TAD2121*

Contemporary art and design in Europe A

6 points - 104 hours of lectures, tutorials and site visits on locations in Europe and 52 hours of independent study - Third semester - Caulfield - Prerequisites: TAD1101 and TAD1102 - Corequisites: none - Prohibitions: TAD2131 - Elective - Note: Incurs substantial travel and accommodation costs which are to be paid by the student to the tour provider. May be taken as an elective subject by students of any faculty including art and design - TAD2131 is an 8 credit points version of this subject.

Objectives On the successful completion of this course students will be able to identify and explain pivotal examples of art and design from the 19th and 20th centuries; identify and describe major locations associated with particular art and design developments; critically comment on historic and contemporary works in several major collections of art; participate in critical evaluation of the styles, concepts, cultural contents and values of selected examples of art and design; refer to documentation in a research journal which catalogues their critical and analytic responses to what they have seen; recognise and understand how art, architecture, space and even cities work as documents of events; perceive and experience the deeper level of contemporary art and design rather than to study it second hand, and thereby enrich their own capabilities in art or design.

Synopsis It is intended that places visited will include cities such as Venice, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Paris. In Germany the program will centre upon a number of magnificent new museums in Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen and Dusseldorf. A number of these, opened in the late 80s and the 90s, combine fine historical collections with excellent corpuses of 20th century European and American art and design which will permit a balanced appraisal of contemporary visual culture. There will be an opportunity to study American art in the decades from 1950 to 1980 and the emergence of the new European avant-garde in the last fifteen years. In Paris the course will trace the development of modernism from its roots in the late 18th century, to the School of Paris and shall look at the city capital from the point of view of a unique artistic environment in order to discern the qualities which give it a specific artistic ethos and international reputation. The relationship between 20th century art movements and contemporary design will be an important aspect of the study. The locations may vary slightly from year to year in order to incorporate particularly relevant new exhibitions into the study.

Assessment Two reports (1250 words each), 50%; research journal (2000 words), 50%.

Prescribed texts

Theory of Art and Design Department/Australians Studying Abroad Handbook for contemporary art and design in Europe

Recommended texts

Boyne R and Ali R (eds) Post-modernism and society St Martins Press, 1990
Chipp H B (ed.) Theories of modern art University of California Press, any edition
Finke U German painting from romanticism to expressionism Thames and Hudson, 1974
Hoffert B and others Art in diversity Longman, 1995
Janson H W History of art Abrams, 1991 or other
Rosenblum R and Janson H W Art of the nineteenth century Thames and Hudson, 1984

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