Undergraduate Course: The Aesthetics and Politics of Contemporary Art (HIAR10065)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | What are the narratives that define contemporary art? The course will seek to answer this two-part question by examining five specific issues of exemplary relevance to the many and complex practices comprising the field of contemporary art. These five issues are: 1. The Rise and Fall of Postmodernism. 2. The End of Art? 3. The Turn to the Moving Image. 4. The Aesthetics and Politics of the Everyday. 5. Globalisation and the Critical Interpretation of the Contemporary. We will devote one to two weeks to each of these issues and consider in particular the intersection of (art) practice and theory alongside the relationship of aesthetics and politics. In general, the course does not attempt to prioritise specific media but is structured around concepts and ideas that play an important role in defining or challenging our understanding of contemporary practice. In the course of examining these concepts and ideas, we shall have the opportunity to reflect on a range of topical issues such as artistic labour, the post-medium condition, technology, documentation, feminism, socially engaged practice, economy and art etc.
For Week 1 you are asked to think of an artist (or artist collective) whose work exemplifies, in your view, Contemporary Art Practice. The questions you should begin thinking about are:
a) what is it that makes this work Contemporary
and
b) given your knowledge of art history so far, if and how Contemporary Art Practice relates to practices of the past. Prior to starting the course, you are strongly advised to read:
Julian Stallabrass, Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press 2006.
The chapter by S. Edwards and G. Day, Global Dissensus: Art and Contemporary Capitalism in S. Edwards and P. Wood, eds, Art & Visual Culture 1850-2010: Modernity to Globalisation, Tate 2013.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 17 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 two hour examination paper (50%) and 1 extended essay of 2,500 words(50%). |
| Feedback |
On the first day of the course students will be allocated an individual or group oral seminar presentation (depending on student numbers taking the course). The presentation will be 15-minutes long and afterwards the material should be submitted in a portfolio to the tutor. Guidance on how to structure an academic oral presentation and the criteria for its informal assessment are included in the Course Handbook. Following the presentation, students will have a feedback session with their tutor to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their presentation and, if appropriate, progress in the course so far. Students are also welcome to attend individual tutorials with their tutor, at a separate time, to discuss essay progress. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | The Aesthetics and Politics of Contemporary Art | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Have acquired knowledge of a body of work, key concepts and themes as well as theoretical approaches relating to contemporary art.
- Have an understanding of contemporary art as a complex field articulated across both theory and practice, and not free from contradictions that historians and artists are tasked with identifying and reflect on critically.
- Be familiar with art history of the contemporary as a field defined by informed debate pertaining to social issues and the critical examination of which often requires an exchange with other disciplines.
- Have an understanding of how issues of periodisation pertain to the construction of ¿the contemporary¿ in art.
- Have knowledge of a corpus of images and texts of relevance to the field of contemporary art and have acquired the skills to engage in the critical analysis of texts and images both orally, through participation in seminars, and in writing.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Angela Dimitrakaki
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email: |
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