FA 49H: CRITICAL THINKING ON ART: FROM MODERN TO CONTEMPORARY

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1 FA 49H: CRITICAL THINKING ON ART: FROM MODERN TO CONTEMPORARY Department of Western Languages and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Culture & Arts Summer 2017 Instructor: Dr. Rana Öztürk This is a preliminary syllabus to give an idea about the course. It might change and develop further through the semester depending on interests and needs of the class. Description: This course aims to provide students with an overview of cri cal thinking and approaches to contemporary art through a study of texts by influen al cri cs and theorists since the second half of the 20 th century. The course will start with an examina on of modernism in America, focusing on Greenberg s no on of formalist modernism and the hegemonic role of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the Cold War context. It will con nue with a discussion of minimalist and conceptualist tendencies, followed by cri cal art movements and alterna ve art groups in the 1970s and 1980s. The course will then introduce the claims for the end of art, linking those claims to cri cal debates on Western-centrism of the art world informed by postcolonialism and globaliza on. It will highlight contemporary art as global art, focusing on biennials as key exhibi ons that inform ar s c discourse. The star ng point of each class will be a key text (if not more) that formulated a cri cal approach to the art of its me. Through a study of these texts the course intends to introduce the shi ing course of thinking from modernism towards global contemporary art. Rather than a chronological and exhaus ve survey, the course will inves gate key moments that formed the cri cal and contextual framework that con nue to inform contemporary art prac ce and cri cism. The texts will be discussed in rela on to specific art works, exhibi ons or ins tu ons. Learning outcomes: 1) Students will learn about cri cal thinking and contextual frameworks that influenced ar s c discourses since the l950s un l the present. 2) Students will grasp the shi ing no on of modernism with an awareness of key moments that led to the emergence of global contemporary art. 3) Students will learn how to read and evaluate cri cal texts on art. 4) Students will gain skills to view, discuss and appreciate contemporary art. 5) Students will develop cri cal wri ng skills on art. 6) Students will gain an awareness of ins tu onal structures of art. Procedures & Requirements: Each lecture will revolve around ideas and arguments in one (or two) cri cal essay, occasionally supplemented by addi onal texts that provide larger contextual informa on for the debates. Students are required to read the essays in advance of the class. Reading assignments are cri cal for the course and will form the basis for class discussion. Essays will be made available in advance of the class either as scanned copies or photocopies and distributed to the class by or other appropriate method. The lecture will introduce the main concepts and issues discussed in the essay with reference to specific ar sts, art works, exhibi ons or other cultural works. The students are expected to contribute to the discussions based on their interpreta on of the related reading. They will also be asked to do presenta ons on artists and exhibi ons relevant to the topics in class. Some historical examples as well as examples from current local exhibi ons will become part of the course, either in the form of wri ng assignments or presenta ons.

2 Course Material: There is no single text book for this course. However, the books listed below can be used as reference and source books for some of the suggested readings. Further book suggestions will be made through the course. Arnason, H. H. & Mansfield, Elizabeth C. (2013) History of Modern Art, 7 th Edition, New Jersey: Pearson Publishing. Barrett, Terry (2012) Criticizing Art, Understanding the Contemporary, McGraw-Hill. Foster, H., Krauss, R., Bois, Y., Buchloh, B. (2005) Art Since 1900: Modernism, Anti-Modernism, Post-modernism, Thames & Hudson. Harrison, C. & Wood, P. (eds.) (2003) Art in Theory , UK: Blackwell Publishing. Jones, Amelia (ed.) (2006) A Companion to Contemporary Art Since 1945, London: Blackwell. Perry, J. & Wood, P. (2004) Themes in Contemporary Art, Milton Keynes, London: The Open University & Yale University Press. Stallabrass, J. (2006) Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction, New York: Oxford University Press. Williams, Gilda (2014) How to Write About Contemporary Art, Thames and Hudson. Assessment: Attendance and participation... %15 Presentation... %15 Mid-term/Response Papers..... %35 (min. 6 response out of 12 weeks) Final Paper.%35 Course Schedule Introduction Meeting students; getting to know their backgrounds and interests; introducing the aims of the course and its content; discussing practical issues such as distribution of essays, evaluation, paper assignments, etc. What is modernism? Meecham, P. & Wood, P. (1999) Modernism and Modernity: An Introductory Survey, in Dawtrey, T (1999) Investigating Modern Art, Yale University Press & Open University, pp Brettell, R. (1999) PART II: The Conditions for Modern Art in Modern Art : Capitalism and Representation, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp Abstract Expressionism / Greenberg s Formalism / Museum of Modern Art, NY Greenberg, Clement (1960) Modernist Painting, in Harrison, C. & Wood, P. (eds.) (2003) Art in Theory , UK: Blackwell Publishing, pp Rosenberg, Harold (1952) The American Action Painters, Art News. Also available at

3 Op onal: Grunenberg, Christof (1999) The Modern Art Museum in BARKER. E. (ed.) (1999) Contemporary Cultures of Display, New Haven & London: Yale University Press & The Open University, pp Student presentations: Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Hans Hoffman, Clyfford Still Minimalism: Art Object, Space, Spectator Judd, Donald (1965) Specific Objects, in Judd, D. (1975) Complete Writings , Halifax: Nova Sco a. Fried, Michael (1967) Art and Objecthood, Artforum, June Student presentations: Frank Stella, Tony Smith, Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Richard Serra, Dan Flavin Conceptualism: Dematerialization of Art Lippard, Lucy R. & Chandler, John (1997) The Dematerializa on of Art, in Lippard, L.R. (1971) Changing Essays in Art Criticism, New York: E.P. Du on, pp Lippard, Lucy (1973) 'Interview with Ursula Meyer' and 'Pos ace' to Six Years, in Harrison, C. & Wood, P. (eds.) (2003) Art in Theory , pp Op onal: Ar st statements in Art in Theory book: Sol LeWi (1967) Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, pp Sol Lewi (1969) "Sentences on Conceptual Art", pp Lawrence Weiner (1972) Statements, pp Student presentations: Sol Lewitt, Joseph Kosuth, Lawrence Weiner, Dan Graham, Robert Barry, Mel Bochner, Vito Acconci, Walter de Maria Alternative Actions & Institutional Critique Buren, Daniel (1970) Func on of the Museum, in Alberro, A. & S mson, B. (eds.) (2009) Institutional Critique: An Anthology of Artists Writings, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp Haacke, Hans (1984) Museums, Managers of Consciousness, in Alberro, A. & S mson, B. (eds.) (2009) Institutional Critique: An Anthology of Artists Writings, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp Student presentations: Hans Haacke, Daniel Buren, Marcel Broodthaers, Michael Asher, Group Material, Andrea Fraser, Fred Wilson (Mining the Museum). Feminist Interventions Molesworth, Helen (2000) Helen, House Work and Art Work, October, Vol. 92 (Spring), pp Op onal: Nochlin, Linda (1988) Why Have There Been No Great Women Ar sts?, in Women, Art and Power and Other Essays, Westview Press, pp Student presentations: Judy Chicago (The Dinner Party), Miriam Schapiro, Carolee Schneeman, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Mary Kelly, Valie Export, Martha Rosler, Hanna Wilke, Sanja Ivekovic Warhol s Brillo Boxes: The Crisis of Art & Art History Danto, Arthur C. (1997) "Chapter 2: Three Decades A er the End of Art", in After the End of Art: Contemporary Art and the Pale of History, Princeton University Press, pp

4 Op onal: Danto, Arthur C. (1997) Introduc on: Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary, in After the End of Art: Contemporary Art and the Pale of History, Princeton University Press. Available at h p:// mes.com/books/first/d/danto-art.html Student presentation: Andy Warhol Week 10: Art of the non-western World Case Studies: Primitivism in Twentieth Century Art: Affinity of the tribal and the Modern Exhibi on at MoMA, 1984, NY. Magiciens de la Terre, Centre Georges Pompidou and the Grande Halle at the Parc de la Ville e, 1989, Paris. McEvilley, Thomas (1984) Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief: Primi vism in Twen eth-century Art at the Museum of Modern Art, Ar orum, November Araeen, Rasheed (1989) Our Bauhaus Others Mudhouse, Third Text, No. 6, Magiciens de la Terre Special Issue, London: Kala Press, pp Student presentations: Primitivism in Twentieth Century Art, Magiciens de la Terre Contemporary/Global Art in a Postcolonial Constellation Crinson, Mark (2006) Fragments of Collapsing Space : Postcolonial Theory and Contemporary Art, in Jones, Amelia (ed.) (2006) A Companion to Contemporary Art Since 1945, London: Blackwell, pp OR Enwezor, Okwui (2008) The Postcolonial Constella on: Contemporary Art in a State of Permanent Transi on, in Smith,T., Enewzor, O., and Condee, N. (eds.), Antinomies of Art and Culture: Modernity, Postmodernity, Contemporaneity, Durham & London: Duke University Press, pp Bel ng, H. (2009) Contemporary Art as Global Art: A Cri cal Es mate, in Bel ng, H. & Buddensieg, A. (eds.) (2009) The Global Art World: Audiences, Markets, and Museums, Os ildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, pp Available at h p://rae.com.pt/bel ng Contemporary_Art_as_Global_Art.pdf Student presentations: Yinka Shonibare, Jimmie Durham, Kara Walker, Fiona Tan, Mona Hatoum, William Kentridge, Gordon Bennett, Emily Jacir Social Turn: Relationships & Participation Bourriaud, Nicolas (1998) Relational Aesthetics, Dijon, France: Les Presses Du Reel. (excerpts Bishop, Claire (ed.) (2006) Participation, London : Whitechapel & Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Bishop, Claire (2006) The Social Turn: Collabora on and its Discontents, Artforum, February Student presentations: Joseph Beuys (social sculpture), Rikrit Tiravanija, Tino Sehgal, Tania Bruguera, Thomas Hirschhorn, Jeremy Deller, Phil Collins. Biennials and the Global Art Discourse Marchart, Oliver (2014) The Globaliza on of Art and the Biennials of Resistance : A History of the Biennials from the Periphery, CuMMA PAPERS, NO.7, Helsinki: Department of Art, Aalto University. Available at h p://cummastudies.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/cumma-papers-7.pdf AND/OR

5 Sheikh, Simon (2009) Marks of Distinction, Vectors of Possibility: Questions for the Biennial, in Filipovic, E., Van Hal, M., Øvstebø, S. (eds.) (2010) The Biennial Reader: An Anthology on Large-Scale Perennial Exhibitions of Contemporary Art, Ostfildern and Bergen: Hatje Cantz Verlag, Bergen Kunsthall, pp Student Presentations: History of Istanbul Biennial, Venice Biennial, or Documenta. OR Allan Sekula, Francis Alys, Michael Rakowitz, Walid Raad (Atlas Group), Alfredo Jaar, Ai Weiwei