AHT3138 - Space, place and society - 2017

This unit focuses on the representation, design, experience and interpretation of space, both in Australia and abroad. Concepts of space and place are central to any understanding of modern society and culture and are at the forefront of scholarship and thought in several disciplines. This unit considers the aesthetics, politics and ethics of a wide range of social spatial environments, discourses and environments, with a particular emphasis on the ideas of space as inclusion and space as exclusion.

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

1. Be aware of current discourses in art, indigenous studies, public space and architecture that deal with the representation, experience and interpretation of space;
2. Be able to identify the social dynamic in key examples of recent art, architectural and design practice concerned with the articulation of place and spatial experience;
3. Have an awareness of how the notion of place differs across the various historical, cultural and political circumstances in which art is made;
4. Have acquired a good understanding of the multiple ways in which space is articulated and experienced within an Australian context that is grounded in Indigenous culture and history;
5. Have developed the skills to perform a critical analysis of spatial environments;
6. Have become aware of the theoretical and cultural precedents for and dimensions of their own practice.

Assignment 1,500 words (40%)

Research essay 2,500 words (60%)

12 hours per week including 3 contact hours and 9 hours of independent study or equivalent.

See also Unit timetable information

Professor Rex Butler

12 credit points at second year level in Art History and Theory, or Theory of Art and Design, or Visual Culture, or permission from Unit Coordinator

TAD2138, AHT2138, AHT3138