30470 - CRITICAL APPROACHES TO THE ARTS II - MODULE I (CONTEMPORARY ART)

CLEACC (6 credits - I sem. - OBS  |  L-ART/03)

Course Director:
PAOLA NICOLIN

Classes: 31 (I sem.)

Instructors:
Class 31: PAOLA NICOLIN

The course offers an argument about the relationship between art and education as a tool of analysis and rethinking of production and reception of contemporary art. In a historical and critical perspective, the lessons deal with the theme since the second half of the twentieth century and then focus on individual contexts and characters, so as to make more explicit how far this relationship has influenced the redefinition of artistic institution. The discourse focuses thus on the relationship between the development of educational system in capitalist societies, the shifting model of the art institution (and the consequent rethinking of the spaces dedicated to the knowledge and experience of the artwork within a discursive dimension), and the concerns/attention of the artists that make education an artistic practice itself. In this perspective, the course covers the blurring idea of artistic institution today (art museum) through the analysis of contemporary art participatory practices that have looked and still look at the dialogue between art and pedagogy as fertile ground, testing the theoretical assumptions of their work.

The course is divided into sixteen lessons and on site visits, it takes place in a seminar format and is structured by paying attention to the experience, evaluation and revision of the content offered in the classroom.
A first introductory section is devoted to the debate on the role of art in education systems (Read, 1943) and the notion of interweaving disciplines as a condition of the production of knowledge (Dorner, 1947).
The following focuses on the critical literature on art and pedagogy of the second half of the twentieth century, through reference figures, such as Joseph Beuys, Irit Rogoff, Michael Asher, Andrea Fraser, Mike Kelly whose work has a strong legacy in the redesign of the institution "school/museum", "art/production of knowledge", "art/life".
Later lessons focus on individual case studies dedicated to contemporary artists and events, which address the latest developments in the relationship between art and education, organized by topic area (participation and consumption, knowledge and empowerment, rule and criticism, certainty and uncertainty).

Oral exam based on the topic dealt in class and on the bibliography indicated by the lecturer.
All materials dealt in class are uploaded on e-learning and made available for an optional reading (pdf of the classes' slides, readings of artists, teaching notes).
The full classes planning is communicated at the beginning of the course.

• Course reserve and readings on e-learning.
• F. Allen (edit by), Education, Documents of Contemporary Art, Whitechapel Gallery, London, MIT press, Cambridge – MA, 2011.
  

We warmly recommend to all students to visit the following Milanese museum and institutes: Museo Archeologico, Castello Sforzesco,
Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Pinacoteca Braidense – Accademia di Brera, Museo del 900, Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano, Museo studio Francesco Messina, Hangar Bicocca.