AHT 280 Contemporary Art: From the New York School to the Present
This course focuses on the history of contemporary art from 1945 to the present, paying particular attention to developments in European and North American art within an increasingly global culture. Topics include: reactions to modernism and its discourses, the dematerialization of art and the rise of conceptualism, activist art and institutional critique, site-specific and time-based art, postmodernist discourses and aesthetics as well as historical mindedness in contemporary art practices. The course will place a particular focus on the relation between the art object and the artist's intention/idea. The role of institutions within the art world will be analyzed in relation to the development of process based practices. Particular emphasis will be put on the theoretical writings of artists and critics. Visits to Contemporary Art museums will be included.