In this course, we will delve into themes of extraction, rest, and exhaustion in the context of the earth's depleted resources, the culture of burnout, and the relentless push toward data exhaustion. We will engage with questions such as: What if a work is created with its expiration in mind? What if its purpose is to rest? What materials could we use for decomposition and degrowth? How do we perform exhaustion for the camera? Can resistance to the exploitative nature of capitalism manifest as naps, encampments, and rest? We will explore extraction, exhaustion, and rest as starting points for non-production, slow production, degrowth, and what it means to expire a practice. Through this lens, we will critically engage with the pressures of hustle culture, the impact of bromaxxing, pre-workout supplements, metabolic rift, drinks for energy, drinks for rest, planetary mining, and delve into what Byung-Chul Han labels as auto-exploitative behaviors. This course will be composed of exercises, readings, a research presentation, and a final project.

In this course, students will explore the history, impact, and creativity of Art in Public. They will develop three projects that engage diverse public spaces and situations, by employing media of choice: sculpture, murals, architectural interventions, music, and performance. Through active exploration, students will enhance their ability to create meaningful artworks, from ideation, sketching and visualization to final proposal, empowering them as artists and as positive contributors to their communities. The course will explore different public art programs such as Highline Art, Public Art Fund, Art Omi, Creative Time, CARA and Socrates Sculpture Park among others and facilitate field trips. We will look at artist such as: Olaf Breuning, Christian Kosmas Mayer, Nicholas Galanin, Tony Oursler, Nancy Holt, Pamela Rosenkranz, Yu Ji, Paola Pivi, Zoe Leonard, Kara Walker, and Martin Puryear.