107-059 Art and Mass Culture in the 1960s

Note

Availability

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

Usually 37.5 points of Art History at second/third year, see Prerequisites

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject uses interdisciplinary methodologies to study the interaction of art and mass culture. The 1960s will be studied as a pivotal moment in the transition from modern to postmodern culture. The visual arts of the 1960s are studied in conjunction with other cultural practices (television, advertising, fashion, popular music) and historical phenomena (the Vietnam War, counter-cultural movements, the rise of consumer culture). Through a series of case studies, the ideological, cultural, artistic and philosophical shifts that we now call postmodernism will be explored. The primary focus will be on the United States, but studies will also incorporate Australia and Europe. Key issues addressed will include: the relationship of art and life (modernist autonomy or postmodernist interaction); the possibilities for agency and activism (protest movements, art as critique of society); shifting notions of subjectivity (counter-cultural spiritualism, communalist subcultures, bureaucratised and mechanised art); modes of consumption (interactive art, fashion, live music); gestures of refusal (neo-primitivism, post-object art, feminism, drug culture).

Assessment

A classpaper of 1000 words, an essay of 2000 words, and a take-home examination of 1000 words for 3rd-year. A classpaper of 1000 words, an essay of 3000 words, and a take-home examination of 1000 words for 4th-year.