The course examines the problems arising from the diversity of art forms, objects and gestures characterized under the term `contemporary art?. It explores the nature of the `contemporary?, its (a)historicity and its connection with related terms such as international art, global art and post-modernity. It introduces a series of global case studies and art works, from which dilemmas and paradoxes pertaining to contemporary art are examined and debated. The course is situated in the late twentieth and early twenty first century world conditions such as globalization, late capitalism, the rapid rise and intensity of internet and cyber cultures. Within this context, the course approaches a cultural platform characterized by postcolonial critiques, environmental consciousness, a new mobility of artists, the proliferation of biennales and blockbuster shows and the rise of the trans-cultural curator. Art historical, critical and cultural theoretical insights will be applied to art practices ranging from the persisting traditional or classical forms to contemporary, high-tech or new media.
Programme: ADM
The course examines the problems arising from the diversity of art forms, objects and gestures characterized under the term `contemporary art?. It explores the nature of the `contemporary?, its (a)historicity and its connection with related terms such as international art, global art and post-modernity. It introduces a series of global case studies and art works, from which dilemmas and paradoxes pertaining to contemporary art are examined and debated. The course is situated in the late twentieth and early twenty first century world conditions such as globalization, late capitalism, the rapid rise and intensity of internet and cyber cultures. Within this context, the course approaches a cultural platform characterized by postcolonial critiques, environmental consciousness, a new mobility of artists, the proliferation of biennales and blockbuster shows and the rise of the trans-cultural curator. Art historical, critical and cultural theoretical insights will be applied to art practices ranging from the persisting traditional or classical forms to contemporary, high-tech or new media.