Course Syllabus
| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2025 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course -3 credits Sustainability |
| Major Disciplines: |
Sustainability, Environmental Studies, Visual art |
| Faculty Member: |
Andrea Homann (current students please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Time & Place: |
Friday, 10:05 - 13:00, S 12-05 (Skindergade, The Old Firestation) |
Course Description
Beyond scientific data and reports on climate change, art can help us connect with nature and reimagine our engagement with the environmental challenges of today. In this course, we will engage in individual and collaborative art projects inspired by environmentally aware practices throughout art history and emphasizing the use of sustainable materials.
We will trace the representation of nature in art history from landscape painting to site-specific land art, as well as contemporary concepts involving fungi and glacial mud.
Bridging creativity and science, artists working with climate change, environments, botany, and microbes can help expand our knowledge of nature and our understanding of how natural processes and human actions are related. As a foundation for our interdisciplinary work, we will study early examples such as the botanical illustrations of pioneering 17th century artist-scientist-explorer Maria Sybilla Merian as well as the scientific discoveries of polymath Alexander von Humboldt, often considered the father of ecology and environmentalism, who has shaped our understand of the natural world since the 19th century. This will be complemented with an investigation of contemporary thought and practice, including discussions with Copenhagen based artists.
Visits to both natural sites and art institutions will provide a deeper understanding of the complexities of local environments and will also create a foundation to visualize and shape artistic responses.
Learning Objectives
- Investigate historical and current concepts of nature
- Explore research based artistic practices with a focus on climate change
- Gain an understanding of the relations of science and art
- Create artistic responses with sustainable materials
- Sensing natural environments
Faculty: Andrea Homann
Dipl.-Ing. (Apparel Engineering/Fashion Design, FH Mönchengladbach, 1989). 1989-1990 Designer at Westfalenstoffe, Münster/Germany, 1990-1993, Educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Since 1994, Educator at the Danish National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst). With DIS since 1997.
Readings
(selected chapters from the following sources, available in canvas)
Emanuele Coccia, the Life of Plants, A Metaphysiscs of Mixture, Polity Press, cambridge, 2019, p.3-6, 17-21, notes)
Maja and Reuben Fowkes: Art and Climate Change, 2022
Andy Goldsworthy, Time, 2000
Maurice Maeterlinck: The Intelligence of Flowers, 1907
Marvin Heiferman: Seeing Science, How Photography Reveals the Universe, 2019
Alexander von Humboldt, Views of Nature, 1807
Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass, 2013
Bruno Latour, Politics of Nature, 2004
Hans Ulrich Obrist: 140 Ideas for Planet Earth, Penguin, London, 2021(intro, selected artists)
Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life,Vintage Books, New York 2020 (p.3-25, notes)
Sarah Simblet, Botany for the Artist, DK, London, 2010 (p.7-27)
Peter Godfrey Smith: Other Minds, 2016
Henri David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
Andrea Wulf: The Invention of Nature, Vintage Books, New York 2015(p.57-68, 98-107,notes)
https://www.rct.uk/collection/1085787/metamorphosis-insectorum-surinamensium
https://studiothinkinghand.com/
http://www.agnesdenesstudio.com/writings.html
Field Studies (to be adapted)
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Botanical Garden
Natural History Museum
Copenhagen Contemporary
Cisternerne
Kongens Have
Expectations of the Students
It is essential that students attend each session and that they engage deeply and actively with both the discussions and the creative projects during class and site visits.
Mobile phones and other electronic devices should be turned off and stored away. Students should refrain from all other computer activities to create a focused class atmosphere. This course emphasizes critical thought and individual creativity, therefore the use of AI tools is not allowed.
Evaluation
| Assignment |
Percent |
|
Journal To document personal ideas, reflections and observations. To practice writing and visualizations of experiences during classroom discourse and field studies. |
25% |
|
Active Participation Informed and well prepared engagement, includes debates,informal presentations of reading material and collaborative creative projects. |
25% |
|
Oral Presentations Each student will present their research of a scientist or an artist. |
20% |
|
Independant Project Develop a creative response to the complexities of the climate crisis. Create an artistic project in a medium of your choice, for example a botanical study, a nature manifesto, a sustainable sculpture or a photo essay. |
30% |
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|