studies geography international studies language studies leadership studies literature music outdoor leadership and education philosophy psychology queer studies religious studies sociology somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Spring |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unqiue combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research or internship in the humanities, or projects that include arts, travel, or interdisciplinary pursuits are invited to present a proposal to Ariel Goldberger. Students with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply. Ariel Goldberger supports interdisciplinary studies and projects in the arts, humanities, consciousness studies, and travel. | humanities, arts, social sciences, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Individual Study: Interdisciplinary Projects, Arts, Consciousness Studies and Humanities
Ariel Goldberger aesthetics anthropology architecture art history classics communications community studies consciousness studies cultural studies field studies gender and women's studies geography international studies language studies leadership studies literature music outdoor leadership and education philosophy psychology queer studies religious studies sociology somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Fall |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unqiue combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research or internship in the humanities, or projects that include arts, travel, or interdisciplinary pursuits are invited to present a proposal to Ariel Goldberger.Students with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply.Ariel Goldberger supports projects in the Arts, Humanities, Consciousness Studies, Arts, and interdisciplinary studies. | humanities, arts, social sciences, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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The Lens-Based Image: Theory, Criticism, Practice
Matt Hamon |
Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | The focus of this program will be on photographic theory, criticism and practice. Photographic images pervade every facet of our society and affect almost all of our thoughts and emotions. Though their intentions can be elusive, and dependant on context, they are always present and should be approached with a critical mind and eye.This program is designed for beginning photographers and will emphasize seeing, thinking and creating with thoughtful inquiry in hopes of providing a better understanding of the construction and manipulation of an image's meaning and form. All of the exercises, lectures, presentations, film screenings, gallery visits, critiques, etc. are designed to develop each student's technical, theoretical and conceptual approach to the subject matter and his/her understanding of the connections between these three elements. Students will carry out art historical research as well as visual research to support personal artistic inquiry. Students will be expected to rigorously pursue their personal studio work while participating in interdisciplinary critiques of their work and the work of others.Students should be prepared to do work in critical thinking, reading, writing, and most of all, art production. Seeing, thinking, visualizing and creating "exercises" will be assigned. Students should be prepared to actively engage in these exercises which might, at times, seem fundamental-for instance, making a photogram. Students should be prepared to complete a significant, but reasonable, number of assigned readings. Seminar readings will inform our understanding of aesthetics generated from lens-based images. Students should be prepared to complete a significant, but reasonable, amount of writing on the arts. Each week, students will be required to demonstrate active studio practice in relationship to their personal work. | art, photography, art theory, art criticism, studio practice, and writing for the arts. | Matt Hamon | Freshmen FR | Spring | ||||
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Looking at Animals
Susan Aurand and Joseph Tougas |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | This program is a one quarter interdisciplinary study of how we see, understand and represent animals. Animal images are the oldest known artworks. From the painted bulls in Lascaux cave to Mickey Mouse, Godzilla and the Republican Elephant, images of animals pervade our history and culture. Our relationship to animals as the Other/Ourselves has been a major preoccupation throughout human history. Through lectures, seminars and common readings, we will examine our relationship to animals as it is portrayed in art and literature. We will consider how the study of animals can give us ideas about human nature and the human mind. We will look at the portrayal of animals throughout art history, and we will read novels, short stories and critical texts that deal with our relationship to animals. We will also use studio work to explore our individual relationships to animals. Workshops in the program will provide skill development in 2D art (drawing, painting, mixed media) and 3D art (making animal masks and woodcarving). As a major part of the program, each student will do an individual project that combines studio work with library research, exploring a particular animal or topic within our larger theme. | art history, arts, creative writing, literature, humanities, and the visual arts. | Susan Aurand Joseph Tougas | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Making Dances: Creative Process in Motion
Robert Esposito aesthetics art history consciousness studies dance linguistics physiology somatic studies theater |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | This focused one-quarter program centers on progressive study in Laban-based modern dance composition/choreography. Activities include technique, theory/improvisation/seminar, and composition classes. Technique is based in basic anatomy and principles of dance kinesiology, not style, period or ethnicity. Students learn how to make dances from their own sensory, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral experience by developing skills in modern dance technique, theory/improvisation, composition, performance, and critical analysis. This multidimensional approach to creative dance develops a kinesthetic vocabulary drawing on linguistics, poetics, architecture, visual arts, art history, anatomy, and choreography. The course includes units on diet, injury prevention, and somatic therapy. Strength, range, poise, and depth are developed though Pilates-based floor barre and Hanna/Feldenkrais-based Somatics. Seminar will focus on building verbal and non-verbal skills aimed at critical analysis of the history of art, choreography, and their socio-cultural contexts. Writing will focus on the development of a journal using action language, visual art, and poetics. The program culminates with a Week Ten concert of student and faculty and/or guest choreography. | criticism, dance, expressive arts, movement therapy, and somatic studies. | Robert Esposito | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Mediated States of Modernity: Distraction, Diversion, and Ambivalence
Kathleen Eamon and Julia Zay aesthetics art history cultural studies media studies moving image philosophy writing |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | One of the ways that historians and theorists distinguish modernity, and mass and popular culture more specifically, is by describing the ways in which it ushered in a new age of sensation. Using Marx's notion of the "social hieroglyph" as a model for looking at everyday life, we will splice together visual culture studies, cinema studies and 19th and 20th century aesthetic philosophy in an investigation of some of the defining mental and emotional states of attention produced by and for emerging cultural forms, such as cinema, radio, amusement parks, the arcade, and the language of modernist art. We will construct our own partial and fragmented or, to borrow Benjamin's phrase, "little" history of modern senses and sensibilities. In particular, we'll focus in on in-between states of attention that are easily dismissed as unremarkable but that, precisely by going unremarked, play a central role in our mediated public lives. Public intellectuals of the 20th Century like Freud, Benjamin, Kracauer, Gorky and others examine these states closely in their descriptions of everyday life in terms that make evident both the dangers and potentials of these modes of attention. We'll model our approach on the studied "ambivalence" that characterizes the attitude of Frankfurt School figures like Benjamin and Kracauer towards popular or mass culture, thinkers who are not indifferent but who sustain a truly divided, thus complicated, understanding of how one inhabits a mass-mediated, capitalist, industrialized, post-traditional culture - neither submitting to its demands nor removing oneself entirely, one ought to engage it playfully. We'll explore how we ourselves are always both submitting and resisting the ideological forces of mass culture. Some examples of the states we have in mind are: amusement, distraction, diversion, boredom, play, and so on. These states are often "located" in terms of specifically modern places, such as the cinema, amusement parks, and urban centers, and we will ask what kinds of audiences or what kind of "public" gets constituted by these states and contexts. Although our focus will be largely turn-of-the-century to mid-century (the last one, that is), we will follow our line of thought into more recent times with thinkers like Susan Sontag and David Foster Wallace. We will also develop our own practice of paying close attention to everyday life and meta-attention to our modes of engagement with it in our weekly observation exercises and field study. This work will inform both our traditional and our experimental essay-writing as we attempt to yoke the observational with the lyrical and theoretical modes. In summation, we will read and write a lot, watch films, look at art, listen to both music and sound, mix lecture with seminar and workshops with fieldwork. | film studies, humanities, media, philosophy, visual culture studies, and writing. | Kathleen Eamon Julia Zay | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Medieval Art History and Sacred Geometry
Ann Storey art history cultural studies gender and women's studies history religious studies visual arts |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening | FFall | This program will examine the art and sacred geometry of the Medieval era, a singular period of creativity, spirituality, and change. We will study the motivating ideas and issues of the age: the dynamic influence of migrating tribal cultures on inherited classical traditions, the problem of iconoclasm, the arcane goals of the alchemists, and Neoplatonic philosophy expressed through the visions of the mystics. The idea that both mystic and artist were "seers"—seeing beyond the physical into the transcendent and metaphysical—impelled them into visionary realms. We will learn about the mysticism of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and other charismatic figures, as we see their visions expressed in superb mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, sculpture and architecture. Sacred music of the era will be experienced through recordings and a possible field trip. We will also learn about the outstanding art, architecture and geometry of medieval Islamic Spain. Islamic dictates forced artists of the period to use ingenious geometrical techniques (rather than figurative ones) to create sacred and secular architectural adornments. Art, design and simple geometry workshops will enable students to move from theory to practice. Students will use geometry skills to create Islamic tilings and to design, draw, and paint a Gothic rose window. | art history, education, history of mathematics, geometry, fine art, humanities, and museum studies. | Ann Storey | Mon Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Nature/Image
Susan Aurand aesthetics art history natural history visual arts Signature Required: Winter |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | This program is an intensive visual arts program for students having a good background in studio art, who are passionate about the natural world and eager to learn more about it. How have past artists, philosophers and scientists understood and depicted the physical world? How are contemporary artists re-interpreting and re-shaping our fundamental relationship to the environment and to other species? What is the role of the artist in a time of environmental crisis? Through readings, lectures seminars and focused studio work, we will examine these questions. Individually, we will take the approach of artist/naturalists, and delve deeply into an exploration of some aspect of nature that intrigues each of us. Through research and studio work we will express our understanding and personal vision of this piece of Nature. Fall quarter will focus on intensive skill building work in drawing, painting and mixed media, in preparation for our individual field studies. We will also study critical reading and research skills through lectures, readings, and practical assignments. In the first weeks of winter quarter, each of us will present a proposal for an in-depth, individual field study of a site, organism, natural process or system. During the three weeks (weeks 7,8,9) of winter, everyone will conduct his/her field study at a site either on-campus or off-campus in the U.S. Back on campus in week 10, we will all present our Nature/Image field projects to the program. How will each of us choose where we want to do our field study? You may have a special place that calls you, or a passion for a particular plant, animal or natural phenomenon that determines your choice. The work of another artist may inspire your project. Your field study could be done on Evergreen's Beach trail or in your home town. Your project might take you on hikes into a pristine wilderness area or to the Seattle Zoo. Both on-campus and off, this program will function as a learning community. On-campus, you will need to commit at least forty hours of work per week in class and in the studio with your peers, and you will be asked to regularly present work and to engage in critical assessment, in dialog and in writing. During the three-week field-study portion, you will be required to regularly communicate via internet with faculty and your peers through a program web-site and blog. | aesthetics, art, art history, education, natural history, natural science, and studio art. | Susan Aurand | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Seeing the Light
Bob Haft aesthetics art history visual arts Signature Required: Fall |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | This photography program is designed for the serious student at the intermediate and advanced level wishing to do in-depth study of the technical and aesthetic aspects of the medium. Through the combination of darkroom exercises, seeing workshops, seminars and written responses to readings and films, tests, and critiques we will explore the use of small, medium and large format cameras along with aspects of historic and contemporary aesthetics. The course will culminate in a group project dealing with documentation of place and preservation of visual histories. Readings for the quarter will include but not be restricted to the following books: by Susan Sontag, by Terry Barrett, by Roland Barthes, and edited by Ian Jeffrey. The first part of the program will be devoted to developing skill in the use of large and medium format and 35mm cameras and in how to conduct interviews of people. We will also identify specific areas or groups in the vicinity which might serve as subjects on which to conduct a photographic study. Finally, we will learn about how to make and bind books. The second part of the program will be spent doing field research (making photos of and interviewing people in the communities we have chosen) and making something from it. At the end of the term, I would like to put our photographic studies into book form and present them to the people who have served as our subjects in recognition of their sharing of their stories and for allowing us to work with them. Each student will also be responsible for doing research and giving a 20-minute presentation on the work of a contemporary or historic photographer. | aesthetics, the arts, journalism, photography, history and arts education. | Bob Haft | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Studio Projects: Art and Religious Practice
Lisa Sweet and Jean Mandeberg Signature Required: Winter |
Program | FR - SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | This program will be based in two visual arts studios: printmaking and fine metalworking. Working back and forth between 2D and 3D, between image making and object making, we will study basic design, studio skills and art history. Our study of art will provide a lens through which we will focus on Judaism and Christianity. Since the purpose of religious ritual is to repeat and rehearse stories, many of the artworks in our study will be functional. We will examine the religious utility of images and objects such as devotional prints, mezuzahs, prayer beads, chalices, and hand-made religious texts. In most cases the effect of religious objects and images is the same: to see and remember. One way to look at both art and craft is that both historically have been made and used in the service of religious practice to capture fleeting moments of ritual. How can we better understand religion by examining, and making, images and objects that reflect these rituals? How has visual art encouraged spiritual experience and religious practice? In fall quarter, students will gain basic fine metals and intaglio printmaking skills, as well as focusing on writing. In winter, students will explore intermediate skills in both studios, as well as undertake a substantive independent research project. This program is designed for sophomores with an interest in studio art, art history, philosophy and religion who are interested in a focused and demanding combination of studio work, writing, reading and seminar discussion. Half of students' time will be focused on artistic practice; half will address a rigorous study of religions and art history. We hope to work as a community of artists to examine ideas that have a rich historical background as well as pressing contemporary significance. | studio arts, art history and the humanities. | Lisa Sweet Jean Mandeberg | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | |||
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Temporal Images
Matt Hamon, Naima Lowe and Joseph Tougas aesthetics art history media studies moving image philosophy visual arts |
Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | This visual art program introduces students to academic enquiry into concepts of time and artistic practices with a myriad of references to temporal space. We will investigate the many ways time is defined, tracked and represented across cultures. From physics to natural philosophy, we will explore references to time from narrative structures to technical communication and abstract images. We will look at the work of realist scholars such as Sir Issac Newton and contrast these concepts to ideas posed by Immanuel Kant and others.Themes emerging in the program will inform the production of written and artistic work. Class time will involve a combination of lectures, workshops, practical assignments, and studio seminars. Students with a strong background in any digital media are encouraged to apply, provided that they have an interest in synthesizing past themes and media in their work with academic enquiry into concepts of time. This program emphasizes art making, conceptual thinking and experimentation. We will focus on core aspects of analog, digital and new media art by challenging ourselves to produce a series of innovative art projects.This program will introduce the core conceptual skills necessary to employ image in the generative and investigative context of art making and scholarly enquiry. Students will work individually and in small teams with digital cameras, digital video cameras, non-linear video editing systems and computer graphics packages to examine a broad range of issues involved in the creation of provocative works of art and images relating to time. Image processing, web content creation, basic animation, temporal structures, interface design, interaction strategy, narrative structures, video editing and sound editing will all be introduced. This program is designed for students who already have a strong work ethic and self-discipline, and who are willing to work long hours in the art studio, on campus, and in company with their fellow students.Students are invited to join this learning community of contemporary artists who are interested in new media based art, design, writing, history and theory, and who want to collaborate with media faculty. | media studies, moving image, visual arts and arts education. | Matt Hamon Naima Lowe Joseph Tougas | Freshmen FR | Fall | |||
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Visions and Voices: Culture, Community and Creativity
Lara Evans, Therese Saliba and Laurie Meeker Native American studies art history community studies cultural studies literature media studies Signature Required: Winter |
Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | This program will focus on community-based conceptions of the arts and politics, with attention to how artistic production can reflect the “visions and voices” of communities and cultures. Students will be introduced to the foundations of cultural and literary studies, media and visual studies, and community studies, with an emphasis on the alternative visions and forms of cultural expression of often marginalized groups seeking to preserve land and cultures faced with colonization and globalization. We will explore themes such as the connection between native peoples, land, resources and struggles for self-determination; the power of story and artistic expression in illuminating hidden histories; and the role that public art, literature and media can play in community struggles and organizing. With an emphasis on multiculturalism, identity, and especially Native American and Arab cultures, this program will explore the histories of colonialism and Empire and how art, media and narrative have been used as tools of both conquest and resistance. We will draw on critiques of Orientalism, colonialism and the male gaze through indigenous and feminist cinema, literature and art. We will examine how the visions and voices of indigenous and diasporic communities challenge the western cult of individualism, the masculinist notion of the solo artist, and the consumerist system of media production. We will emphasize the participatory, communal and public aspects of art and narrative, situating them within larger, shared cultures and within the historical and socio-political contexts of struggles for self-determination. We will also explore perspectives, points-of-view and the politics of representation, as well as the tensions between individualism and collaboration in the production process. With attention to the role of spectator and consumer, we will examine the reception, circulation and marketing of art forms, and the dangers of their political and cultural co-optation, as we envision community-based alternatives to capitalist production and consumption of art. Students will learn to read cultural texts, including film, visual art and literature, to understand the relationships of people and communities to their environments and their sense of shared identity. Students will develop skills in visual and media literacy, creative and expository writing, analytical reading and viewing, literary analysis, and the terminologies and methodologies of cultural and gender studies, film history and theory, and art history. Through workshops, students will also learn a range of community documentation skills, including photography, video, radio-audio documentary, interviewing and oral history, ethnography and auto-ethnography. Students will have the opportunity to work individually and collaboratively in the contexts of cultural and community engagement. | visual studies, film studies, cultural studies, literary studies, Native American studies, Arab studies, gender studies, community organizing and advocacy, documentary journalism, and education. | Lara Evans Therese Saliba Laurie Meeker | Freshmen FR | Fall |