Courses
VART3376 Art, Culture and Criticism (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
Art criticism is an essential element of artistic practice and has a multitude of uses from artist’s statements to exhibition, critical analysis and academic discourse. How the artist uses words to analyse and describe works, becomes a necessary component in the dissemination and communication of the creative.
This course will use the practice of viewing exhibitions with a focus on Hong Kong and Chinese artists to provide practical skills of visual analysis to improve students’ individual critical analysis and research. In addition this course will visually explore the essence of communication, and the positions and perspectives of artists and art writers. It further provides primary sources to explore the changing role of the writing about art, from manifesto and critic to intention and reception.
Art, Culture and Criticism reveals the relationship between art, creativity and language, as a methodology that can enhance communication and critical engagement with art theory and art historical writings. It will also assess writings on modern and contemporary visual arts practices by looking at how key texts from the past have informed present discourses on art. The course thus examines fundamental skills of research practice, methods and methodology for practicing artists and academics in writing on art.
We will visit a number of exhibitions and critically examine the work in comparison with artists’ writings through selected examples of current exhibitions in Hong Kong, utilizing – where possible – primary source materials like notes, correspondence, manifestos, and other printed matter.