artNOW: An Introduction to Contemporary Art

Spring 2003

Instructors:

Please note: Since the syllabus will change during the term, this site will contain the latest version of our syllabus, links to other sites that are related to our study of contemporary art, and additional reading assignments. You are responsible for the information updated here. Updates will be announced through our e-mail list.

Program e-mail list: http://www.evergreen.edu/lists

Follow the links for "program lists" and then "artnow." This list is meant for us to keep up with news related to our program, share research, and participate in discussion outside the classroom. It will also be used to announce updates to the program web site. You are required to join this list.

Weekly Schedule

Program Description:

Since World War II, we have witnessed a number of artistic and aesthetic movements: the decline of Abstract Expressionism; the rise of Pop Art and Minimalism; Earth, Body, and Conceptual Art; Performance Art; Installation; Postmodern/Critical Photography; and digital media. This program will introduce students to the history of the production of visual arts over the past five decades as it is understood within its broader social, theoretical, and political contexts. We will explore relationships among the practices of art, theory, and politics--foregrounding the question of consumerism and the postmodern, the politics of identity, and the critique of artistic subjectivity--in light of such socio-historical "moments" as the Cold War, McCarthyism, the Feminist Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the advent of globalization.

There will also be a self-directed portion of the program that will allow you to pursue your own interests, which will be worth eight credits.

Required Readings:

Bourgeois, Louise. Destruction of the Father / Reconstruction of the Father: Writings and Interviews, 1923-1997. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998.

Lippard, Lucy. Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. Visual Culture Reader. New York, Routledge, 1998.

Weintraub, Linda. Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art's Meaning in Contemporary Society, 1970s-1990s. Litchfield, Connecticut: Art Insights, 1996.

Xerox copies placed on reserve at library.

All required texts are available for purchase at the college bookstore and are available on-line at various retail sites. These texts are also on reserve at the library. Additional readings will be placed on reserve at the library and/or on the program website.

Program Assignments:

All program assignments must be completed on a timely basis in order to earn credits. Papers must be typed in a reasonable font and double-spaced. Academic honesty is expected; plagiarism will not be tolerated. Class attendance and participation are required. More than two absences will result in loss of credit. Two late arrivals will equal one absence. It is expected that you will keep copies of all the work you submit.

Evaluation Criteria: