LVIS
2053

Fugitive Practices in Public Art: Property, Legality and Cultural Production

Eugene Lang College Lib Arts: The Arts

Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students
Fugitive Practices, Public Art
Spring 2024
Taught By: David Johnson
Section: A

CRN: 14841

Credits: 4

This course will explore the history and contested terrain of public art from the mid-20th century to the present. Primarily focusing on New York City, we will discuss how policing, private property, and gentrification shape the very function of public art. Looking at the work of artists like Smokehouse Associates, Tehching Hsieh, Tourmaline, Edgar Heap of Birds, Cameron Rowland and Beverly Buchanan, we will consider artists who utilize radical modes of spatial occupation, public intervention, commoning and expropriation. We will examine how their strategies question borders between ownership and the state, the lawful and illegal, the authorized and unofficial, and the ways that such distinctions are produced through historical conditions, legal and social structures. Through the framework of fugitivity, this course will consider questions such as: Can public art exist apart from speculative real estate? How do artists negotiate legality in the creation of their work? And is it possible to make collective histories visible without memorialization? Coursework will include readings by Joan Kee, bell hooks, Susan Schweik, James E. Young, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, Martha Rosler, and Tiffany Lethabo King. This course will be part seminar and part studio, both in and out of the classroom. Students will be expected to participate in group discussions based on readings,student-led presentations, field trips and critiques of their own public projects and proposals. student-led presentations, field trips and critiques of their own public projects and proposals. This course fulfills the Visual Studies studio or practice-based requirement.

College: Eugene Lang College Lib Arts (LC)

Department: The Arts (ART)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Seminar (R)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 18

Add/Drop Deadline: February 4, 2024 (Sunday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 16, 2024 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Closed*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 2:48am EDT 3/19/2024

Meeting Info:
Days: Tuesday, Thursday
Times: 12:00pm - 1:40pm
Building: Johnson/Kaplan 66 West 12th
Room: 509
Date Range: 1/23/2024 - 5/9/2024