Critica l Studies and History of Art MFA students in 2D, 3D, Film/Video, Interrelated Media (SIM) and Photography gain skills in critical thinking, discourse and theory in the required courses, Graduate SeminarsI and II and Graduate Contemporary Art. Graduate students from all programs may enroll in the courses below as electives with advisor approval.
Critical Studies and History
art. Through this close reading and close
politics, globalization, relational aesthet-
of Art Courses
viewing, students come to understand
ics, conceptualism, and the ideology
the complexity of trying to translate
of consumerism. Major artists, move-
Graduate Seminar I and II (Required for
one’s unstructured interactions with art
ments, and themes in contemporary
MFA students except Dynamic Media)
into another medium (language) that
art, are introduced including geometric
The MFA seminar provides a forum for
seems to promise greater communicabil-
and gestural abstraction, conceptual
the observation and analysis of meth-
ity than the original image, object, act,
Art, institutional critique, earth art,
ods and practices in the contemporary
performance, and so on.
political intervention, feminism and art,
art world. Through dialogue, critique,
neo-expressionism, postmodernism,
writing, curating, and studio produc-
Artists Professional Practice;
video, performance and installation art.
tion, students are exposed to signifi-
A History and Practicum
Emphasis is on how our understanding
cant contemporary discourse in studio,
How does an art-maker become a pro-
of the history of art since the 1960s is
curating, writing, research, collaboration,
fessional artist? This course explores the
continually being reframed by critical
and professional practices. Assignments
unavoidable and often uneasy relation-
debate.
provide parameters for the integration
ship between art and commerce, the
of research, social, verbal, and creative
overlapping spheres of the ‘art world,’
Survey of Video Art, 1968–2010
productions to both feed student’s own
and strategies for emerging artists to
In this course we trace the new an-
work and to support their understanding
situate their practice effectively within
swers and new questions formulated
of the place their work occupies in the
these different contexts. Using a frame-
by selected video artists over the last
world today. Processes of self-investiga-
work of readings about historic and
forty years. Throughout the semester,
tion, collaboration with colleagues, and
contemporary studio and professional
we study these two trajectories themati-
critiquing institutional practice are fos-
practice combined with practicum, this
cally. Artists’ investigations of video-im-
tered as tools for clarification of ideas,
course helps artists learn how to develop
aging tools, signal processing, recorders,
experimentation with new forms, and
a financial plan to sustain a professional
magnetic tape, and CRT screens may
deepening of thought. The two-semester
art practice; recognize the overlapping
continue in surprising ways the modern-
course sequence offers an introduction
spheres of the ‘art world’ and under-
ist tradition of a medium’s self-reflexivity
to the many institutional and alternative
stand how work is situated and inter-
(and so offer new answers to existing
practices today. Assignments include:
preted within those contexts; speak and
questions). Alternatively, experimenta-
readings, discussion leading, curatorial
write effectively about their practices;
tion with audience behavior, criticism of
revisioning project, and a significant cre-
and develop and sustain professional
broadcast television, and women’s use of
ative project investigating the sources of
relationships.
video as a medium untainted by patriar-
one’s own practice.
chy amount to fresh areas of exploration Art after Modernism
(so, new questions). Students watch two
Graduate Contemporary Art (Required
The range of approaches and interpre-
hours of video each week in preparation
for MFA students except Dynamic Media)
tations of the meaning and purpose of
for classroom discussion. In addition to
In this course we analyze selected
contemporary art has expanded to levels
viewing the works themselves, students
contemporary artworks by applying
never before seen. How do we make
analyze several kinds of written ac-
concepts from writings of the twentieth
sense of this seemingly chaotic land-
counts—by artists, by art critics, and by
and twenty-first centuries. Some of the
scape where often directly conflicting
art historians—surrounding video art
assigned essays come from the fields
interpretations of art making coexist?
practices from 1968 to the present.
of philosophy, psychology, and literary
This course introduces major issues in
criticism but now have a far broader sig-
contemporary art and criticism that help
nificance across the arts and humanities.
negotiate the relationship between art
We consider to what degree this popu-
making and global art worlds. It takes
larity is justified. Students determine
a critical and historiographic perspec-
where these essays are most and least
tive on major social/aesthetic problems
useful for thinking about contemporary
such as expression, abstraction, identity
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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