502-112-DW 02/ room 3b.13 on Tuesday @ 11:30 
Screens proliferate in contemporary life. In the cinema, on television, on-line, on the street and even on our telephones screen displays appear everywhere. Screens are now also commonplace in the art museum; cinematic projections and video installations have become omni-present in the spaces of contemporary art. How do these screened images differ from other instances of film and video exhibition? How are they distinct from other kinds of art? What values and techniques might these different modes of audio-visual representation share? 
The course will discuss contemporary film and video installation and performance works as they extend from and expand upon cinema, visual arts and theatre/performance traditions and as they inform and are informed by popular cultural production. Following a loose chronological structure, the study will consider various social, economic, technological, aesthetic and intellectual factors that have contributed to developments in these modes of artistic production. We will discuss correspondences between post-war cinema, television drama and modern dance, music and theatre, as all experiment with ‘realism’. We will also consider the emergence of video and performance art practices in relation to the political activism and Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Finally, we will explore video installation, projection and interactive work in relation to the notion of an ‘expanded cinema’, and as a corollary to new, popular and interactive media experiences. 
Method: Gallery visits, event and class participation, lectures, presentations, readings, screenings and discussions of contemporary works of film/video, and visual/performance arts will prepare students for research, critical and creative projects in these areas.
Grade Distribution: Critical Analysis of an Artwork 20%; Proposal for Research Project on Artist/Movement 10%; Research Project 25%; Research Project Presentation 10%; The ‘Homage/After’ Production Project 20%; Participation 15%
Gary Hill ‘Viewer’
