Annotation
Seminar of Contemporary Art I: What is Contemporary Art?
Lecturer: Mgr. Zuzana Štefková Ph.D.
Tel: 731 512 512; e-mail: zuzana.stefkova@ff.cuni.cz
Consultations: After previous e-mail request in the Institute of Art History, Celetná 20, Prague 1
Class Time: Friday 10:50 am – 12:25 pm
Location: Galleries and locations according to the syllabus
Course Description:
This seminar seeks to acquaint students with different approaches and strategies of contemporary art and introduce a wide range of figures operating within Czech and international contemporary art scene. The seminar will concentrate on the means used by artist to engage with various aspects of the contemporary world and its reflection in the art’s content and form. Together we will explore Prague galleries and art institutions, meet artists and curators and discuss their approaches to art, and the society at large. The choice of the sites of interest will reflect current offer of the local art scene.
Course Requirements:
Oral presentation
Part of the evaluation is a short (10-15 minutes) oral presentation of each student’s final assignment topic. This presentation will be delivered in class, during the two last weeks of the spring semester. The presentation should be spoken or read and include visual aids.
Exhibition journal
Students should keep an exhibition journal throughout the semester with short (max. 1800 characters with spaces) analysis of visited exhibitions. The journal should most importantly show your opinions on how the material viewed in class resonates with your understanding of the contemporary. The journal is due on May 20 (23:59 pm).
Writing Assignment - Final essay
Students are asked to write a paper on topic related to topic of the course. It should most importantly show students’ ability to contextualize the works, exhibitions, curatorial concepts related to the problems of contemporary society and art. The paper must have at least 9000 characters, bibliography, and footnotes (preferably in Chicago style: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html ) Students should feel free to consult their topic and submit the first draft of their paper beforehand. The deadline for choosing the topic is the end of March. Please e-mail the chosen topic to the lecturer by March 31 at the latest. The deadline for submission of the final essay is May 20. Essays delivered after this deadline will by downgraded by 10 %.
Attendance:
It is obligatory to attend at least 50 % of the course. Students with less than 50 % attendance without a reasonable medical cause will fail the course.
Assessment and final grade:
Evaluation: The final grade will be based on the results of in-class presentation of the final paper topic 20 %, final paper 20 %, exhibition journal 30 %, and active participation on the seminar's activities and discussions 30 %.
Required readings:
ARADA, J., KUAN WOOD, J., VIDOKLE, A. (ed.) What is Contemporary Art? Berlin 2010.
DUMBADZE, A., HUDSON, S., Contemporary Art: 1989 to the Present, Chichester 2013.
SMITH, T. What Is Contemporary Art?, Chicago 2009.
STILES, K., SELZ, P. H., Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings, Berkley, Los Angeles, London 1996.