Module Details

Module Code: CULT H3701
Module Title: Themes in Contemporary Art
Title: Themes in Contemporary Art and Culture
Module Level:: 7
Credits:: 5
Module Coordinator: Karen Hennessy
Module Author:: Orla Ryan
Domains:  
Module Description: This module aims to give students an expansive understanding of contemporary art and related discourses and practices from the early 90s to the present. The module will analyze the formal, theoretical and discursive strategies which underpin and inform art practitioners through a wide and varied relationship to specific disciplines such as sculpture & expanded practices, painting, media, performance. The module develops learner knowledge of the philosophical, conceptual underpinnings of the rise of interdisciplinarity in art. Importance is placed in contextualizing contemporary Irish art in in relation to broader international currents in art. Significance is placed in expanding learner knowledge of how different art practitioners approach the exhibition of their work in multiple and complex contemporary art landscapes from gallery/museum, to off site, public locations and ephemeral exhibition approaches. Case studies also highlight an increased interest in social engagement, participation and collaborative and process orientated approaches to art engagement.
 
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the learner will be able to:
# Learning Outcome Description
LO1 Identify and describe a variety of artists across different discoursive practices in contemporary art.
LO2 Write a clear and confident article/podcast review developing academic and critical reading and writing skills.
LO3 Formulate a critical discussion on a contemporary art topic, assembling, comparing and assessing a range of readings/podcasts to develop an in-depth discussion on the topic.
Dependencies
Module Recommendations

This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is recommended before enrolment in this module.
No recommendations listed
Co-requisite Modules
No Co-requisite modules listed
Additional Requisite Information
No Co Requisites listed
 
Indicative Content
Themes in Contemporary Art
What do we mean when we say contemporary art rather than modernism or postmodernism? Site Specificity, Site as geographic location to site as discursive site of creative enquiry- Artists engagement with history both uncovering forgotten histories and social histories. Looking at how contemporary artists negotiate ideas of the monument- Artists approach to identity- gender/ sexuality/ race- How is identity constructed? Otherness and Representation, Questions of hybridity vs essentialism- New figurative painting, artists negotiating the mediated body, the performing body- Participatory practices and collaboration - How do artists make work about everyday life? Honouring the ordinary above the spectacle- Defining the Anthropocene, artists response to climate change and ecology- Contemporary responses to our relationship with other species- Artists approach to ecology, looking at both rural and urban contexts
Module Content & Assessment
Assessment Breakdown%
Continuous Assessment100.00%

Assessments

Full Time

Continuous Assessment
Assessment Type Multiple Choice Questions % of Total Mark 10
Timing n/a Learning Outcomes 1
Non-marked No
Assessment Description
Weekly Quiz
Assessment Type Written Report % of Total Mark 30
Timing n/a Learning Outcomes 1,2
Non-marked No
Assessment Description
Article/Video/Podcast Review (word count 500-700)
Assessment Type Project % of Total Mark 60
Timing n/a Learning Outcomes 1,2,3
Non-marked No
Assessment Description
Develop and research a self-directed topic based on an area of the course material that connects to your own creative inquiry. ( Word count 2000.)
No Project
No Practical
No End of Module Formal Examination
Reassessment Requirement
Coursework Only
This module is reassessed solely on the basis of re-submitted coursework. There is no repeat written examination.
Reassessment Description
Marks for all assignments are collated at the end of each semester. If a student fails to complete an assignment, re-assessment can take place if the student obtains the agreement of the lecturer to submit completed work at the end of the semester.

SETU Carlow Campus reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment

 

Module Workload

Workload: Full Time
Workload Type Workload Category Contact Type Workload Description Frequency Average Weekly Learner Workload Hours
Lecture Contact No Description Every Week 2.00 2
Independent Learning Non Contact Reading Viewing, Listening and developing assignments Every Week 4.00 4
Total Weekly Contact Hours 2.00
 
Module Resources
Recommended Book Resources
  • Bishop, Claire. (2011), Installation Art, Tate, [ISBN: 978-18543751].
  • Harris, Jonathan. (2003), Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Painting: Hybridity, Hegemony, Historicism: 5, Liverpool University Press, [ISBN: 978-085323958].
  • Miwon Kwon. (2002), One Place After Another, MIT Press (MA), p.218, [ISBN: 9780262112659].
  • Terry Smith. (2012), What Is Contemporary Art?, University of Chicago Press, p.344, [ISBN: 9780226131672].
  • Stewart, Gareth. (2017), Transmedium, University of Chicago Press, [ISBN: 9780226500874].
  • Claire Bishop. (2006), Participation, MIT, p.207, [ISBN: 9780262524643].
  • Erika Balsom,Hila Peleg. (2016), Documentary Across Disciplines, Mit Press, p.320, [ISBN: 9780262529068].
  • Walead Beshty. (2015), Ethics, MIT, [ISBN: 9780262527187].
  • Claire Bishop. (2012), Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, Verso, [ISBN: 978184467690].
  • Johnstone Stephen Editor. (2008), The Everyday, Mit Press, p.239, [ISBN: 9780262600743].
  • Nato Thompson. (2017), Living As Form, Mit Press, p.264, [ISBN: 9780262534390].
  • William Kentridge. (2014), Six Drawing Lessons, Harvard University Press, [ISBN: 9780674365803].
  • Jean Robertson,Craig McDaniel,Associate Dean and Professor of Fine Art Craig McDaniel. (2016), Themes of Contemporary Art, Oxford University Press, USA, p.464, [ISBN: 9780190276621].
  • Donna Haraway. (2016), Staying with the Trouble (Experimental Futures): Making Kin in the Chthulucene, Duke University Press, [ISBN: 978-082236224].
  • Donna Haraway. (2007), When Species Meet, University of Minnesota Press, [ISBN: 978081665046].
  • D'Alleva, Anne. (2012), Methods and Theories of Art History, 2. Laurence King Publishing, [ISBN: 978185669899].
  • Nicholas Mirzoeff. (2013), The Visual Culture Reader, 3rd. Routledge, [ISBN: 9780415782623].
  • Paul O'Neill. (2016), The Culture of Curating and the Curating of Culture(s), MIT Press, [ISBN: 978026252974].
Supplementary Book Resources
  • Alberro, A & Buchmann. (2006), Art After Conceptual Art, MIT, [ISBN: 9780262511957].
  • Chin-Tao Wu. (2003), Privatising Culture, Verso, p.392, [ISBN: 9781859844724].
  • Fraser,Andrea. (2007), Museum Highlights: The Writings of Andrea Fraser, MIT.
  • Mosquera Gerardo & Fisher Jean,. (2007), Over Here International Perspectives on Art and Culture, MIT, [ISBN: 978-026213440].
  • Petra Lange Berndt. (2015), Materiality, [ISBN: 978-085488237].
  • Julian Stallabrass. (2013), Documentary, MIT, [ISBN: 978-026251829].
  • Melissa Chiu,Benjamin Genocchio. (2011), Contemporary Art in Asia, MIT Press (MA), p.430, [ISBN: 9780262516235].
  • TJ Demos. (2013), The Migrant Image: The Art and Politics of Documentary during Global Crisis, Duke University Press, [ISBN: 978-0-8223-95].
  • TJ Demos. (2013), Return to the Postcolony Specters of Colonialism in Contemporary Art, Sternberg Press, [ISBN: 978-3-943365-].
  • David J. Getsy. (2016), Queer, MIT, [ISBN: 9780262528672].
  • Lucy Steeds. (2014), Documents of Contemporary Art: Exhibition, MIT, [ISBN: 978-085488-22].
 
This module does not have any article/paper resources
Other Resources
Discussion Note: