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This is an integrated introduction to Art History and Material Culture, providing you with an up-to-date, varied and critical 'toolkit' for thinking about art, architecture and objects. The discipline of Art History has a history of its own, and as you will see, this distorts what we understand about art and about 'things'.
The course explores issues and ideas that have been critical to shifts taking place in art and visual culture since 1945, including:• debates regarding modernism/postmodernism;• the breakdown of traditional categories and the emergence of new modes of engagement, and new media in the visual arts;• the political and ethical concerns of contemporary art;• and interactions between art, popular culture and everyday life.(Image: Ash Keating, "Concrete Propositions", 2012. Presented by Gap Filler and Christchurch Art Gallery.)
By the end of this course, students will have developed:1. Knowledge of key critical debates that have shaped the study of contemporary art history.2. Ability to locate contemporary art practices within their social, historical and theoretical contexts.3. An awareness of the development of contemporary art in Aotearoa New Zealand and how this relates to international trends.4. Gain an understanding of the local contemporary art environment.5. The ability to critically evaluate evidence and present well-reasoned arguments.6. Strong communication, research and visual/object analysis skills.
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:
Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award
Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.
Rosie Ibbotson
Please check the course LEARN page for further details and updates.
There is no set text for this course; however, Brandon Taylor’s 'Art Today', London, Laurence King Publishing, 2005, is recommended and provides an overview of some of the key ideas addressed in the course.This book is on 3-hour loan in the Central Library.
Library portal
Domestic fee $894.00
International fee $4,100.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Humanities .