In order to place in context the forces that revitalized representation in the art of the 1980s, this course will examine the critical framework within which artists and audience alike deconstruct and reconstruct gender and identity, rethinking the nature of the "subject." Specifically, we will consider film and video, new electronic technologies, and some of the many theoretical discourses that influence the production and experience of art. There will be a particular emphasis on films by Godard, Hitchcock, Ford, and selected film noir. Recent films will include Alien, Blue Velvet, and Videodrome, among others. All films will be viewed on videotape. Background readings will include texts by Baudrillard, Derrida, Freud, Haraway, Kristeva, Lacan, and Mulvey, in conjunction with readings from Art After Modernism: Rethinking Representation. A wide range of contemporary and video artists will be discussed, concentrating on Holzer, Kelley, Kruger, Oursler, Salle, Sherman, Simpson, Kiki Smith, and Weems. The art of the 1960s and 1970s will be discussed in relation to the art of the 1980s and 1990s, with focus on Beuys, Warhol, and Hesse. Evaluation will be based on two papers, weekly class presentations, and a final project to be determined and developed in conferences with the instructor. One full-day field trip to New York City to artists' studios, galleries, and museums will be made. Enrollment limit: 12.

L. SHEARER