ARTH3248 · Fine Arts

Art and Ecology

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

This seminar investigates the place of "ecology" and "ecological thinking" in modern and contemporary art. Through a series of case studies, we will examine how artists, designers, and other cross-disciplinary figures have approached the production, reception, or theorization of art as one node within larger systems of forces, flows, patterns, and living and non-living entities. Of utmost importance to our investigations will be the question of time: What forms of temporality whether figured as growth, technological reproduction, or historical becoming are operative once we approach cultural production in ecological terms? Other key themes include: forms and strategies of political ecology, the role of the machine and the nonhuman animal, interspecies communication and collaboration, environmental racism, notions of the Anthropocene and the Capitalocene, feminist and queer ecologies, dialogues between art and science-fiction, and finally, ecological or systems-based critiques of institutions. Note: This seminar is designed in collaboration with Prof. Claire Grace, who will be teaching the course over the same term at Wesleyan University. There will be intermittent meetings, discussions, and potential collaborations between the two seminars.