ART: History+Theory+Cultures


Please ensure you have enrolled in the ART: History+Theory+Cultures course in enrolment online before proceeding with preferencing.

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

The ART: History+Theory+Cultures classes will be for both first and second year students and will be offered under the following course codes:

ART2: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2401 (1st year)
ART3: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2403 (2nd year)

For year 2 students if you you would like to take one of these classes, you would need to have completed your university elective course in Semester 1.

Please check your student email for details about how to preference for Semester 2.

Preferencing opened on Friday 19th June and closes on Friday 26th June at 5pm (sharp). You can submit your preference via the form here.

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

IMPORTANT – You must not repeat any class in your preference lists. Every effort will be made to place you in your first preference classes. In addition, you must not repeat a class you have already completed.

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


  • Course Coordinator
  • Teacher
  • Contact hours
  • Location
  • Open to all students

Semester 2, 2020
ART: History+Theory+Cultures


    Semester 2

    • Lens & Screen
    • Modernisms

      DOUGLAS GORDON, SELF-PORTRAIT OF YOU + ME (JAMES CAGNEY), 2006, SMOKE AND MIRROR, 30 X 27-1/2 INCHES (76.2 X 69.9 CM). SOURCE: GAGOSIAN

      Lens & Screen


      • Dr Ian Haig
      • TBC
      • Mondays – 1hr lecture followed by a 2hr seminar class (Times TBC)
      • Online
      • Open to art 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.


      Image Credit: Meret Oppenheim, Eichhörnchen [Squirrel], 1969 fur, glass, plastic foam no.38 from an edition of 100 not signed or dated 23.0 (h) x 17.5 (w) x 8.0 (d) cm. Source: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. NGA 2008.931 © Meret Oppenheim. Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia.

      Meret Oppenheim, Eichhörnchen [Squirrel], 1969 fur, glass, plastic foam no.38 from an edition of 100 not signed or dated 23.0 (h) x 17.5 (w) x 8.0 (d) cm. Source: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. NGA 2008.931 © Meret Oppenheim. Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia.

      Modernisms


      • TBA – contact Dr Tassia Joannides
      • TBC
      • Mondays – 1hr lecture followed by a 2hr seminar class (Times TBC)
      • Online
      • Open to art students

      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



        BANKSY, ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (2006), SOURCE: https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/is-there-an-elephant-in-the-room/

        BANKSY, ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (2006), SOURCE: https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/is-there-an-elephant-in-the-room/

        HUSO2401 / 2403 / 2405 Theme and Variation


        • Contact Tassia Joannides
        • Start Wednesday 29 April 2020; Finish Thursday 11 June 2020. Assessment 1: Friday 22 May 2020; Assessment 2: Friday 19 June 2020. Wednesday 29 April + Friday 1 May; Wednesday 6 May + Friday 8 May; Wednesday 13 May + Friday 15 May; Wednesday 27 May + Friday 29 May; Wednesday 3 June + Friday 5 June; Wednesday 10 June + Friday 12 June
        • Lectures: will be available online a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the tutorial; Tutorials: 5:00 to 7:00pm
        • Open to all students

        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.