George Dimock <g_dimock@uncg.edu>
Cone Building 227 Office
hours by appointment
Art 605-01 (Fall ‘06): Perspectives in
Contemporary Art
[Friday 12:00
noon to 2:50 p.m in Gatewood 201]
This is a graduate seminar covering a
range of topics drawn from American and European art from 1945 to the present. The primary,
required text is Amelia Jones (editor), A
Companion to Contemporary Art since 1945.
Students will be responsible for close readings and class discussions of
selected essays. The exhibition catalogue High
Times/Hard Times: New York Painting 1967-1975 is also a required text that
will constitute a the basis of class work early on in the semester. David Joselit’s American Art Since 1945 is highly recommended as a synoptic
overview of the period under consideration.
The goal of this course is to provide a
strong grounding -- art historical, critical, and theoretical -- upon which to
locate and build the student’s own particular professional practice. Notice will be taken throughout of the ways
in which the student’s artwork or other professional engagements enter into
dialogue with particular artists, critics, and cultural formations of the late
20th-century. Following introductory classes on a survey of the period by
decade (Chapters 2-6) and an extended encounter with the WAM exhibition High Times/Hard Times, the course will
take up particular facets of twentieth-century art since 1945. There will also
be a series of four “Dillard Room Sessions” in which works drawn from the Weatherspoon collection
will be subjected to a range of critical approaches and interpretations as
suggested by class readings.
Expectations
The emphasis will be on informed discussion and reasoned critical responses to the ideas
and images presented in class. Students will be asked to engage in a variety of
ways with each other and with their teacher. I will be using a series of
writing assignments in place of the more traditional art history exam
format.
Grading
I will be doing my best to separate out
my role as teacher, ally, and advocate for the pleasures and difficulties of
recent art from that of authority, gatekeeper, and grader. (It’s my job to do
both.) To this end I will be using a
contract grading system. The successful
completion of the following requirements will insure a final course grade of
B+:
1. No more than
1 unexcused absence for the semester.
2. Timely
completion of all writing assignments, both formal and informal, both in and
outside of class.
3. Good-faith
class participation in group work, class discussions, conferences with me,
etc.
The principal assignment for the course
is the completion of a Course
Notebook containing all written assignments as discussed in class and
listed on Blackboard. The Notebook is to consist of a sturdy 3-ring binder
containing a table of contents and all assignments both handwritten and
word-processed on hole-punched paper. I will be collecting, reading, grading
(v, v+, v-), and returning individual assignments during the semester. Due
Wednesday, November 29th.
All grades lower than B+ will reflect
specific instances of noncompliance with one or more of the criteria listed
above.
Course Upgrade
Those of you interested in a higher
grade (A/A-) will need to contract with me individually. You will be expected
to write a scholarly review essay demonstrating your careful reading of a major
art historical text selected by you from a bibliography selected by me. There
will be a meeting on Wednesday, August
30th at 5:50 p.m. (after class) to discuss details. Attendance at this
meeting is mandatory for eligibility to participate.
Rules of Engagement
I will be using UNCG’s Electronic Blackboard [Bb] as a way of keeping you
updated as to all course assignments and changes as we go. This course will also be using MDID (Madison Digital Image Database).
This newer technology will afford the student visual access to works of art
that is exponentially more versatile than conventional slides. See below for
details. I also expect to hear from you by e-mail <g_dimock@uncg.edu> concerning all class absences and any
other questions or problems that you may be having.
Madison Digital Image Database
This course will be taught using MDID
(Madison Digital Image Database), a resource that will allow your class
lectures to be viewed on any computer with internet access. Through MDID you
will be able to review images, get general information about material covered
in class, and print out worksheets and flashcards.
In order to access MDID from your
computer, go to http://libmdid.uncg.edu.
This page should have two spaces for
you to enter your user name and password. After filling these in, click the
“Login” box.
USER NAME: student
PASSWORD: arthistory
(*Be sure to type in these fields in
all lower case letters. This is not asking for your unique information. You
must type in the words “student” and “arthistory” exactly as shown above.)
Once you are logged into MDID you will
see an announcements screen and to the left there will be a list of six words:
Resources, Slideshows, Downloads, Information, Announcements, About. You should
click on SLIDESHOWS.
The Slideshows page shows a list of
slideshows posted by each faculty member using MDID. You must select the name
of your professor from the drop box beside “Slideshow Author.” Your professor
may have organized their slideshows in separate folders. You should check with
your professor about what they are naming each of the slideshows posted for
your course and whether or not you will need to select a different “Folder”
depending on the course. Sometimes a
professor may choose to “lock” their slideshow with a password. If there is a
small lock icon next to the title of the slideshow you wish to view, your
professor will have to give you the password before you can view the images.
Once you see the name of the slideshow
you are looking for, you have three options.
1. If
you click directly on the name of the slideshow this will take you to the
“Slideshow Viewer” where you can see each of the slide individually or in
comparison. You can choose to “hide” the information for that slide or have it
posted to the side, and you can zoom in on details or text.
2. If
you click on the words “Print View” next to the title of the slideshow, it will
show all of the images with their corresponding information, approximately 18
per page. These pages can be printed out before or after class depending on
when your professor posts his/her lecture.
3. If
you click on the words “Flash Cards” next to the title of the slideshow, it
will produce printable flash cards
(three per page) with the images and information.
If the slideshows you are looking for
are not posted, please contact your professor for more information. If you are
having trouble logging onto MDID or using this program, then you can email easchill@uncg.edu, or stop by the slide library, Cone Building- Room 105 and
ask for Emily.
Class Schedule and Readings (Subject to Change!)
1. 8/16 Course introduction.
Participant introductions. HT/HT exhibition: first takes.
Readings
“High Times/Hard Times: New York
Painting 1967-1975”
Gavin Butt, “’America’ and its
Discontents: Art and Politics 1945-60”
[pp. 19-37]
2. 8/25 New York Painting 1967-1975
Readings
Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, de Kooning: An American Master, (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), pp. 323-343. [handout]
Anna Dezeuze, “The 1960s: A Decade
Out-of-Bounds”
[pp. 38-59]
3. 9/1 De Kooning’s Woman and the Problem of the Figure
Readings
Sam
Gathercole, “’I’m sort of sliding around in place ...ummm...”:
Art
in the 1970s” [pp. 60-82]
4. 9/8 Dillard Room Session # 1:
Figuration/Abstraction
Readings
Howard
Singerman, “Pictures and Positions in the 1980s” [pp. 83-106]
5. 9/15 Postmodernism and Photography
Readings
Henry
M. Sayre, “In the Clutches of Time” [pp 107-124]
_________________________________
Please note:
Classes 1-5 have been organized as indicated above. Classes 6-15 will be structured in
collaboration with students. The
readings and general domain of study are indicated below. Please note also the separate listings for
Dillard Room Sessions 3 & 4 scheduled for Oct. 4th and Nov. 15th.
6 & 7 (Sept. 22-29) “Part III:
Aesthetics” [pp. 127187]
8 & 9 (Oct. 6-13) “Part IV:
Politics” [pp. 191-268]
10-11 (Oct. 20-27) “Part V: Identity /
Subjectivity” [pp. 171-400]
12-13 (Nov. 3-10) “Part VI:
Methods/Theories” [pp. 403-489]
14-15 (Nov. 17- Dec. 1) “Part V:
Technology” [pp. 493-581]
Dillard Room Sessions 1-4
1. Sept. 8. Figuration / Abstraction
Philip Pearlstein, “Female Model in Red Robe on a Wrought Iron
Bench”
Andrew Martin, “Bathers”
Esteban Vicente, “Room 113 Red”
2. Sept. 22. African-American Artists
Henry Ossawa Tanner, “Mary”
Romare Bearden, “Conversation Piece”
Robert Colescott, “A Visit from Uncle Charlie”
Elizabeth Catlett, “Sharecropper”
3. Oct. 6. Postmodern Photography
Cindy Sherman
James Casebere
Francesca Woodman
Gregory Crewdson
Yasumasa Morimura
Laurie Simmons
Eileen Cowin
4. Nov. 17. TBA