Theories of art
K E Bensley
6 points * 3 seminar hours per week * First semester * Gippsland * Prerequisites: Completion of two second-year level history and theory of art subjects
Objectives By the completion of this subject students are expected to have demonstrated that they have an understanding of how other forms of knowledge, especially those dervived from psychology, social theory, philosophy and aesthetics, and contemporary critiques of these forms of knowledge, have a bearing on the production and evaluation of contemporary art; that they can confidently produce appropriate critical analyses of contemporary art, including their own, by locating artworks correctly within the context of relevant theory; that they can use conceptual and critical language with accuracy and facility.
Synopsis This subject will examine a range of theoretical and critical approaches to art. The subject will include topics selected from among the following, not all of which will be offered in any given year: classical theories of aesthetics and philosophy of art; contemporary philosophy of art; methodologies of criticism; psychoanalysis and art; the psychology of visual pleasure; the deconstruction of visual pleasure; issues in modernism and postmodernism, including formalism, anti-art and radicalism, feminism and art, the institutionalisation of art, and mass culture. Intending students should consult one of the subject advisers prior to the commencement of the subject for information on the current year's selection of topics and texts.
Assessment Two written papers (one of which may be a seminar paper in the case of internal students) 3000 words each: 50% each
Prescribed texts
Bryson N and others Visual theory: Painting and interpretation Polity Press, 1991
Frascina F and Harris J (eds) Art in modern culture: An anthology of critical texts Phaidon/Open University, 1992
Recommended texts
(Students should consult the subject adviser before purchasing texts.)
Alperson P (ed.) The philosophy of the visual arts OUP, 1992
Appignanesi L (ed.) Postmodernism (ICA documents) Free Association, 1989
Burger P Theory of the avant-garde, U Minnesota P, 1984
Foster H (ed.)The anti-aesthetic: Essays in post-modern culture Bay, 1983
Grosz E Sexual subversions Allen and Unwin, 1989
Hertz R and Klein N M Twentieth-century art theory: Urbanism, politics, and mass culture Prentice-Hall, 1990
Lyotard J-F The post-modern condition: A report on knowledge Manchester UP, 1984
Pollock G Vision and difference: Femininity, feminism and the histories of art Routledge, 1988
Rees A L and Borzello F (eds) The new art history Camden, 1986
Rose M The post-modern and the post-industrial: A critical analysis CUP, 1991
Wallis B (ed.) Art after modernism: Rethinking representation New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1984
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