Art Theory and Criticism

ART THEORY AND CRITICISM

Art 206, Fall 2015 Wednesday, 3-5:50 pm Kadema 170

Elaine O’Brien Ph.D. Kadema 190 Office Hours: Wednesday 12-2 pm and 6-7 pm (and by appointment) [email protected] http://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/

The humanity of art lies in the artist and not simply in what he represents...his power of impressing a work with feeling and the qualities of thought...and this humanity may be realized with an unlimited range of themes or elements of form. Meyer Schapiro

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, who I know read theory carefully, nonetheless made a point of saying that it was not to be read in a kind of rigorous, academic way, but to help unblock thoughts and open up questions. Robert Storr

Description and Objectives:

This seminar in critical art theory is designed specifically for Sac State graduate students in art practice. Graduate students in other areas will work with me to make the assignments fit their learning goals. The seminar consists of readings, discussions, and writing projects. Many of the readings are authored by artists. Besides ideas, artists' writings will also give art practice students fine examples of how to write in the language of your discipline. Because this seminar satisfies Graduate Writing Intensive requirements, an important goal is to help you bring your own writing and critical thinking to the level of the artists you will read. Other texts are by art critics and theorists. Overall, you will become familiar with a small sample of the best that has been thought and written about art from various perspectives: most of it recent, all of it relevant to what you are setting out to do.You can expect your ability to articulate concepts of form, content, and practice to strengthen, depending on how well you exercise your mental muscles. Another central aim of the seminar is for you to see with greater clarity the already existing uniqueness of your own mind and spirit. The hope is that you will apply that awareness to your work, begin to see how your intentions are (and are not yet) conveyed in your work.

This seminar satisfies the Sac State Graduate Writing Intensive requirements described by the university as follows: GWI General learning goals: By the end of the semester, students will 2

1. Understand the major research and/or professional conventions, practices, and methods of inquiry of the discipline;

2. Understand the major formats, genres, and styles of writing used in the discipline;

3. Practice reading and writing within the discipline;

4. Practice reading and writing as a learning process that involves peer and instructor feedback, revision, critical reflection, and self-editing.

GWI Guidelines: 1. The course should immerse graduate students in the discourse of their disciplines: genres, literacies, stylistic conventions, etc.

2. The course curriculum must include the four general learning goals listed above; also, it may require readings about disciplinarily-based writing.

3. Students must write a minimum of 5000 words or 20 double-spaced pages of discourse. At least one assignment must be a minimum of 5 pages or 1250 words.

4. Writing assignments must be spread out over the entire semester.

5. At least 60% of the course grade will come from instructors' assessment of student writing.

6. Assessment of student writing should focus primarily on critical thinking, synthesis, and organization.

7. The course must consist of a minimum of 3 upper division units or a minimum of 2 graduate level units and must be designed primarily to meet the needs of graduate students.

8. Each section should have no more than 30 students.

9. The course should include a range of assignments in the types of genres typical in the discipline: for example, research paper, reading response, proposal, learning log, critical response, journal entry, annotated bibliography, blog, abstract, case study, cover letter, laboratory report, etc.

10. Formal assignments should include multiple drafts with revision based on feedback from peers and the instructor.

NOTE: Schedule at least 10 hours per week outside of class to prepare for this seminar. If your English is poor, or if you have not studied modern and contemporary art in college and/or independently, you will need more time than that.

Required Texts: 1. Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985 (second edition), Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung, eds.,Wiley-Blackwell, 2013 (“Theory” in schedule below) 2. Appropriation, David Evans, ed., MIT (Documents of Contemporary Art), 2009 (“Appropriation” in schedule below) 3. The Object, Antony Hudek, ed. MIT (Documents of Contemporary Art), 2014 (“Object” in schedule below) 4. Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton, W.W. Norton & Company, New York/London, 2008 3

5. Subscription to Hyperallergic e-newsletter (free): http://hyperallergic.com/about/? ref=nav  NOTE: To become more familiar with the professional conversation around art today, subscribe to international contemporary art periodicals like Artforum and Art in America or read them in the library in third floor current periodicals. Browsing the volumes from the last fifty years in the bound periodical section is eye-opening. You’ll be struck by how much of the art shown is now forgotten and by the fact that most of the art that looks “contemporary” today is decades to a century old.  NOTE: Always bring the assigned reading to class, marked for discussion. o Save all of your writings for end-of-semester discussion and course review.

Requirements and Grade Basis:

20%: Participation:  Attitude: The success of the seminar for each individual depends on team work. You must be prepared, show engaged listening and responding, respect the opinions of fellow students, and ask questions that might help us all clarify our thinking. You are expected to ask frank questions of each other and show an effort to understand and learn from the views of others. Assume the writers I’ve selected for us are worth reading and do not waste class time complaining about the readings. Do not monopolize class discussion, but contribute as often as you can. Make eye contact with everyone when you speak. Good participation could raise your course grade by as much as a whole letter; poor participation can lower it as much.

Attendance policy:  Each unexcused absence will reduce your grade by half a letter grade. Three unexcused absences result in failure.  Illness and family emergencies are excused if you tell me in person what happened within a week of your absence, not later.  Work, transportation problems, and any scheduled appointment, no matter how important, are not excused. Repeated lateness (more than three times) and/or leaving early can reduce your grade by as much as a whole letter.  No matter how valid your reasons for missing class, however, after four absences, excused or unexcused, you will be asked to withdraw from the course.

45%: Question sheets and response papers (Save all of your papers for the end-of-semester discussion and course evaluation.) IMPORTANT NOTE on how to read theoretical texts: Theoretical essays must be studied not ‘read’ in the usual sense. Read very slowly and reread until you understand each sentence and paragraph. Look up unfamiliar words. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t understand something. That’s normal. Underline passages and make marginal notes. Marking on hard copy aids comprehension and will help you locate significant passages for class discussion. Because I want you to be confidence in your ability to interpret philosophical texts, and because I want you to find and create your own meanings, I will rarely “explain” the meaning of the text. I will facilitate class discussion 4

and move it forward, mostly with questions.The aim is for us to tease out interpretations together.

 Question Sheets (typed, 12 font, single space). Do not answer your questions. Use as many pages as necessary. These are the basis for class discussion; turn them in at the end of class. I’ll mark them with a grade of 1-10 (based on how complete they are and evidence of your engagement) and return them to you. Obviously, you must have completed your work for the seminar to function. Question sheets are accepted late for excused absences only. Directions: 1. Write your name, course title, and the date on top of page one. 2. Identify the author and title of each of the week’s readings above the questions you derive from that specific text. 3. For the first Question Sheet only, formulate one question for each paragraph of each reading assigned. 4. For all subsequent reading assignments, formulate one question for each page of reading assigned. 5. Conclude with a 150-word summary of all readings, noting which reading was most valuable/relevant to your own work and why.

 Response Papers (handwritten in class) marked “plus,” “check,” or “minus” depending on engagement. 1. Presentation responses: Take notes during the student collaborative presentations of readings (see below). Write one informed question for the presenters and be ready to ask it. 2. Reflection paper: At the end of each class write a 10-minute paper on 1) what impressed you the most from the week’s readings, what you’ll take away.

 500-word summary paper due December 14: At the end of the semester, collect and review all the papers you have written. Select the three readings in the course that were most valuable to you. In 500 words (as close as possible) explain what their value was for you. Copy sentences (give page numbers) from the three readings as evidence that the author said what you say he or she said.

15%: Two collaborative presentations of readings Reading presentation groups will be selected on the first day of class. Get together outside of class with your group, discuss the readings you are to present and prepare a written text and PowerPoint presentation. Format for text: For each of the week’s readings, look up each author on the internet and write down their expertise in a sentence. Also write the thesis question, the thesis, and 3 key points of the argument from beginning, middle, and end of essay. Conclude with the questions your group thinks the seminar should discuss. PowerPoint: practice it until it’s about 20 minutes long. Show examples of art that can be interpreted from the perspective under consideration, including at least one artwork that was NOT reproduced with the reading.

20%: Five-page Artist Statement for an imagined exhibition catalog of your current work. 5

 First draft due November 18  Peer review draft due December 2  Final draft due December 16

Format: (12 font, double space, 1300 words)  Title, name, date  The introductory paragraph: a general statement that describes your current work and what you hope it communicates, the effect you hope it has (your intentions).  Select two of your current artworks that exemplify the intentions expressed in your general statement. Include a picture of the artworks in your paper with captions that give the title, date, materials, and dimensions of each.  Referencing the art itself, briefly address the following questions:  What is the subject and content (abstract or narrative)?  How are subject, content, and attitude manifested (made visible) in your formal choices of media and elements of art (e.g. scale, color, value)?  What attitude (point of view) does the work take towards the lived experience(s) from which it emerges, whether subjective experience or objective experience?  Who is your intended audience? What do you hope viewers will get from your work, and why do you believe it will matter to them?  Write a conclusion that speculates on the role of thinking (any type: poetic, political, rational, irrational….) in your creative process and when it occurs: before, during, and/or after. Grading is based on how well the questions above are addressed (50%), how evident the relationship is between written claims and visual evidence is (35%), quality of writing, format and presentation (15%).

Schedule of assignments (subject to changes announced in class) General notes:  Unless otherwise indicated, assignments are due the following week for discussion.  Schedule is subject to changes announced in class

Sept 2: Introductory. Reading presentation groups selected. Discuss Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton Assignment: Theory: Bourdieu p.13 and De Duve, p.21

Sept 9: Assignment: Theory: Rancière, p.72; Introduction to Part 2, pp.89 & 90; Joselit, p.102

Sept 16: Assignment: Theory: Bishop, p.166; Introduction to Part 3, pp. 197 & 198; Mouffe, p. ;

Sept 23: Assignment: Theory: Butler, p.235; Introduction to Part 4, pp. 311-313; Minh-Ha, p.354 6

Sept 30: Assignment: Theory: Mosquera, p.314; Introduction to Part 5, pp.383 & 384; Kelly, p.395; Demos, p.466

Oct 7: Assignment: Object: Introduction p.14; “Subject, Object, Thing” (Lacan, Kristeva, Von Meier, Appadurai, Roelstraete)

Oct 14: Assignment: Object: “Everyday Objects, Useful Objects” (Alloway, Mike Kelley, Broodthaers, McCollum); “Found Objects, Lost Objects, Non-Objects” (Geflecht, Meyer, Harrison)

Oct 21: Assignment: Object: “Discursive Objects, Affective Objects” (Kristeva, Man Ray, Lichtenberg-Ettinger, Bourgeois)

Oct 28: Assignment: Object: “Event, Object, Performance” (Durham, Serra, Calle, Krauss, Oiticica, Marioni, Clark)

Nov 4: Assignment: Appropriation: David Evans “Seven Types of Appropriation”; “Precursors” (Flaubert, Hausmann, Breton and Elouard, Warhol, Wall, Tomii)

Nov 11: Veteran’s Day / No Class

Nov 18: First draft of Artist Statement due. Assignment: Appropriation: “Agitprop” (Lippard, Meireles, Stoops); “The Situationist Legacy” (Debord, Grimonprez, Retort)

Nov 25: Assignment: Appropriation: “Simulation” (Crimp, Baudrillard, Prince, Sussman); “Post-Communism” (Mijuskovic)

Dec 2: Peer-Review (2nd) draft of Artist Statement due: I will check it off on my roster as completed before you give it to your peer-review partner Appropriation: “Post-Production” (Bourriaud, Evans); “Appraisals” (Crimp, Welchman, Graw)

Dec 9: Assignment: Collect and re-read all the papers you have written. Select the three readings (chapters or essays) in the course that were most valuable. In 500 words (max 550) explain what their value was for you, using quotes from the three readings.

Dec 16 (two hour class, final exam week): Artist Statement (final draft) due / Final discussion. Bring everything you have written for the class, all course books, and the 500-word response paper. We will share and discuss your statements and review the course.

NO FINAL