Video in/and Performance Art

REVISED

Fall 2012, Winter 2013 and Spring 2013 quarters

Faculty

Naima Lowe media arts, media and film, experimental media

Fields of Study

art history, gender and women's studies, media studies, queer studies, theater and visual arts

Preparatory for studies or careers in

media, visual and performing arts, curatorial pratices, art history, and media theory.

Prerequisites

Students entering this advanced program should have a broad interdisciplinary background in the liberal arts and significant in depth studies in the on or more art form such as performance, video, film, music, or visual arts. While students at Evergreen enter programs with a wide variety of backgrounds, preparation for this program would be the equivalent of: 32 credits of interdisciplinary liberal arts studies in the context of an 8-16 credit program and 32 credits of studies within one or more art form, ideally in the context of an 8-16 credit program.  Students with a significant background in media theory or art history and who wish to deepen their studies to include an arts based practice are also welcome. It is NOT NECESSARY that you have a background in Video or Performance to enter the program. This program is also designed for students who have successfully completed multiple critical and academic writing projects, including long form (8-12 page) academic papers. If you have questions about your level of preparation for this program, please go to http://blogs.evergreen.edu/videoperformance1213

Description

This is an opportunity for advanced students with a background in a variety of art forms to build on their skills in the history, theory and creation of visual, performance and media art with the support of a learning community. Our focus will be on the exploration of Video Art and Performance Art as forms that have histories and practices that simultaneously draw upon traditions of experimental film and avant-garde theater while staking unique allegiances to the worlds of sculpture, photography, painting, spoken word and experimental music. We will explore these practices as creative practitioners, curators, and theoreticians of Video and Performance Art.

In Fall Quarter we will study the intertwined histories of Video (including Video Installation Art) and Performance Art from the 1960s to the present. We will centrally ask: How do Performance and Video Artists uniquely explore issues of race, gender, interactivity, place and the body? We will read, screen and discuss the work of artists and art historians who will help us put Video and Performance Art into historical and theoretical context.  Special attention will be paid to how video and performance artists construct gender, race and other identity markers, and to video and performance artists whose identities as queers and people of color shape the creation and reception of the work. These explorations will be accentuated by creative exercises in performance and video, as well as short papers and collaborative research assignments. We will end Fall Quarter with a retreat during which students and faculty will work together to determine further areas of skill building and research to explore during Winter and Spring Quarters.

Winter Quarter will be made up of technique workshops, guest artists and longer form projects in which students will explore their own creative practices in depth. Lectures, seminar readings and a 10-15 page research paper will deepen our engagement of the material.  The content of the technique workshops will be developed during the fall retreat, and include Vocal Performance, Interactive Computing (Arduino/MaxMSP), Lighting for Film/Video, Costuming, Video Installation, etc. By the end of Winter Quarter each student will complete a proposal for a Spring Quarter project that will be exhibited for the Evergreen community. Students will also collectively curate and organize a screening and performance series that will take place during the Spring Quarter.

Winter Quarter will also include a one-week field trip to New York City to visit the Guggenheim Museum's retrospective exhibition of performance and conceptual art by Japan's influential Gutai artists' collective.  While in New York, we will also visit other museums, galleries and performance spaces such as The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Kitchen, The Coney Island Museum, and PS 122.  We will visit several locations as a group, as well as having opportunities for exploring the city independently.

Spring Quarter will be primarily dedicated to independent work and work-in-progress critiques of the final project, as well as the organization of the screening and performance series.

For more information: http://blogs.evergreen.edu/videoperformance1213

Academic Website

http://blogs.evergreen.edu/videoperformance1213/

Location

Olympia

Online Learning

Enhanced Online Learning

Books

Greener Store

Required Fees

 Fall $150 for retreat and production supplies; Winter $150 for entrance fees to museums and events; Spring $75 for entrance fees and production supplies.

Special Expenses

Students should expect to spend at least an additional $100-$200 per quarter on production expenses and art supplies.  Airfare and lodging for New York trip in winter quarter will be approximately $850; students should also expect to pay $200-300 for food and transportation.

Offered During

Day

Program Revisions