Course Syllabus
Modern Frames: European Art and Cinema |
 |
| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2023 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Art & Visual Culture Core Course - 3 credits |
| Study Tour: |
Prague and Vienna |
| Major Disciplines: |
Art History, Film Studies, Media Studies |
| Prerequisite(s): |
None |
| Faculty Members: |
Morten Egholm Lærke Posselt (please use the Canvas inbox) |
| Time & Place: |
Mondays & Thursdays 08:30-09:50 in V10-A33 |
Course Description
From the great auteurs in European filmmaking to the provocateurs of the contemporary art scene, this course examines artistic practices in European cinema and visual arts. What role do art house film and art movements play in 20th and 21st century Europe? How are aesthetics influenced by the changing political landscape? How are intellectuals and artists working during and after Socialism? When do visual arts go beyond consumerism? We will do a case study of subversive art in Vienna and post-communist Prague and meet with Danish, Austrian, and Czech film people to discuss film in the late-capitalist era.
Course Topics
Rethink Relations – Visual Arts beyond the Frame of Tradition
Based on a selection of case studies, such as arthouse films and participatory art projects, we will both analyze and critically evaluate how artists are expanding the traditional use of media and how they develop artistic expression beyond mainstream in Denmark and other Nordic countries.
Modern Frames – The Changing Contexts of Contemporary Artistic Practice
What happens to the realist tradition when European artists visualize the absurd and create works that deliberately explore the world beyond reason?
How does consumerism shape contemporary visual culture? What is subversive art and how does it relate to cultural institutions?
Central European Culture during and after Communism
How is artistic production affected by a strict regime of political ideology and repression, and which changes can be observed after the end of The Cold War when Central European countries were reshaped with new borders?
Core Course Week including Short Study Tour
The theme of the core course week is Nordic Visual Arts. We start out with a two-day seminar in Copenhagen, focusing on the role of art and cinema in the Nordic countries. The week continues with a three-day study tour to Western Denmark, where we visit AROS, Museum of Modern Art and Øst for Paradis, Art House Movie Theatre in Aarhus.
Long Study Tour Destinations
Prague
Prague and its Gothic cityscape is an established home for leading artists, film directors, and intellectuals, and the city has a lively artistic subculture. We will utilize post-communist Prague as a case study to identify artistic expression in European cinema and visual arts. Furthermore, we will examine the role of art house film and art movements in 20th and 21st century Europe through visits to relevant institutions: Trade Fair Palace Art Center, The Film School FAMU, and lectures and discussions with documentary film director Filip Remunda, and contemporary local artists.
Vienna
Vienna offers an opportunity to interpret the layers of history, from the Baroque city created during the Habsburg Empire to Viennese Actionism. How has radical art undermined and questioned the former imperial city and helped to manifest Vienna as a significant place for contemporary culture in Central Europe? We will explore the relations of Austria and the Czech Republic through the lens of selected artists, such as Egon Schiele, and visit The Film Archive Austria.
Instructors
Morten Egholm
Ph. D., Film Studies, University of Copenhagen, 2009. Cand. mag., Scandinavian Studies, Film and Media Theory, University of Copenhagen, 1997. Associate professor in Danish Language, Literature and Culture, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, 2002-2006. Has written several articles in Danish, English and Dutch on film history, Scandinavian film, Danish literature, Danish theatre, and Danish and American TV series. Editor (2010-2015) of and peer reviewer (2015-) for the film journal Kosmorama. With DIS since 2008, since January 2012 as full time faculty.
Lærke Posselt
Visual artist and documentary photographer based in Copenhagen, represented by VU Agency. Graduated as a Photojournalist in 2013 from the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX). Recipient of numerous awards, including World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year international, PDN Photo Annual and the Danish Crown Prince Couple's Rising Star Award. With DIS since 2015.
Course Objectives
- Gain knowledge of the varied manifestations and historical development of modern and contemporary art and film
- Critically evaluate visual culture in the context of current Nordic and larger European issues
- Acquire the ability to formally analyze and discuss specific works and different media
- Practice critical discourse during study tours and classroom sessions
- Enable students in written and oral assignments to discuss and elaborate on the visual qualities and contexts of artistic practice
Course Format
This section will meet 18 times during the semester and additional educational time will take place as students travel with faculty through Denmark and Europe. The 18 sessions will be a mix of classroom teaching, field studies to museums, and film screenings.
Field Studies
Visits to contemporary art institutions, artist studios, and film screenings.
Course Requirements
Each student will be assigned a time to give an oral presentation in class while on study tour or in class that will reflect a particular aspect or academic interest related to the tour destination.
Each student will produce a longer research paper that focuses on an individually developed topic that relates closely to the course and is handed in at the end of the semester.
A work analysis paper during core course week.
In-class exam with factual and short essay analytical questions.
To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.
Grade Components
| Assignment |
Percent |
| Midterm exam |
20% |
|
Oral presentation |
10% |
|
Short paper |
15% |
|
Research paper |
30% |
| Participation grade (incl. 4 small reflection assignments in Discussions on Canvas) |
25% |
Classroom Etiquette
The use of distracting devices (smartphones, iPads, laptops, etc.) is strictly prohibited during class. Failure to comply will adversely affect participation grades. Use of laptops for the purpose of note-taking requires prior consultation with the professor. Students should refrain from all other computer activities, as they prove distracting to themselves and fellow students. Mobile phones and other electronic devices should of course be turned off and stored away.
Film Viewings
Please note that it is mandatory to watch each film before the relevant class. We will be watching 9 films in total length, most of them will be homework, but 3 of them will be shown during core course week or field studies. Almost all films can be found under Modules or Files here in Canvas. I strongly encourage you to sometimes take your time to watch the film due in The DIS Movie Theatre on a DVD that can be found on the semester shelf at The Student Hub. Remember to book the movie theatre beforehand. The films we are watching for class are:
| Film: | Access: | |
| Another Round | Watching together |
|
| Thelma | link in Canvas calendar | |
| The Square |
Watching together & 2 files in Modules |
|
| Daisies | Watching together during Field Study | |
| Closely Watched Trains |
Link in Modules and Canvas calendar |
|
| The Third Man |
Canvas File in Modules | |
| Little Joe | Canvas File in Modules | |
| The Other Side of Hope | File in Modules |
|
| The Great Beauty |
Two Files in Modules |
Reading list:
Angkjær Jørgensen, Ulla and Bodil Stavning Thomsen, The Body as ”The Place of Passage”, On Spatial Construction of Time in Olafur Eliasson’s Installations, in Globalizing Art, Aarhus University Press, 2011, pp. 87-104.
Badura Triska, Eva: The Fruits of Repression, in Body, Psyche and Taboo, Vienna Actionism and Early Vienna Modernism, Walther König, Köln, 2016, p.9-23.
Bazin, André: The Evolution of the Language of Cinema, From What is Cinema, Film Theory and Criticism, Introductory Readings, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 1992, p.155-167.
Bingham, Adam: Jiri Menzel in Directory of World Cinema: East Europe, 2011,Mast & Kawin (2011), p.436-440.
Bishop, Claire: The Social Turn: Collaboration and its Discontents,in Artificial Hells,Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, London, Verso, 2012, p.11-40.
Bordwell, David: The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice, Film Criticism, Vol.4 issue 1, Allegheny College, 1979, p. 716-724.
Bydzovska, Lenka: Against the Current. The story of the Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia, 2005 http://www.surrealismcentre.ac.uk/papersofsurrealism/journal3/acrobat_files/lenka.pdf
Comini,Alessandra: Egon Schiele: Redefining Portraiture in the Age of Angst, in Egon Schiele Portraits, Prestel, 2014, pp.15-38.
Dassanowsky, Robert von and Oliver C. Speck: New Austrian Film: The Non-exceptional Exception (excerpts)
Deleuze, Gilles: Cinema I, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, p. 1-12
Eliasson, Olafur: Your Engagement has Consequences, 2008 http://olafureliasson.net/archive/read/MDA109985/your-engagement-has-consequences
Elwes, Catherine: Introduction, Video Installation, in Installation and the Moving Image, 2015. P.1-10, p.226-252.
Export Valie: Expanded Cinema as Expanded Reality, 2003. http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/peter-tscherkassky-the-austrian-avant-garde/expanded_cinema/
Hames, Peter: The Czechoslovak New Wave, Introduction, Wallflower Press,2005,p.1-9;p.151-166.
Hames, Peter: Czech and Slovak Cinema,Introduction, Chapter 10 Animation, Edinburgh University Press, 2010,p.1-13.
Kentridge, William: Drawing Lesson 4: Practical Epistemology: Life in the Studio. In Six Drawing Lessons, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2014. pp.101-128
LaCour, Astrid: Disappearing into the Past. http://www.astridkrusejensen.com/texts_and_reviews/index.php?Disappearing_into_the_past_By_Astrid_la_Cour
Lamac, Miroslav Czech Cubism: Points of Departure and Resolution, 1990, 54-63.
Mast, Gerald and Bruce F. Kawin, A Short History of the Movies, Pearson, 2010 (excerpts)
Micchelli,Thomas: Blood and Soil: Vienna Actionisms Dangerous Game, September 13, 2014. http://hyperallergic.com/148596/blood-and-soil-vienna-actionisms-dangerous-game/Jalving,
Camilla: Between Visibility and Invisibility, ,in Strude,exhibit cat. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 2010 http://trinesondergaard.com/writings/between-visibility-and-invisibility/
Natter, Tobias Gustav Klimt – No More Than A Goldsmith? In Gustav Klimt: Painting, Design, and Modern Life, Tate, London, 2008, 12-23, 236-237.
Schacter, Rafael: Graffiti and Street Art as Ornament, in Ian Jeffrey Ross (ed.): Routledge Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art, Routledge, New York, 2016
Von Hantelmann, Dorothea . “The Experiential Turn.” In On Performativity, edited by Elizabeth Carpenter. Vol. 1 of Living Collections Catalogue. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2014. http://walkerart.org/collections/publications/performativity/experiential-turn
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 |
|---|---|---|