ARTH 462 The Subject of the Representation: Contemporary Art and Film (Not offered 1999-2000; to be offered 2000-2001)

Nowhere are "postmodern" narratives of identity and difference more vividly staged than in the contemporary art world. In order to place in context the forces that revitalized representation in the art of the 1980s, this course will examine the formal and critical framework within which artists deconstruct and reconstruct conceptions of gender and identity. Specifically, we will consider film and video, new electronic technologies, and some of the many theoretical discourses which influence the production and experience of art. Recent films to be viewed on tape will include Aliens, Blade Runner, Blue Velvet, Piano, Terminator 2, and Videodrome, among others. There will be particular emphasis on films by Godard, Hitchcock, Fuller and Ford. Selected 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 visual and video artists will be discussed, concentrating on Fischl, Hill, Holzer, Kelley, Kruger, Longo, Rosler, Salle, Sherman, Kiki Smith, and Trockel. The art of the 1960s and 1970s (e.g. Acconci, Hesse and Warhol) will be discussed in relation to the art of the 1980s and 1990s. Evaluation will be based on two short papers and a final class project to be determined and developed in a series of conferences with the instructors. One to two field trips to New York City to artists' studios, galleries and museums will be made. No prerequisites. Enrollment limited to 15.

H. SHEARER and L. SHEARER