2008–09 CalArts Annual Report
15
James Wiltgen, co-director of the ma Aesthetics and Politics Program.
Now in its second year, the School of Critical Studies’ Master of Arts (ma) Aesthetics and Politics Program serves as a unique forum for artists and scholars to survey and contribute to contemporary aesthetic, critical and political discourse. This highly concentrated one-year program is designed for artists who seek to deepen the theoretical and political dimensions of their work, and for Bachelor of Arts (ba), Bachelor of Fine Arts (bfa) or Master of Fine Arts (mfa) degree holders who wish to combine artistic practice with a scholarly career, says Program Co-Director James Wiltgen. The program currently has a complement of nine ma candidates and seven core faculty members. But with applications for 2010–11 up by more than 30 percent over the previous year, Wiltgen adds, the faculty is aiming to enroll at least 10 students next fall. “The ma Aesthetics and Politics Program takes as its focus what the work of art does, that is, how it functions, in the public sphere,” Wiltgen explains. “How does it impact not just any given viewer but larger reading communities, larger blocks of critical thinkers who write about aesthetics?”
Core courses include three seminars on contemporary political theory, aesthetics, and critical discourse in the arts, as well as a thesis workshop. Electives, meanwhile, allow students to further explore topics such as comparative politics, global and postcolonial studies, and new and emerging aesthetic forms and technologies. The program also has its own guest speaker series. To obtain the ma degree, students are required to complete a thesis project over the summer following the second semester. “Our students have varying backgrounds,” Wiltgen points out. “Some are more theoretical; some are more artistic, like one student with a theater background who wants to read Adorno to enhance his understanding of Beckett; and some are curatorial—those who want to have a better command of politics and art so they can curate with a more sophisticated approach.” What kinds of projects are being pursued by Aesthetics and Politics students? “One of my two mentees,” says Wiltgen, “is working on Foucault’s analysis of schools in Austria and Chicago in relation to contemporary neoliberalism and the economic meltdown. The other mentee has a music bfa from CalArts. He is looking at how politics is shaping contemporary music, using Gustavo Dudamel at the LA Phil as one example. “One of the chief motivations behind this program is to enhance the interaction between critical and creative thinking, so that scholars and artists can work together to reflect on art and the artmaking process.”
New Academic Programs and Initiatives