Lecture (LEC)

• COLL INTENSIVE WRITING SECTION
• COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inq

• Above class open to undergraduates only
• Above class COLL Intensive Writing section
• COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
• Meeting location is arranged.

Much ink has been spilled on the question, "What is Art?" or- more provocatively and with modern and contemporary works in mind- "But is it Art?". This class does not answer these questions (at least not in a straightforward, partisan or opinionated way). Rather, it investigates the complex assumptions, ideologies and needs that motivate people to pose them. To that end the class starts with a more basic, but most foundational counterquestion: "What is the object 'art'?" This course leads from a concrete investigation of material culture and the acquisition of scientific knowledge about artifacts' technical examination to an in-depth understanding of the fundamental questions posed (and methods applied) to objects by a variety of disciplines. Thus, inquiries into an object's social, religious, ritualistic, and cultural dimensions and role in identity formation or political propaganda are complimented with learning about their legal and economic frameworks as well as the challenges to display, preservation, storage, mobility, etc. that arise from their physical properties. Looking at objects simultaneously as "things" and "ideological constructs" allows the class to break down what I perceive as a rather artificial border between "the virtual" and "the material."