SCULPTURE, Art 346b, Sculpture as Image

This studio course presents the myriad effects that an increasingly image-based culture has on sculpture, and then investigates how artists interested in sculpture might respond to these pressures. Beginning with Pop Art and minimalism, this course explores the ways that advertising, media, and the material realities of a global economy persist in “flattening” all manner of things: from the products and streetscapes we see on our television screens, to the “some assembly required” logistics of IKEA, to the very concepts of space and time themselves via the Internet. Associated with this flattening is an equal and persistent desire to penetrate and gain access to every known bit of matter and space, including our minds and bodies. This course combines intensive studio practice with lectures, readings, discussions, and group critiques. A spirit of contestation, cunning, and passive resistance permeates the course. Students enrolled in the course are assigned private or semi-private studios in which to work. The studios and shops will be available 24/7 to enrolled students only. Enrollment limited to twelve. Open to graduate students. Materials fee: $75. Prerequisites: Art 114a or b and one other introductory-level art course. Not offered in 2009–2010]