ARH 392 (Fall 2017) European Avant- Garde Movements Instructor: David Mather Contact: david.mather@stonybrook.edu Office location: Staller 4208 Location: Staller 3218 Class Day/Time: Mon/Wed 2:30 3:50 PM Office hours: Mon. 1:15 2:15 PM Images (right to left): Henri Lartigue, Grand Prix, 1913; Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913; Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel, 1913/1951; Liubov Popova, textile design, c.1924; poster for Dziga Vertov s Kino- Eye, 1924. Course Description This course covers the history of European modern art beginning with early photography, covering various art movements, and concluding with topics related to the critical reception of avant- garde art during the interwar period. Particular attention will be given to ideas and practices in Europe that marked a radical break from traditional art- making, the role of artists and artistic movements in social and political change, and the relationship of artistic practices to technology, mass media, and visual culture. Course Objectives To be able to identify major artists, artistic styles, and themes of European modern art. To understand different methodological approaches to art historical analysis and to develop the descriptive, technical, and conceptual vocabulary for analyzing individual artworks in verbal and written form. To increase awareness of the capacity of art to communicate ideas and ideologies in visual (non- written) form and to develop visual literacy through the formal analysis of works of art. To augment understanding of how works of art and artistic movements reflect and influence the social, political and historical contexts of their time and place. To continue to develop critical thinking skills through readings, writings, and group discussion. To locate, interpret, and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to research questions. Requirements *Midterm take- home exam (word processor with 1.5 line- spacing, 12- pt font, 1 margins). Each student will answer 3 from a list of 5 prepared questions using only course materials. Please send your answers in a single document as an email attachment (i.e., please do not use Google docs or online sharing apps). Due by email anytime on Sunday, October 15. *Summaries of weekly readings (at least 600 words; approx. 2 pages). Each student chooses 5 different weeks between Wks 2 to 13 to synopsize all the readings for that given Monday (except Wk 2, which is on Wed.); submit on Blackboard by 10AM on the day of class. No summaries accepted after Nov. 20. *Class participation You ll be expected to participate in discussions. Bring questions from the readings, ask informed questions, and otherwise show engagement with the materials. If you d like to present on any of the readings (for which you d receive extra points), let the professor know 2 weeks in advance. *Final take- home exam (word processor with 1.5 line- spacing, 12- pt font, 1 margins). Each student will answer 4 out of 6 questions using only the course materials. Please send a single document as an email attachment (i.e., do not use Google docs or online sharing apps). Due by email end of Friday, Dec. 15.
Avant- Garde Movements (ARH 392) Page 2 Grading (by requirement, listed as a percentage of final grade) 24% Midterm exam 25% Summaries of weekly readings (for any 5 different weeks between Weeks 2 13) 19% Class participation 32% Final exam For final course grades, the following grading scale will be used: B+: 87 89.5 C+: 77 79.5 D+: 67 69.5 A : 93 100 B : 83 86.5 C : 73 76.5 D : 63 66.5 F : 0 59.5 A- : 90 92.5 B- : 80 82.5 C- : 70 72.5 D- : 60 62.5 Textbooks No textbooks required. All readings listed below will be circulated on Blackboard. If you wish to purchase books, we will be using selections from Art Since 1900 (ed. Hal Foster et al) and Inventing Abstraction (MoMA exhibition catalog). Class Protocols Please do not use your mobile devices when in class. Do not make or take calls; do not write text messages during class; do not check your email; do not browse the webm unless related to course subject matter. If you do, you may be asked to leave the classroom for the rest of that scheduled meeting. Phone ringers and other alerts should be inaudible. If there s disruptive whispering or talking beyond your class participation, you may be asked to leave the classroom for the rest of that scheduled meeting. Class Resources and Electronic Communication Blackboard (at web address: blackboard.stonybrook.edu) will be used to provide timely communication of announcements, readings, assignments, and other information. Email sent via Blackboard is one of the ways the instructor officially communicates with you for this course. It s your responsibility to make sure you read your email in your official University email account. If you need technical assistance, contact Client Support at (631) 632-9800 or supportteam@stonybrook.edu. Academic Integrity Cheating is defined as using words or ideas from a published text, the Internet, a friend s paper, or museum labels without proper attribution, which means passing them off as your own. You may use others words and ideas, but you must credit those sources, whether they are directly quoted or not; plus, citing sources will strengthen, not weaken, your arguments. Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Faculty is required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary. For more information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, refer to the academic judiciary website at: www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/ Americans with Disabilities Act If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational Communications Center) Building, Room 128, and (631) 632-6748. They will determine with you what accommodations, if any, are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential. Critical Incident Management Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of others. Faculty are required to report to the Office of Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn. Statement of Student Responsibility Students are responsible for reviewing, understanding, and abiding by University regulations, procedures, requirements, and deadlines as described in all official publications and our websites. These publications include, but are not limited to, the Schedule of Classes, Academic Calendars, Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletins, and Student Advising Handbook.
Avant- Garde Movements (ARH 392) Page 3 Schedule (readings subject to change) Week 1 (Mon., Aug. 28): Overview of Course and Its Topics Structure of the course What topics are covered, and what is expected? Gustav Le Bon, excerpt from The Crowd (1895), Book 1, Ch. 1. Week 1 (Wednes., Aug. 30): Sociohistorical Context Georges Simmel, The Metropolis and Mental Life (1902 1903). Georges Sorel, excerpt from Reflections on Violence (1908); start from 1st full paragraph. Week 2 (Mon., Sept. 4): No Class Labor Day Week 2 (Wednes., Sept. 6): Photography and Early Film Tom Gunning, New Thresholds of Perception. Tom Gunning, The Cinema of Attraction: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant- Garde. Week 3 (Mon. Sept. 11): Matisse (and Postimpressionism) 1906 and 1910 in Art Since 1900. Week 3 (Wednes., Sept. 13): Matisse (cont.) Matisse, Notes of a Painter and other texts from Matisse on Art, ed. Jack Flam. Week 4 (Mon., Sept. 18): Cubism Guillaume Apollinaire, Georges Braque (1908), Modern Painting (1913), and excerpt from The Cubist Painters: Aesthetic Meditations (1913) in A Cubism Reader, ed. Mark Antliff and Patricia Leighton, 2008. 1907 in Art Since 1900 (ed. Hal Foster et al). Week 4 (Wednes., Sept. 20): Cubism (cont.) 1911 and 1912 in Art Since 1900. Week 5 (Mon., Sept. 25): Kandinsky and Der Blaue Reiter Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1913). Leah Dickerman, Vasily Kandinsky: Without Words in Inventing Abstraction MoMA catalog (2012), 50 53. Week 5 (Wednes., Sept. 27): Italian Futurism 1909 in Art Since 1900. F.T. Marinetti, Our Common Enemies (1909) in Critical Writings, Berghaus, ed., 50 52. Week 6 (Mon., Oct. 2): Italian Futurism (cont.) F.T. Marinetti, Destruction of Syntax Untrammeled Imagination Words in Freedom (1913) in Critical Writings, 120 131. Guillaume Apollinaire, Art News: The Futurists (Feb. 1912). Jeffrey Scnapp, Forwarding Address, Stanford Italian Review (1990), 53 80.
Avant- Garde Movements (ARH 392) Page 4 Week 6 (Wednes., Oct. 4): The Delaunays Robert Delaunay, Light (1912) and Image and Craft (ca. 1938 39) and Sonia Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay in The New Art of Color: The Writings of Robert and Sonia Delaunay. Herschel Chipp, Orphism and Color Theory, Art Bulletin 40, no. 1 (March 1958), 55 63. Week 7 (Mon., Oct. 9): Visual Abstraction Leah Dickerman, Inventing Abstraction in Inventing Abstraction MoMA catalog (2012), 13 36. Week 7 (Wednes., Oct. 11): Vorticism Wyndham Lewis (plus Lewis et al), excerpts from Blast! (1914). Matthew Gale, Vorticism: Planetary Abstraction, in Inventing Abstraction catalog, 154 56. **Midterm take- home exam: due by email on Sunday, Oct. 16th (by 11:59PM)** Week 8 (Mon., Oct. 16): Writing Workshop **Bring all your notes from classes and the readings, plus your synopses thus far. Week 8 (Wednes., Oct. 18): Commercial Color Regina Blaszczyk, Ch. 4 Hide and Seek in The Color Revolution (2012), 95 113. Week 9 (Mon., Oct. 23): Dadaism 1914, 1916a, and 1916b in Art Since 1900. Tristan Tzara, Dada Manifesto 1918. Week 9 (Wednes., Oct. 25): Dadaism (cont.) Marcel Duchamp, excerpt from Notes on the Green Box in Salt Seller: The Writings of Marcel Duchamp (1973), 26 45. Week 10 (Mon., Oct. 30): Surrealism Sigmund Freud, The Unconscious (1915). André Breton, First Surrealist Manifesto (1924). André Breton, The Automatic Message in The Automatic Message, 11 32. Week 10 (Wednes., Nov. 1): Surrealism (cont.) Salvador Dalí, Millet s L Angélus, in The Collected Writings of Salvador Dalí, 279 82. Leonora Carrington, The Oval Lady (13 18) and The Beloved (35 37) in The Oval Lady. OPTIONAL: Weekend field trip to MoMA (NYC); to be discussed in class and subject to interest. Week 11 (Mon., Nov. 6): Synchromism Rachel Delue, With Color in Inventing Abstraction catalog, 100 103. Stanton Macdonald- Wright, Treatise on Color (1924) Week 11 (Wednes., Nov. 8): Purism and the Bauhaus Le Corbusier and Amédée Ozenfant, Purism (1920). Walter Gropius, The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus (1923).
Avant- Garde Movements (ARH 392) Page 5 Week 12 (Mon., Nov. 13): Russian avant- garde 1915 in Art Since 1900. Texts from Light and Colour in the Russian Avant- Garde (2005; in English): Kazimir Malevich, Suprematism as Pure Knowledge (470), Light and Colour (471), and Suprematism (519); Ivan Kliun, Light and Colour, Light, Sweetness (447 449); Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, Rayonists and Futurists: Manifesto (457 458); Syrago Tsiara, The Colour of Revolution (490 493). Osip Brik, Photography versus Painting (1926). Week 12 (Wednes., Nov. 15): Russian avant- garde (cont.) Dziga Vertov, We: Variant of a Manifesto (5 9), The Birth of Kino- Eye (40 42), and The Man with a Movie Camera (82 85), in Kino- Eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov (1984). Week 13 (Mon., Nov. 20): Russian avant- garde (cont.) Christina Kaier, The Socialist Object, in Imagine No Possessions (2005), 1 38. Week 13 (Wednes., Nov. 22): No class Happy Thanksgiving Week 14 (Mon., Nov. 27): Walter Benjamin s Artwork essay Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility (2nd version, 1935 36), in Selected Writings, Volume 3; 1935 1938 (2002), 101 33. Week 14 (Wednes., Nov. 29): Professionalization Workshop **Bring copies of your resumé to revise** Week 15 (Mon., Dec. 4): Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg, Avant- Garde and Kitsch. T. J. Clark, Clement Greenberg s Theory of Art, Critical Inquiry (Sept. 1982). Week 15 (Wednes., Dec. 6): Wrap Up and Final Exam Review **Final take- home exam handed out: due via email by the end of Dec. 15th (i.e., 11:59PM)