VSA4021

Beyond the museum

Anne Marsh

10 points
* 2 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton

Objectives Students should gain a thorough understanding of the development of alternative art spaces and artists' run initiatives in Australia from the 1960s to the present.

Synopsis The subject will consider the ways in which contemporary artists and theorists have attempted to reform the structure of the art institution. Alternative art practices and spaces in Australia will be considered with reference to events in Europe and America. Seminars will address the development of arts policy in Australia after the formation of the Australia Council in 1968, and students will be expected to read policy documents as well as theoretical and historical texts. The subject will also consider the ways in which various alternative modes of art (conceptual art, informal sculpture. installations, video, performance, political and community art) presented challenges to and critiques of the museum structure. Marxist and feminist initiatives which attempted to `democratise' the art world will be analysed in detail. The concept of the `global village,' which gave rise to the idea and practice of an alternative network for artists, will be examined and the successes and failures of the different initiatives, including recent computer art and electronic networks, will be studied in relation to contemporary theories and arts policy in Australia.

Assessment Two seminar papers (2000 words each): 50%
* Essay (3500 words): 50%

Recommended texts

An Australian accent Institute of Art and Urban Resources Inc, 1984
Foster H (ed.) The anti-aesthetic: Essays on postmodern culture Bay, 1983
Foster H (ed.) Recodings, art spectacle cultural politics Bay, 1985
Marsh A Body and self: Performance art in Australia 1969- 1992 OUP, 1993