Courses for Fall 2018: Topics in Art & Fashion, Urban Screen Culture, Film Studies, and 19th Century Art

As registration for the Fall 2018 academic semester begins soon, I wanted to provide more information about courses I will begin teaching starting September, 2018. Please see detailed descriptions below. If you have any specific questions that are not answered here, you can contact me directly. I look forward to another rich and engaging semester with both new and familiar faces. **NOTE: Pre-requisite changes for ARTH 3100 allow for more flexibility in registration for non-Fine Arts students**

ARTH 3100: ART AND FASHION

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Wednesday's 7:00-9:50pm, Surrey Campus Fir 120). Prerequisites: 6 credits of ARTH or 18 credits of 1100-level courses or higher, and ENGL 1100, or permission of Instructor.

How does the world of art intersect with the world of fashion? Where are the real and imagined dividing lines, and why do they exist? Fashion designers like visual artists are curious about shape, line, colour, and form, and they all construct imagined worlds through creative expression to share with an audience. Spanning several eras and contexts and covering a range of artists, designers, and mediums, including a close look at recent art and fashion exhibitions held in world class museums, this course will unpack how and why the systems that define the world of art and fashion overlap and at times conflict.

*note* ARTH 3100 is being offered in anticipation of the FINE ARTS LONDON/VENICE BIENNALE 2019 Field School planned for May/June 2019. This course is a fantastic accompaniment to the itinerary and themes of the field school focused on the transformation of modern and contemporary art in connection to consumer culture, lifestyle branding, and the rise of the celebrity artist/designer.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course provides an introduction to the complex ways in which the world of fashion and the world of art intersect, focusing mainly on developments from the 19th through 21st century and the visual cultures of Europe and North America more specifically. Emphasis will be placed on the transformation of modern and contemporary art in connection to shifting trends in fashion, fashion design, and fashion exhibition/marketing, taking a closer look at how changes in political ideology, industrialization, rapid urban growth, global commerce, and the new media technologies of an expanding consumer culture helped redefine a wide range of overlapping visual culture. Throughout the term we will examine different “case studies” of specific designers and artists and their collaborations, exploring how and why the dividing lines between art and fashion are policed, but also at times transgressed.

Importantly, this seminar will also consider, within the context of raising questions about fashion as art, the constructed nature of the discipline of art history, challenging assumptions, both historical and contemporary, regarding the nature of art, its relation to different cultural, social, political, and commercial institutions, and issues of patronage and viewing publics.

ARTH 1130: INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES

The evolving role of Hollywood studios and the emergence of the movie sequels/prequels and franchise film phenomenon is just one of many topics explored in this course. 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Friday's 1:00-4:50pm, Surrey Campus Fir 128). Prerequisites: None

The ever popular film studies course is continuing to evolve and update to consider recent developments in the film industry, together with new research that links histories of cinema's past to its present. This is a course that will have you thinking critically about motion pictures long after the final exam-- it also provides an opportunity to visit and see films at the Vancouver International Film Festival (September 27- October 12). 

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Students will study the history and development of world cinema, and the comprehension and theory of film as a visual language and art-making practice from its inception in the late nineteenth century to the present. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the critical interpretation of the cinema and the various vocabularies and methods with which one can explore the aesthetic function, together with the social, political, and technological contexts and developments, of moving pictures. The format of this course (as a 4 hour block each class) will normally entail a one hour lecture, the screening of a full-length film, and a focused group discussion. Each film will serve as a starting point and gateway for discussion about the course’s daily theme. 

ARTH 1140: INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL ART, URBAN, AND SCREEN CULTURE

This course will explore case studies in street and graffiti art, hip-hop and punk culture, video gaming, anime, new media and Internet art, urban performance art, activist art, grassroots fashion, street photography, and the world of mobile photography and filmmaking.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Wednesday's 4:00-6:50pm, Surrey Campus Fir 128). Prerequisites: None

Formulated to compliment ARTH 1130: Introduction to Film Studies, this course extends the conversation about screen culture to the world of urban studies and public art. We begin with the question "How do we navigate and make sense of the fast-changing world of new urban visual environments and the emerging world of screen culture?" and explore case studies in street and graffiti art, hip-hop and punk culture, video gaming, anime, new media and Internet art, urban performance art, activist art, grassroots fashion, street photography, and the world of mobile photography and filmmaking.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Students will study the broad field of contemporary visual art and culture with a specific focus on the role of urban environments and the emerging world of screen culture in shaping new possibilities for global art production and circulation. Students will explore how they can become active agents rather than passive observers through engagement with the diversity of visual art and culture surrounding them. They will investigate interdisciplinary topics connecting the world of visual art with urban and screen cultures through case studies in street and graffiti art, hip-hop and punk culture, video gaming, anime, new media and Internet art, urban performance art, activist art, grassroots fashion, street photography, and the world of mobile photography and filmmaking.

CA 167: VISUAL ART & CULTURE I

Why did Beyonce choose this particular painting at the Louvre (Jacques Louis David's The Coronation of Napoleon (1805-07) to feature in a recent music video? How do the themes and issues evoked in this work of art resonate with us today? Find out when you study the art history of the 19th century in CA 167. 

Simon Fraser University (Thursdays 6:30-9:20pm, Vancouver Harbour Centre Campus 1700). No Prerequisites.

Offered as a core required course in SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, CA 167 offers an introduction the visual arts of the nineteenth century, with a critical focus on the roots of modernism and the avant-garde. If you have ever wondered how Western art evolved from its more traditional, Renaissance roots to the challenging and at times difficult-to-understand contemporary art of today, this is the course that holds many of your answers.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course provides an introduction to the complex ways in which social and political change, and ideologies of gender, class, race and ethnicity, worked to shape aspects of nineteenth century visual culture in Europe and North America. Emphasis will be placed on the roles played by industrialization, political revolution, rapid urban growth, global commerce, and the new media technologies of an expanding consumer culture in defining a wide range of visual culture. Throughout the term we will also examine different representations and debates around the idea of modernity and the “modern.” Since the time period under investigation has often been called “The First Modern Century”, we will pay particular attention to shifting ideas related to labour and leisure, urban social space and spectacle, and issues bearing on Euro-American expansion of empires in relation to indigenous populations, throughout the nineteenth  century to turn of the twentieth century up to WWI.

Weekly Flipboard Links and Media Round Up

It was a big week for art history with the surprise release of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s "Apeshit"-- a song and accompanying video that set the Louvre Museum centre stage. Within days of the video's release, my social media feeds were filled with commentary and discussion. I was immediately struck by Beyoncé's decision to feature so many Jacques Louis David paintings-- works of art tied to the French Revolution and Napoleonic era that I spend countless classes covering in both survey and upper level seminar art history courses. The large dance number in front of Coronation of Napoleon (1807) was especially brilliant in terms of meaning-making and rethinking the role of women in canonical painting. David had reimagined the piece with Napoleon's wife,  Josephine, being crowned by him as the focus of the composition. This act, at the central point of the painting where Beyoncé herself is positioned, is witnessed by all of the surrounding figures (all privileged white upper class people). The "lie" of the painting, however, is that the coronation of Napoleon was illegitimate. He had seized power from the church to make himself king (thereby coronating himself), stealing power without authority. This extends to the representation shown in the painting-- Josephine's sisters, for example, did not attend the event, but David put them in there anyways much to the chagrin of Jospehine and her family ("fake news" early 19th century style). Later, Josephine would divorce Napoleon and expose his deception. In this way, we also see Beyonce and her dancers stealing back meaning and authority for this work. She is the rightful queen, and the fact of this painting's lie is once again exposed. 

Another compelling David work featured in the video is the of portrait of Madame Récamier from 1800. The reclining aristocratic French woman is juxtaposed with two black dancers posing as maid servants just off frame-- a reminder of the invisible labour and lack of representation for the majority of people (across race and class) who existed within this society, and have in art's long history been denied serious attention. Later in the video, Jay Z will rap in front of Gericault's Raft of the Medusa (1818-19), a strategic reference to the colonialism and slavery that is for the first time represented on a monumental scale in this painting, and for that same privileged audience who refused to "see" this group only a decade earlier. Here, the direct correlation to hip-hop music, as a subculture and artistic revolution rooted in street and minority references is profound. I could go on and on.... In fact, so much good criticism and reflections was already written by mid-week, I did not feel compelled to add much more. This alone is a wonderful sign of how impactful the video was and is-- that, and the successful way Beyoncé and Jay-Z bridge notions of "high" and "low" art. Yes, it is a music video, and yes, there are much more urgent issues to address for more serious artists, but it is important to remember that popular visual culture, the "kitsch" that the Nazis, for example, at once despised and feared so much, is precisely the entry point for subversive content into the mainstream. Seeing black bodies essentially pulling off a carefully choreographed "heist" of the Louvre's elitist and limited gaze is critical and significant. There will be much discomfort in these images, and that is the point. All praise Queen B. Enjoy the links and have a great week!

"The Simple Art Historian’s Guide to Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s ‘Apeshit’ Video"

vulture.com

"Is Art School Only For the Young?"

artsy.net

"20 Curators Taking a Cutting-Edge Approach to Art History"

artsy.net

"A Very Queer Street Art Movement Is Spreading Across the US"

hyperallergic.com

"This Artist Foresaw Our Digital Future in a Meadow of Dandelions"

nytimes.com

"Jean-Michel Basquiat Is Still an Enigma"

theatlantic.com

"Will the Retail Apocalypse Be Good for the Arts?"

vulture.com

"Artist collective tackles 'disappearing kids' under US immigration policy"

theartnewspaper.com

"Giacometti at the Guggenheim Museum (VIDEO)"

guggenheim

Meet the Sobey 2018 artist nominee whose neon Cree signs are getting glowing reviews (PODCAST)"

cbc.ca

• The Simple Art Historian’s Guide to Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s ‘Apeshit’ Video
• Is Art School Only For the Young?
• 20 Curators Taking a Cutting-Edge Approach to Art History
• A Very Queer Street Art Movement Is Spreading Across the US
• This Artist Foresaw Our Digital Future in a Meadow of Dandelions
• Jean-Michel Basquiat Is Still an Enigma
• Will the Retail Apocalypse Be Good for the Arts?
• Artist collective tackles 'disappearing kids' under US immigration policy
• Giacometti at the Guggenheim Museum (VIDEO)
• Meet the Sobey 2018 artist nominee whose neon Cree signs are getting glowing reviews (PODCAST)

Weekly Flipboard Links and Media Round Up

I am on a big deadline, but wanted to make sure to post a roundup as so much has been happening this past week. Anthony Bourdain's passing, just within days of designer Kate Spade, was especially shocking and deeply resonant on a personal level as I was working on the final draft introduction to an edited book concerning Canadian culinary imaginations-- a project I have been co-editing and working on with Shelley Boyd for the past two years. I had just completed writing a detailed vignette describing Bourdain's recent visit to Newfoundland and its significance to Canadian identity politics. Repeatedly watching and transcribing that episode just hours before learning of his death, I was struck and heartened in the hours and days following the news to see so many people immediately recognize the importance of his legacy beyond celebrity chef stardom. Bourdain understood how food could bridge cultural and political divides, encouraging people to travel and move beyond their comfort zones and break down barriers through the simple act of trying a new cuisine or learning about another culture through their culinary history. Bourdain was also a connoisseur of film, literature, music, and art. His commentary on food was always intersecting with ideas related to the arts, and  I am so glad that his voice will be captured in our book, a project harnessing so many important themes related to food and culture that Bourdain popularized and made more accessible through his television appearances.  Sadly, mental illness (and suicide) is far too common among creative, risk-taking, individuals. We must all do better to keep our eyes open and remain compassionate and alert to those in pain. Peace.... and enjoy the links.

"What Will Art Look Like in 100 Years? We Asked 16 Contemporary Artists "

artnet.com

"Instagram design guide shows architects how to create "a visual sense of amazement""

dezeen.com

"How Art Museums Can Remain Relevant in the 21st Century"

artsy.net

" Just Write 500 Words"

thecut.com

"Linda Nochlin’s Lifetime Insights Continue to Amaze"

hyperallergic.com

"It Can Happen Here"

nybooks.com

"Japanese Gutai in the 1950s: Fast and Fearless"

nytimes.com

"We, the tenured, must commit to making the university a better place"

universityaffairs.com

"A study on the financial state of visual artists today"

thecreativeindependent.com

"Art Basel 2018 (VIDEO)"

• What Will Art Look Like in 100 Years? We Asked 16 Contemporary Artists
• Instagram design guide shows architects how to create "a visual sense of amazement"
• How Art Museums Can Remain Relevant in the 21st Century
•  Just Write 500 Words
• Linda Nochlin’s Lifetime Insights Continue to Amaze
• It Can Happen Here
• Japanese Gutai in the 1950s: Fast and Fearless
• We, the tenured, must commit to making the university a better place
• A study on the financial state of visual artists today
• Art Basel 2018 (VIDEO)

Focus on Ideas: Art, Propaganda, and the Avant-Garde

Questions of art and propaganda loom large in the public imagination, perhaps more today than at any moment in history. Consider for example the intensification of visual and screen culture globally, connecting traditional forms of media (photography, film, print, painting, drawing, etc..) with emerging media forms (digital, social media, immersive, virtual, memes, etc..) at the same time that proclamations around "fake news" and the veracity of media's claims to truth grow exponentially. It is a potent and dangerous combination that brings to mind the culture wars that took place between and within communist and non-communist countries during the twentieth century. Art and culture, as a unifier and divider of nations, was actively deployed and weaponized to achieve targeted political ends. 

What is the role of the artist in these situations? How can they intervene, question, bring awareness, or even find a way to participate and subvert the status quo? These questions have animated my own research interests for many years and I have worked to understand the emergence of modernism and the avant-garde within the context of the fraught political landscape of Europe as it transformed from the late nineteenth into the twentieth century. Critically, what I have come to believe is that there is much to learn about the current state of global relations, tying the cultural to the political, by studying historical events connected to rise and fall of Soviet-controlled Eastern bloc countries.

As Central and Eastern Europe, and Hungary in particular, has been a big focus of my research to date, I recently accepted an invitation to review Christina Cuevas-Wolf and Isotta Poggi’s edited collection Promote, Tolerate, Ban: Art and Culture in Cold War Hungary. I invite you to read my review and reflect on the themes raised in the book (I have embedded the PDF below and it can also be found here) and consider what parallels can be drawn to today's political climate. This is especially pressing as the broader authoritarian resurgence in Central and Eastern Europe, linked to the cultural policies of political leaders, continues to grow. Since at least 2010, for example, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s mainstreaming of the far right within the framework of Hungarian cultural politics and policies has been both alarming, but understandable and predictable, given Hungary’s tumultuous history connecting victimhood and ethnocentrism within the context of politicized art and cultural expression. It is also this model of authoritarianism that is admired and replicated in many of the recent policies adapted by the Trump administration in the U.S. 

As I argue in the review, a close and more nuanced reading of how propaganda and "socialist realism" evolved during the Cold War is crucial, together with offering alternative histories and theories of the avant-garde, and a deeper dive by art historians into the contingent nature of art and culture under Soviet-backed regimes. As the book makes clear, artists living behind the iron curtain did not operate as a monolithic whole, and the forms of subversion and response by cultural practitioners outlined in the book provide powerful lessons for today's artists.   

Weekly Flipboard Links and Media Round Up

For the last few weeks, I have been holed up in my home office working quite intensively on several writing projects, and now that June has started, I am beginning to make the final push through summer on several deadlines. There is a lot left to do. Along the way, I have taken some breaks to enjoy attending convocation, to get out of town for a family birthday, and to catch up with friends passing through town. And what this brought to mind as I sat down to assemble this week's round up is how comforting the routines of academic life can be, but also how much the "work" of what we do is mostly invisible.

An article about workaholism in academia caught my attention a few weeks back when it was being widely circulated on Twitter. The story itself, of a tenured prof who collapsed following several years of trying to keep up with an impossible work load, was nothing I hadn't seen first hand as a grad student or faculty member. But what was compelling was the conversation the article sparked on social media, along with comments following the article, that called for a serious reassessment of how success and accomplishment is to be measured in academic work life. Part of the discussion centered on creating personal boundaries, learning to say "no" and getting a handle on priorities and how time is managed outside the classroom, but another important part of the conversation focused on being more forthcoming with family and friends about how much the work of academia is all-consuming and difficult to "turn off." A few summers ago, a reading group I belonged to read The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy and I wanted to bring it up this week as a recommendation for those who may be needing a good primer on how to find that work/life balance. I will be dusting my copy off again this summer for a re-read. Enjoy the links!

"Ten pavilions not to be missed at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018"

dezeen.com

"Art Historians Discuss Strategies for Dealing with Work by Abusive Artists"

hyperallergic.com

"How May 1968 in Paris Changed the Way We View Protests"

artsy.net

"Dad Left a Big Impression: The Renoir Family Inheritance"

nytimes.com

"Kanye West’s Ye Sparks and Sputters"

atlantic.com

"What’s the Role of an Alternative Art Space? "

artnet.com

"Kerry James Marshall on painting, politics and P Diddy’s record-breaking purchase of his work"

artnewspaper.com

"Are Selfie Museums an Affront to the Art World? (PODCAST)"

artsy.net

"Performance and Protest: Can Art Change Society? | How Art Became Active (VIDEO SERIES)"

tatemodern

"Unceded: Voices of the Land / Canada at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale (VIDEO)"

vernissage

• Ten pavilions not to be missed at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018
• Art Historians Discuss Strategies for Dealing with Work by Abusive Artists
• How May 1968 in Paris Changed the Way We View Protests
• Dad Left a Big Impression: The Renoir Family Inheritance
• Kanye West’s Ye Sparks and Sputters
• What’s the Role of an Alternative Art Space? 
• Kerry James Marshall on painting, politics and P Diddy’s record-breaking purchase of his work
• Are Selfie Museums an Affront to the Art World? (PODCAST)
• Performance and Protest: Can Art Change Society? | How Art Became Active (VIDEO SERIES)
• Unceded: Voices of the Land / Canada at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale (VIDEO)