OPEN , SEMINAR—SPRING Since the early 20th century, artists have explored performance art as a radical means of expression. In both form and function, performance art pushes the boundaries of contemporary art. Through this form of expression, artists have produced powerful works about the body and the politics of gender, sexuality, and race. This course surveys performance art as a porous, transdisciplinary medium open to students from all disciplines, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, video, filmmaking, theatre, dance, music, creative writing, and digital art. Students will learn about the history of performance art and explore some of the concepts and aesthetic strategies used to create works of performance. Drawing on historical and critical texts, artists’ writings, video screenings, and slide lectures, students will use a series of simple prompts to help shape their own performances. Artists and art movements surveyed in this class include Dada, Happenings, Fluxus, Viennese Actionism, Gutai Group, Act-Up, Joseph Beuys, Judson Church, Ana Mendieta, Gina Pane, Helio Oiticica, Jack Smith, Leigh Bowery, Rachel Rosenthal, Jo Spence, Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, Bas Jan Ader, Terry Adkins and the Lone Wolf Recital Corps, Carolee Schneemann, Martha Wilson, Adrian Piper, Martha Rosler, Lorraine O’Grady, Joan Jonas, Karen Finley, Janine Antoni, Patty Chang, Papo Colo, Paul McCarthy, Matthew Barney, Ron Athey, Orlan, Guillermo Gomez Pena, Narcissister, Annie Sprinkle, Vaginal Davis, Kris Grey, Carlos Martiel, Autumn Knight, Amanda Alfieri, Hennessey Youngman, Savannah Knoop, Shaun Leonardo, Francis Alys, Andrea Fraser, Tania Bruguera, Zhang Huan, Regina Jose Galindo, Aki Sasamoto, Pope.L, and many more.

Sophomore And Above, Seminar—Spring Taking inspiration from art history, literature, and cinema, students will be introduced to a variety of approaches on how to construct narratives in the language of contemporary painting. What is narrative, and can it be expressed abstractly as well as literally? How can color, value, and mark-making be used in painting to create a narrative progression and a passage of time? Students will explore various narrative themes, sourcing from autobiography, political events, literature, films, mediated images, and other personally relevant content. Observational painting will be used as a point of departure to examine various strategies in order to construct a visual world. Students will proceed to develop technical and conceptual skills that are crucial to the painting process. The work will fluctuate between in-class projects and homework assignments. The curriculum will be supplemented with PowerPoint presentations, film screenings, selected readings, and group critiques.

OPEN , CONCEPT—SPRING This course introduces students to architectural drawing, with a particular focus on experimental and hybrid forms of spatio-temporal representation on both paper and digital mediums. Fundamentals of orthographic and perspectival projection and drawing conventions, as well as the role of notation and the diagram, will be combined with the creative use of imaging, time-based media, geographic information systems, and other digital tools. We will draw heavily from notational techniques used in a wide variety of fields, including film, photography, music, anatomy, botany, and geology. Recognizing that the mediated space of the studio under remote learning is a result of the physical separation of the air that we breathe, we will also pay close attention to spatially representing invisible and ephemeral phenomena such as air flow, ventilation, and environmental factors. The physical and virtual space of the classroom itself will be one of our many sites of spatial inquiry. This course is open to all skill levels, and while prior experience with digital tools is helpful, it is not required.

OPEN , SEMINAR—SPRING This studio continues the enclosure and environment thematic from spring 2020; it is open to new students, as well as to continuing students. This design studio introduces students to architectural design, with architecture’s capacity as enclosure to produce alternate climates, biomes, and ecologies forming the major conceptual framework for studio projects. The studio will explore, through research and design speculation, the history and possible futures of the architecture of the nonhuman world. From very early on, we will be aware of the widest possible range of spatial and temporal scales: from the microscopic and instantaneous, to the planetary scale, to the longue durée of geological time. Landscape and environmental factors will be treated as architectural fundamentals integral to the design process rather than as supplemental components or afterthoughts. Consequently, projects will be highly attuned to natural history, climate, and site specificity. Creative work will be advanced through successive assignments and design briefs that increase in scale and complexity over the semester. Prior experience with hand drafting, digital drawing, and physical and digital modeling is beneficial but not a requirement.