St Jerome in his study Albrect Durer, 1514

ART : IDEALISM TO THE EVERYDAY

ESSAY TOPICS VISA 1102: FIRST SEMESTER, 2007

Choose ONE from the following;

Lecture 2: DreamtimeAboriginal art is the expression of the longest continuous culture in the world, one dating back to the ice age. At the same time it has gained a high profile in recent years and now occupies an important place in the contemporary art scene, both in Australia and overseas. What is it about an art that claims to be true to such an ancient concept as Dreaming that has given it such a universal and contemporary appeal? Your discussion should refer to at least three artworks, and outline the key features of the Dreaming and its relation to Aboriginal art.

Lecture 3: Conceptions of God The King’s mortality was in direct conflict with the Ancient Egyptian theological beliefs. An enormous mechanism, by which the ‘dead’ king was revived and his eternal life and rule re-established, was therefore required.Using one specific example from the old kingdom, explain the means by which this was accomplished.

Lecture 4: The Idea of ParadiseExplain the origins of the Garden of Eden and the meaning of the narratives it contains.

Lecture 5: The Mythical CanoeWhy, for so long, has oceanic art been excluded from the great museums of world art and why do we continue to find it catalogued, exhibited and forgotten under such headings as ethnology, archeology and anthropology?

Lecture 6: The Vertical Axis of the Mayan UniverseThrough an examination of three specific examples from the classical period, discuss the assertion that the great monuments of the Maya are derived from the ancestral hut which constituted the archetype of all their architectural schemes.

Lecture 7: The Earthly ParadiseIn every garden there is a trace of paradise. Through a series of historical examples, elaborate on this statement.

Lecture 8: The Allegorical Landscape: Australia Re-InventedTo what extent did the very different ecology of Australia resist the European aesthetic conventions brought to Australia by the early colonists? Discuss, through an analysis of the work of at least one colonist artist, how the environment and experience of the Australian colony impacted on the way in which artists depicted the place.

Lecture 9: The Rise of Capitalism and the Arcadian FantasyPalladio’s villas were a response to an entirely new architectural programme. Through an examination of three specific examples, investigated the nature of

that programme and identify the principles which he applied in determination of their design.Lecture 10: The Orwellian NightmareIt is something of a paradox that modern culture is entirely dependent on those qualities of urban existence which are most despised – alienation, lack of identity and discontinuity. From Metropolis to contemporary Japanese animation, a fabricated New York has been repeatedly employed in the visualisations of a city without qualities. Beginning with a discussion of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, discuss this assertion through two additional films of your choice.

Lecture 11: Utopian and Dystopian Visions in Blade Runner

Lecture 12: The Metaphysical World of Giorgio de ChiricoThe metaphysical aspects of landscape, objects and beings are the meanings they acquire when seen suddenly in unusual isolation or in unexpected relationships. Discuss the spatial magic created by Giorgio de Chirico through an analysis of two of his metaphysical paintings.

Lecture 13: Alchemy and the Return to a Second EdenFrom hocus pocus to the enlightened being; throughout history, the alchemist has been depicted as a philosopher deep in mysterious study, as a charlatan engaged in an infantile pursuit, and as a forerunner of the modern scientist. From the 24 images provided in the Resource Room, select four to contrast the mechanisms by which each artist has communicated the status of the subject.

Lecture 14: Spectorial Lust: Signs of Empire

Lecture 15: The Botanical Garden and the Landscape of the CreationDo you agree or disagree with the notion that the glasshouse or conservatory is emblematic of man’s desire to possess or control the natural world.

Lecture 16: The Art of AnatomyDiscuss how anatomical dissection, in its opening of the interior of the body, influenced artistic representation of the human figure during the Renaissance.

Lecture 17: Modern Art, Advanced Technology and the Problem of the Cartesian YokeIt is no longer meaningful to consider the body as a site for the psyche or the social, but rather as a structure to be monitored and modified. Discuss how Stelarc’s attempts to integrate the human organism and the machine can be viewed as a possible liberation or a terrifying glimpse of a world in which human perception is increasingly irrelevant.

Lecture 18: On the Barricades, The Politics of Visibility and Invisibility

Lecture 19: On the Barricades, The Politics of Visibility and Invisibility

Lecture 20: The Cubist ExperimentCubism is a generic term that has been given to a varied image of art produced between 1907 and the late 1920s, very different from that of Picasso, Braque and Gris. Compare the cubist experiment of Georges Braque and Juan Gris with particular reference to four paintings; La Lavabo (The Washstand) Juan Gris 1912, The Teacups Juan Gris 1914, Chateau at La Roche-Guyon Georges Braque 1909 and The Violoncello Georges Braque 1912.

Lecture 21: From the Easel to the MachineThe Constructivists, who emerged from the October Revolution, were violently attacked as being solely concerned with abstract theoretical pursuits, while the proletariat, frozen and with little to eat, herded together in overcrowded and decaying flats. To what extent were the attacks justified?

Lecture 22: The Form of Tyranny and the Shape of DemocracyThe construction of the city, as a human activity, is deeply bound in the notion of the polis. Compare the respective political dimensions of one of the following pairs;

A. The Greek Agora v Roman ForumB. Schemes for the National Assembly after the French Revolution v

Parliament House, CanberraC. The Palace of the Soviets Competition (1931-4) v Speer’s plans for

Berlin

Lecture 23: Viva La RevoluciònThe Art of the Revolution; compare the political graphics of two revolutionary movements of the 20th Century. Possible selections might be: -

A. The Oct Revolution (USSR)B. Cuba under Fidel CastroC. Nazi PropagandaD. Mao and the People’s Republic of ChinaE. A.N.C (African National Congress)F. The Spanish Civil WarG. Ho Chi Minh and North VietnamH. The return of Ayahtolla Khoneini (Iran)