Courses
VART3407 Art of the Body (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course will introduce and explore the many ways the body has been depicted. Cutting through culture and tradition this course will unpack the ways in which the depictions of body have changed thought the different media of the visual arts.
This course will introduce students to the various relationships between art and the human body. Students achieve an understanding of the body of the artist and the artisan in the physical production of sculpture, painting and crafted objects before the age of their mechanical reproduction. They will have the opportunity to analyze representations of the human body in art in context of aesthetics, visual codes and cultural meanings on the one hand and the visual representation of body language on the other. Exploring many aspects of image making from 3D classical to contemporary sculpture; to the human body as canvas for projections of idealized schemes and proportions in relation to artificial body modifications. The class concludes by considering the material uses of the human body and its parts in art with a special focus on performance art.
Students will be encouraged to consider and critically reflect on concepts and themes of the body through discussions on the familiar and individual (loved and loathed) body, as opposed to the canonization of selected pieces in artistic contexts, academic scholarship and public museum displays.
Students examine the historical and social impact how the body has been used in a global context and through the analysis of local practices, and see the diverse ways in which the body as object has communicated and disseminated knowledge through material and visual culture.