ARTS 200(S) Post-Studio Practice
For decades, artists have found ways of practicing their art as concepts,
processes, and interjections into the world that did not require the use of the
studio. Partially driven by the interest in conceptual work and in performance
and engagement with the quotidian, the arenas available for art practice
exploded in size and context around the 1970s. These new specialties could take
different forms and appear through different means. Process-based art might call
for chance methods of "making" or spending time, or giving instructions for
someone else to execute; think of Sol Lewitt's wall drawings or work by
Earthwork artists executed by a construction team. The project may also not
result in an object, but rather strive to a non-physical outcome, such as
dialogue-based problem-solving in a social issue arena. Site-based work
engages with a place. Place has geographical, ethnographic, historical and
contemporary use features with which to engage audiences who happen upon
the projects. Issue-based work is often developed with input from groups of
people to bring awareness in a public manner to a current event; think of
Suzanne Lacy's work about rape, Marty Pottenger's work around money, and
Critical Art Ensemble's work around genetic manipulation of food. And of
course these motivations are not discrete and separate, any given project often
incorporating all three. Many questions are raised: Why would an artist give up
The Object? How is this art? What about all the issues out of the artist's control?
Why would someone want to give up expertise and control? What is gained and
what is lost in this approach to artmaking?
Format: seminar and studio, class will meet twice a week. Requirements:
Readings on artists and theory; written reflections on work of others; weekly
exercises; three main projects and their documentation; participation in all
aspects of course.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected : 15). Preferences: upon over
enrollment the instructor will seek to balance the course by class year and
experience.