Humor as a Transgressive Strategy in the Contemporary Visual Arts, 1960-Present
ARHA 350
Spring 2009 not offered
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Late 20th-century artists used humor as a strategy to critique society. This course will consider artists from pop art, Fluxus, and early conceptual art to the present, emphasizing the past three decades. We will consider a full range of media, from traditional painting, sculpture, and photography to performance, video, installation, public, and Internet art. The course will also include selected writings on the nature of humor (Bergson, Freud, Koestler, and Hyde) and a consideration of such traditions as carnival, the trickster, and the signifying monkey to provide a foundation for our inquiry. Among the artists to be discussed: Ed Ruscha, Robert Arneson, Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Hans Haacke, Robert Colescott, Komar and Melamid, Sandy Skoglund, William Wegman, Adrian Piper, Louise Lawler, David Hammons, Krzysztof Wodiczko, the Guerrilla Girls, Carrie Mae Weems, Andrea Fraser, Fred Wilson, and RTMark. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ART |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Primarily selected readings from museum exhibition catalogues, monographs and periodicals. Also selected readings from:
Sigmund Freud, JOKES AND THEIR RELATION TO THE UNCONSCIOUS (1905)
Henri Bergson, LAUGHTER, AN ESSAY ON THE MEANING OF THE COMIC (1911)
Arthur Koestler, THE ACT OF CREATION (1964)
Lucy Lippard, GET THE MESSAGE? A DECADE OF ART FOR SOCIAL CHANGE (1984)
Nina Felshin, ed., BUT IS IT ART? THE SPIRIT OF ART AS ACTIVISM (1995)
Suzanne Lacy, ed., MAPPING THE TERRAIN, NEW GENRE PUBLIC ART (1995)
Lewis Hyde, TRICKSTER MAKES THIS WORLD, MICHIEF, MYTH, AND ART (1998)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Journals in response to readings and class discussions: 2-3 pages every week; to be reviewed three times during the semester for check, check minus, or plus. One 4-5 page research paper focused on a specific topic, due mid-semester. List of topic choices to be assigned, letter grade. Final research paper, 15-20 pages, on topics mutually agreed upon, letter grade. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Some awareness of the history of twentieth century art is much preferred. Students interested in art history, ethnic and cultural studies, sociology of humor, and/or political activism are welcome. |
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