1641.20 - Always Coming Home: Lab For Ecocriticism, Posthumanism and New Materialism In Art.

1641.20

Always Coming Home: Lab For Ecocriticism, Posthumanism and New Materialism In Art.

5

Upper secondary diploma or equivalent qualifications.

The purpose of this course is to reinforce students’ artistic processes by equipping them with tools to create and understand art in relation to a larger artistic, human and social whole. Students learn to interpret and write about their own works and thereby also to understand their role as artists.

Nature and landscape are back on the agenda. We are seeing the emergence of a renewed feeling for nature, science and landscapes in most branches of art. This trend has given rise to a growing interest in natural history, materiality, ecology with the Anthropocene, meaning the period during which environmental changed caused by human influence characterises the Earth. Coupling this with a turn within both philosophy and the theory of art against materialism enables us to glimpse the contours of three tracks we will examine: so-called ecocriticism, materialism and posthumanism. The word ecology is rooted in the Greek term ‘oikos’, which in Greek means home, but neither our home planet nor our homes are the same anymore, because, alongside other living beings, we face ecological threats. The term ’economy’ also stems from the same root, from oikos, and encompasses notions about the household, family and how we manage our home. Oikonomia means care, and how we treat our home. Earth.

The approaches used are class-based teaching with lectures, group work, seminars and master classes.

Students who successfully complete the course can demonstrate ability to: - explain ecocriticism, posthumanism and new materialism in art - interpret and write about their own works drawing on these theories - consider the works of others in relation to themselves and communicate their own understanding of their own work.

Set take-home assignment 5-6 pages long. Students will have 14 days to complete the assignment.

External

7-

Students are expected to read around 250 pages, of which one fifth is literary material and the rest consists of scholarly theory.

Inger Smærup Sørensen