Annotation
SEMINAR of CONTEMPORARY ART
Conflicts and Coalitions
Lecturer: Mgr. Zuzana Štefková Ph.D.
Tel: 731 512 512; e-mail: zuzana.stefkova@ff.cuni.cz
Consultations: Online upon request
Class Time: Friday 10:50 am – 12:25 pm
Location: Seminar will be taught online via MS Teams
This seminar seeks to acquaint students with different approaches and strategies of contemporary art and introduce a wide range of art institutions and figures operating within Czech and international contemporary art scene. During this spring semester we will concentrate on issues that divide contemporary society and the way they are being reflected in contemporary art. At the same time, we will explore how these fissures and tears in the social fabric inspire individuals to join together in coalitions. We will explore programs offered by galleries and art institutions, meet artists and curators (online) and discuss their approaches to art, activism, and the society at large. The choice of themes will reflect the current offer of the local art scene.
The seminar is jointly organised together with students from the Visual Arts studio, Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design Prague
The grade will be based on the results of in-class (online) presentation 20 %, final paper 30 course journal 20 %, and participation on the seminar's activities and discussions 30 %.
Course Requirements:
Course journal
Students will be asked to keep a journal on themes and materials we have discussed in class throughout the semester with short (max. 1800 characters with spaces) analysis of chosen works of art / exhibition projects, etc. related to every class session. The journal should most importantly show students’ ability to draw relevant connections between the chosen art pieces / exhibition projects and the theme of the seminar i.e. conflicts and coalitions. You could structure your analysis around the following questions: How does the artist/curator engage the audience? What conflicts and/or coalitions does the artwork generate and to what goals? The deadline for handing in the course journal in writing is May 16.
Final Assignment:
Students are asked to choose a topic related to the course topic i.e. “conflicts and coalitions in contemporary art”. Students will then present the topic in an oral presentation and a paper. These assignments should most importantly show students’ ability to contextualize the works, exhibitions, curatorial concepts related to the topic of the course.
The deadline for choosing the topic is April 9. Please e-mail the chosen topic to the lecturer by April 9 at the latest with short (200 words max.) annotation, detailing the topic, the students’ individual approach and the overall research aim. I.e. How is the chosen topic relevant to the overarching theme of the course? Why is the topic interesting/important? etc. a) Oral presentation
Part of the evaluation is a short (10-15 minutes) oral presentation of each student’s final assignment topic. This presentation will be delivered in class, during the last two weeks of the spring semester (for students, who will attend both semesters). The presentation should be spoken or read and include visual aids (for example Powerpoint presentation). b) Writing Assignment - Final essay
The paper must have at least 9000 characters, bibliography, and footnotes preferably in Chicago style: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
Students should feel free to consult their topic and submit the first draft of their paper beforehand. The deadline for submission of the final essay is May 21. Essays delivered after the deadlines will by downgraded by 10 %.
Literature:
Art, Activism, and Oppositionality: Essays from Afterimage, Grant H. Kester (ed.), London 1998
Nato Thompson, Seeing Power: Art and Activism in the Twenty-first Century, 2015
Global Activism: Art and Conflict in the 21st Century, Peter Weibel (ed.), 2015
Miwon Kwon, One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, MIT Press London, 2002
Come Closer: The Biennale Reader, Tereza Stejskalová, Vít Havránek (eds.), tranzit 2020.
Week 1:
Feb-19
Introduction of the course
Week 2:
Feb-26
Basia Gryka Filip Kijowski: My Flower
Gallery Labirynt, Lublin
Exhibition: You will Never Walk Alone https://labirynt.com/en/nigdy-nie-bedziesz-szla-sama-wystawa/
Week 3:
March-5
Languid Hands: Towards a Black Testimony
Display Gallery http://display.cz/en/projects/towards-a-black-testimony
Week 4:
March-12
Nikola Brabcová, Veronika Čechmánková, Tomáš Hrůza, Michal Klodner, Karel Kunc, Karin Šrubařová: The Roots Grow Inside
Entrance Gallery
Week 5:
March-19
Ilana Salama Ortar: Encapsulation: Foreseer of the Past
Artivist Lab https://www.artivistlab.info/encapsulation
Week 6:
March-23 12:50-14:00!!!
Guest Lecture: Karol Radziszewski: Eastern LGBT
Week 7
April-2
Good Friday: NO CLASS
Week 8:
April-9
Feminist Institution: Woman is Not a Landscape is not an Object
Intervention in Peter Michal Bohúň Gallery, Liptovský Mikuláš
Week 9:
April-16
Tomáš Kajánek: Collectives
ETC Gallery
Week 10:
April-23
Artwall Gallery
Week 11:
April-30
Kača Olivová: Milk and Honey, Inquiries into the Maternal
Week 12:
May-7
Students’ presentations
Week 13:
May-14
Students’ presentations