Contemporary Art in the Museum
Overview
- Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
- Tutors: Dr Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Natasha Adamou, Bergit Arends
- Assessment: a 3000-word essay (100%)
Module description
The notion of 'time-based media' describes a range of forms of artistic expression with a durational dimension, including:
- video
- performance
- sound art.
These expressions often depend on technology, yet they also have live and participative components, leading some to argue that time-based media is literally alive. This constitutes a significant challenge for their exhibition and collection, a challenge that ought to be faced by the twenty-first-century global museum.
In this module we will approach a range of contemporary artworks through an in-depth understanding of the nature of time - seen from philosophical, anthropological and art historical perspectives - and its importance in the field of art. We also reflect on the presence of time-based media in exhibition spaces, exploring different curatorial and conservation strategies, while taking into account the nature of time-based media spectatorship.
Indicative syllabus
- Definitions of time and their importance in artistic practice produced in Western and non-Western contexts after the 1960s
- Discussions of time in art historical historiography
- Meaning of 'the contemporary' and 'contemporaneity'
- Existing analytical frameworks to discuss and describe time-based media as contemporary art
- Scope and characteristics of video, internet and information art
- Scope and characteristics of performance, dance and sound art
- The role of time-based art in global curatorial debates and curatorial strategies to exhibit 'liveness'
- Social and political contexts in which works of time-based art have gained a political significance
- Presence of time-based art in museums and collections
- Complexities of time-based art in archives, documentation and conservation
Learning objectives
By the end of this module, you will:
- have critical knowledge of key works of time-based media produced globally since the 1960s
- have a detailed knowledge of the scope and characteristics of time-based media, and the challenges it presents to museums, galleries and private collections
- be able to analyse visually, aurally and through other senses works ranging from video and performance to software
- have an awareness of the social and political contexts in which certain works of time-based media have gained a political significance
- be familiar with current debates and approaches to the subject (within the fields of both theory and practice).