ART: History+Theory+Cultures

The Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) has a two-stage enrolment process. In stage one, you will enrol via Enrolment Online into our courses for semesters one and two. In stage two, you will select your semester one classes for Fine Art Studio and Workshop classes, and semester one and two classes for ART: History+Theory+Cultures via a preferencing process.

This page will assist you with preferencing. Here you will find a list of potential semester one and two ART: History+Theory+Cultures classes.

(Note: There is a separate page for Fine Art Studio classes and a separate page for Workshop classes.)

You will only take one ART: History+Theory+Cultures class in semester one, but you need to list two (2) preferences. These ART: History+Theory+Cultures classes will be for both second and third year students and will be offered under the following course codes:

ART3: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2403 (2nd year students)
ART4: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2405 (3rd year students)

These are the course codes you enrolled in the stage 1 process.

Read the list below carefully and select two ART: History+Theory+Cultures classes you would be happy to enrol in for 2020.

Please note that HUSO2405 ART 4: History+Theory+Cultures will only be offered in Semester 1, 2020. ART 4: History+Theory+Cultures will also be offered as a Summer School intensive (early-Jan to mid Jan 2020) as part of the Contemporary Asian Art class.

The 2020 preferencing process will be communicated to you by email later this year.

2nd Years - please take note of which semester the class is running and then enrol in a university elective in the alternative semester.

IMPORTANT – You must not repeat any class in your preference lists. Every effort will be made to place you in your first preference classes.

To graduate from the  BP201P16 program you must successfully complete four Art: History+Theory+Cultures courses

Please note: although we would like to offer all of the Art: History+Theory+Cultures options below, classes are subject to viability and may not run if numbers are too low.

Course Information

ART: History+Theory+Cultures

Semester 1

• Art, Society and Politics
• Jewellery Histories
• Media Art Cultures
• Contextualising Practice (ART4 only)

Semester 2

• Lens & Screen
• Modernisms

Semester 1, 2020
ART: History+Theory+Cultures

The following ART: History+Theory+Cultures classes will be running in Semester 1, 2020. If you you would like to take one of these classes in semester 1, you will need to enrol in your university elective course in semester 2.

To take any of the following classes you must be enrolled in either:

HUSO 2403 (2nd year students)
or
HUSO 2405 (3rd year students)

In this class you will focus on the relationship between art and its social and political context. Key topics include: questions of authorship and originality; feminism; queer practices; cultural diversity and identity politics; Indigenous Australian artists and Sovereignty; the artist and the market; collaborative practices; participatory and socially engaged art practices; and political art and activism. You will examine these different ideas and approaches to the social and political context of art through select examples and histories provided in lectures and seminars. These will provide you with strong and diverse cultural, theoretical and historical contexts. The emphasis is on critically engaging and debating the continually changing ideas about art. (This class was previously offered as SOCIAL ROLE OF THE ARTIST, do not select this class option if you have already completed SRA).

This course examines diverse themes, ideas and histories in Gold & Silversmithing. It introduces you to historical and theoretical contexts for precious and wearable objects relevant to contemporary practices. The course will highlight important historical, archaeological and anthropological collections and contexts for objects, with a specialised emphasis on metalsmithing, jewellery and local practices. The course will be delivered through a range of seminars, lectures, and gallery/museum visits.

This course will provide a broad overview and critical understanding of the contemporary media sphere and the role of technology in art practice. You will discuss and explore the origins of the computer in art practice, gender and art & technology, utopianism and art & technology, the de-materialisation of the art object, dead media, bio-art, haunted media, technology and perversity, the body and technology, The aesthetics of malfunction, and post-internet art practice. You will also consider the ways in which technology has fundamentally changed the role of the artist and how one can consider the changing definitions of contemporary art practice through the lens of the emerging technological media landscape. The course will delivered through a range of seminars, lectures, and gallery/museum visits.

This class provides you with a critical and theoretical context for your own art practice. It is open to all third year students and is recommended for students wanting to complete Honours in the future or for those students wanting to apply critical perspectives to their practice.

The class will focus on specialised theoretical and critical approaches and topics to help you to develop a critically reflective approach and to provide you with the skills and methods for applying this to your own practice. This class builds on and extends your previous skills and experiences in A: H+T+C to enable you to critically analyse, evaluate and write about your own art practice and to locate it within the broader context of art. You will participate in guided discussions in seminar classes to critically examine current and historical practices and ideas in art, and in workshops facilitating independent research and skills in writing about art.

Semester 2, 2020
ART: History+Theory+Cultures

The following classes will be offered in Semester 2, 2020.  If you you would like to take one of these classes, you would need to have completed your university elective course in Semester 1.

To take any of the following classes you need to be enrolled in either:

ART2: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO2401 (1st year students)
or
ART3: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2403 (2nd year students)

Lens & Screen covers the development of photography, cinema, video and digital technologies from the 19thC to now. You be introduced to the central theories and practices of these lens & screen based technologies, and their relationship with art practice and visual culture. Some of the key topics that will be covered include: originality, reproduction and appropriation, digital and social media, the documentary and questions of truth and immediacy, the politics of representation, formalism, archive and memory, and experimental technologies. The emphasis of the course is on a critical and expansive approach to lens & screen based technologies and understanding their application across diverse art and cultural practices.

The class introduces you to key developments, terms and concepts of Modernism from a variety of historical and cultural perspectives. You will explore how Modernism emerged and transformed across different cultural and historical contexts. You will be introduced to Euroamerican and Australian histories and contexts of art, and offered perspectives that challenge conventional narratives particularly those operating from eurocentric or chronological viewpoints.

Key topics will focus on practices and ides central to contemporary art: the artist as producer, gestures and processes, industrialisation, the avant-garde, abstraction, originality and reproduction, aesthetics and formalism, and representation and identity. Material will be drawn from diverse practices in art, media, design and architecture. You will be encouraged to critically reflect on these practices and ideas in class and in assessment work.

Flexible Term 2020

Contemporary Asian Art introduces you to a wide range of contemporary art practices and exhibitions from the region, with a focus on China, Japan and Southeast Asia. It locates art practice in relation to social, cultural and historical contexts and developments in Asia and globally. Through a comparative approach, you will explore complex regional and transnational interactions in art. Key topics will include: the definitions of ‘Asia’, ‘modernities’ and ‘contemporary,’ as well as issues of nationalism, globalisation, post-colonial politics, mobility and migration, cultural identity and the social/political agency of art.

This class is a vertical class and you need to enrol in one of the following to participate:

• HUSO2401 ART 2
• HUSO2403 ART 3
• HUSO2405 ART 4
• HUSO2246 Contemporary Asian Art [for those taking this class as an elective or additional option only]

*Please note: The last day to add this course is 11th January, 2020. The census date for this course is 12th January, 2020.

This class is a vertical class and you need to enrol in one of the following to participate:

• HUSO2401 ART 2
• HUSO2403 ART 3
• HUSO2405 ART 4

This course examines select themes, ideas and practices in contemporary art. It introduces you to the relevant historical and theoretical contexts for these themes. Themes and concepts to be covered include aesthetics, formalism, psychoanalysis, identity, the body, surveillance, fashion, politics, and religion/spirituality. This course recognizes the importance of continuities and change in relation to the historical context for contemporary art practice.

Teacher/s: TBC

Contact hours: Intensive over 7 weeks in April -June 2020 (with a week break in the middle). Tutorials will be held on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5:00-7:00pm starting from late April. Lectures will be available online a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the related tutorial.

* Please note: Students are advised to consider workload issues when undertaking 2x AHTC courses at the same time.