Artists have often gained inspiration and insight from others working in different disciplines, architects from sculptors, film makers from painters, writers from composers and the like. Now more than ever the boundaries between disciplines are shifting and blurring. Artists such as Matthew Barney make feature length films that are combined with sculptural installations, architects like Frank Gehry build sculptural buildings and performers like Bill T. Jones explore new technologies and reference drawing through dance. This tutorial will explore ways in which the fields of performance, literature and architecture relate, interact or intersect with the visual arts, and how within contemporary visual art itself, the arrival of new technologies enables artists to invent media beyond the traditional terminologies of sculpture and painting, photography and video. How and why are these boundaries blurring now and what does it mean for the future of contemporary art making? Artists we will look at along with those mentioned above include: playwright Sameul Beckett, performers Laurie Anderson & Stelarc, sculptor Richard Serra, installation artist James Turrell, video artists Bill Viola and Gillian Wearing and the digital works of Jeremy Blake and Jason Salavon, amongst others. In their work students will be encouraged to broaden their areas of research and reference and execute individual work in a combination of media or disciplines in order to explore these possibilities. There will be equal emphasis on aesthetic and conceptual issues. The course will include several sessions where the class will meet as a group to view slide/video presentations and for discussions on assigned readings and for critiques. In addition, pairs of students will meet weekly with the instructor to discuss student works in progress. Evaluation will be based on attendance, quality of work produced, and a general level of engagement in course work/group critiques. Prerequisites: any ArtS 200-level course. Enrollment limit: 10.

Hour: SOUTH