Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Investigates a selected thematic topic in art and culture studies, for example, postcolonial theory and the arts; perception and embodiment; art activism and resistance; or urban art and culture. May repeat for credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

Since the turn of the century a swarm of historical and critical works have established “sound art” as its own aesthetic genre and practice. However, much of the discourse regarding sound art concerns its interdisciplinary origins and ambiguous nature, which for that very reason makes the practice and our understanding of it exceptionally uneven and unstable. But this is not a
bad thing. In fact, sound art’s inveterate obscurity is perhaps what makes it so appealing to contemporary artists who have (ostensibly) learned the (ironic) lessons of postmodernism and
its discontents. For this seminar, then, we’ll treat sound art as something essentially inconsistent and protean and attempt to understand its development as expressive of a broader experimental ethos that by its nature resists disciplinary capture and technical mastery. Furthermore because of sound art's unruliness we will also regard it as a highly political activity that articulates with contemporary issues concerning the relationship between humans, technology, and global capitalism. To pursue this we will read about, listen to, watch, and discuss the ways in which sound communicates, defines spaces, shapes memories and affects the kinds of connections we forge with people, places and objects.

Specific genres, figures, and topics discussed will include: H.P. Lovecraft, sound
poetry, musique concrete, glitch music, installation art, Christina Kubisch, modes of listening, imaginary sounds, Christian Marclay, distracted composition, etc....

Grading