Course overview
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the complexities of contemporary art practice at the juncture of tradition and rapid social, cultural, and technological transformation. It will examine concepts and themes in the theory and practice of art, from materiality and environmental practice to the impact of digital technologies and platform culture, and from the significance of Indigenous art and decolonial strategies to the ethics of socially engaged, participatory, and collaborative practice. The course will engage critically with the politics of racial, gender, and sexual identities in art, the influence of international exhibitions, and the roles played by artists, curators, and critics in shaping regional and global cultural landscapes. It will also address institutional critique, the conditions of visibility produced by geopolitical displacement and conflict, and the relational and care-based frameworks that are increasingly central to contemporary artistic production and curatorial thought.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate thorough knowledge of key themes, issues, theoretical, and methodological frameworks relevant to the practice or analysis of contemporary art and visual culture
- Apply interpretative or analytical frameworks and make meaningful connections between relevant theories, methods, and examples of contemporary art and visual culture.
- Apply a critical approach to the analysis, discussion and contextualisation of art and visual culture
- Demonstrate advanced academic writing and/or oral presentation skills appropriate for further research in the fields of art and visual culture