760-241 Surrealism and the Creative Imagination

Formerly available as 760-331. Students who have completed 760-331 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. BA students amy credit this subject to an art history or cinema studies major.

12.5 points of first year visual arts theory or equivalent.

This subject includes programmed study which examines and analyses the art and related critical writing of the 1920s and the 1930s in the context of the major aesthetic movements and schools of thought in contemporary Europe and Australia. Topics explored may include surrealist art, theory and aesthetics; Dada and the art of revolt; art, irrationality and creativity; psychoanalysis and the role of the imagination; automatism and the arts; literature and the arts; the Bloomsbury group; British art between the wars; modernist sculpture; and the development of the avant-garde. Students will have the opportunity to study relevant theory and the manifestoes, visit galleries, view films, and read the literature of the period with emphasis upon the formation, manifestation and influence of early modernist aesthetic precepts.

• be able to conduct research through competent use of the library and other information sources, and through defining areas of enquiry and methods of research;

• demonstrate teamwork through joint performance preparation;

• demonstrate time management, independent organization and planning;

• communicate knowledge in oral, written and/or creative form.

Written work totaling 4000 words comprising an essay of 2500 words 50% (due at the end of semester), a seminar class presentation of 45 minutes duration comprised of a verbal presentation 10% together with a written synoptic paper of 1,500 words 20% (both of which are due in class through individual negotiation), and regular attendance and satisfactory participation in tutorials and workshops 10%. A hurdle requirement of a minimum 80% attendance is required.