Art and Ideas

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Welcome to Art and Ideas: Theory and Research in Contemporary Art. This course examines critical theory and research as an intellectual foundation for the production of contemporary art. Students will analyze key texts and artworks, focusing especially on conceptual, performative, and interventionist works, as they develop a conceptual framework for their own artistic practice. Special emphasis will be placed on examining contemporary art and artists in cultural, socio-political, economic, and pedagogical contexts.

Contents

Course Instructor

Assignments

1. Social Sculpture
7,000 Oaks by Joseph Beuys - planted between 1982 and 1987 for Documenta 7 (1982)
Moving Forest by NLArchitects 2008

"Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and inform our lives." (Joseph Beuys)

Joseph Beuys believed in the power of universal human creativity as well as art's potential to bring about revolutionary change. These ideals are embodied in his notion of the universal artwork (gesamtkunstwerk) and more specifically social sculpture, wherein society as a whole was to be regarded as one great work of art to which each person can contribute creatively. Beuys argued for an expanded conception of art in which every human being - in their inherent freedom, creativity and transformative power - is potentially an artist.

This theory was put into action in Beuys's 7,000 Oak Trees (1982) a work of land art that was created for Documenta 7, an exhibition of modern and contemporary art that happens every five years in Kassel, Germany.

First, Beuys delivered a large pile of basalt stones, which, when seen from above formed large arrow pointing to a single oak tree that he had planted. Next, he announced that the stones should not be moved unless an oak tree was planted in the new location of the stone. With the help of volunteers, the artist was able to plant seven thousand trees over several years, each with an accompanying basalt stone. The last tree was planted on the opening of Documenta 8.

Beuys intended this project to be the first stage in an ongoing program of tree planting throughout the world as part of a global mission to effect environmental and social change. On this note, he stated:

The planting of seven thousand oak trees is thus only a symbolic beginning. And such a symbolic beginning requires a marker, in this instance a basalt column. The intention of such a tree-planting event is to point up the transformation of all of life, of society, and of the whole ecological system . . .


(Due: TBA) Working individually, students will design, conceptualize, undertake and document a social sculpture. Students will submit a project proposal that includes a succinct description (200 words) that outlines all conceptual and logistical considerations (participants, location, time frame, documentation strategy, safety and legal dimensions, etc.).

Students must also write a 250 word artist statement outlining the nature and goals of their social sculpture and must present video and/or photographic documentation of their project in class.

2. Critical Catalog Essay

(Due: TBA) The critical catalogue essay (1250-1500 words) offers you the opportunity to theorize your artistic practice and to create an extended artist statement about your work. As such, you are expected to critically engage with the concepts and ideas you've been exploring through your studio practice over the summer and articulate them through writing.

Contemporary art cannot be created in social, cultural, political, economic, philosophical, or historical isolation. The romantic ideal of the heroic artist working alone in her studio waiting for inspiration is essentially a modernist myth. You may wish to also consider the Situationist International's concept of unitary urbanism which included an ongoing campaign to remove the artificial separation between art and life.

As such, your work as an artist is always situated within the time, place, culture, historical moment, etc that you live in. By producing and showing work, you as an artist are engaging in, building upon, and contributing to an ongoing dialogue with past artworks, cultural symbols and signs, cultural movements, historical narratives, social issues and movements, etc. Part of your job for this assignment then is to identify and highlight the connections between these phenomena and your own artistic practice.

Some questions you may want to consider as you develop your essay: What is your work about? What ideas/concepts are you exploring through your studio practice? What questions are your raising? What feelings, memories or responses are you trying to evoke? What argument(s) are you making through your work? What message(s) are you attempting to convey? What ideas are you attempting to articulate? What theories and theorists are you drawing upon? What historical movements/moments does your work speak to? What past artworks or artists are you responding to and/or drawing upon for inspiration? How does your chosen medium and/or mode of expression achieve your intended goals?

Submission Procedure: Please email completed papers by or before August 22nd to: darts[at]nyu[dot]edu

3. Daily Assignments and Personal Engagement

Students are expected to regularly attend class and actively engage in ALL discussions, exercises, and activities. The course carries a heavy load and students are expected to complete all of the daily readings and homework assignments before the beginning of each class.

Course Readings

Books (Selected Sections)

Course Viewings

Supplemental Resources

Contemporary Art Blogs

Accessories for Lonely Men by Noam Toran
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