ARTH 610 - Issues in North American Art and Architecture: Critical Writing and Contemporary Art and Design

M - 15:00-18:00
EV-3.760
INSTRUCTOR: DR. MAYA OPPENHEIMER

This seminar explores the intersections of art and writing, and in order to do so, positions writing as a creative practice and critical process. Sessions will explore artists who use writing as part of their practice, from manifestos to performance, as well as histories of art writing that endeavor to experiment with the communication of art through the written word. Each week will follow a set theme that combines art/design works and writings and theories to be “read” in parallel. These themes will structure the overall seminar’s exploration of the evocative process of writing, which is such a core element of working with and on art and design histories. Discussion will touch upon ideas of the vernacular, translation, dissemination, resistance, technology and design. Seminar discussions will vary from writing workshops, experiments and discussions to explore modes and methods of writing beyond the essay and across histories of art/design (and) writing. Participants should expect to do quite a bit of reading and writing that is not essay-shaped.