HAVC-History of Art and Visual Culture

Rasa is the juice of something, its essence or flavor. In the arts of India, the theory of rasa unites all media. Using rasa theory to examine Indian visual culture, this course looks at painting, sculpture, film, performance, and literature. (Formerly course 80F.)

Survey of critical themes and theoretical topics central to historical situations and visual character of Western culture from Early Modern period to present. Addresses issues of particular concern to the visual tradition in Europe and the U.S.: the beginning and end of art, visual regimes of looking and seeing, the idea of the artist, the art market, media and technologies, the role of museums and other exhibition practices. (Formerly course 80S.)

Images of power, piety, and belief of the European Middle Ages, circa 200-1450 A.D., from late Roman to late Gothic developments; mosaics, sculpture, pilgrimage tokens, reliquaries, manuscripts, monasteries, stained glass, cathedral architecture, and other media.

The construction and images, and the liturgical, political, and social functions of the principal Japanese temples surviving from the formative period of Japanese history, from approximately 500 to 1100 C.E. These temples are all prime historical and social sites in modern Japan. Most of them are mainly Buddhist, but the religious context of the course will be the general one of Japan during this period, including Shinto.

Neolithic to the first extended age of imperial China (the Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.–220 A.D.). Themes, such as ritual and technology in the language of form, within a cultural and historical framework concluding in the age when representation of everyday life first became prominent.

The arts of China, from the second century A.D. to the 20th century. Architecture, sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy, and painting, setting these in contexts of social structure, political, and cultural values.

Chinese art during the socially and politically tumultuous 20th century, a period when artists were challenged by an increased awareness of world art and the need to adapt to politically-motivated artistic constraints. General narrative history, leading artists, decisive moments, and poignant questions.

The visual culture of the European Middle Ages with emphasis on why certain formal languages were used and how they functioned in their societies. One course from the 10 or 80 series or a course in medieval culture is recommended as preparation.

Italian painting and sculpture of the 17th century in cultural and historical contexts, with special attention to figures such as Caravaggio, Carracci, Bernini, and Algardi, and places such as Bologna, Florence, Rome, Genoa, and Naples. Problems considered include the rise of the academies and connoisseurship, art theory, patronage, and definitions of style. (Formerly course 169.)

The palace and grounds of Versailles as a representation of the French state since the time of Louis XIV. Architecture, garden design, fountains, and fortifications; painting, sculpture, and court ceremony. The links between absolutism and the making of the classic French style are explored. First in a sequence of three courses on French art and its historical context; see HAVC 177 and HAVC 137. (Formerly HAVC 176.)

Theory, form, structure, and social conflict in the building of cathedrals and large churches in western European urban society, 1140-1300, with emphasis on northern France. Course 80A or one course from the 10-series or a course in medieval studies is recommended as preparation. (Formerly course 165A.)

Parish, friar, and special-purpose churches, chapels, synagogues, and colleges within episcopal, royal, noble, burgher, merchant, and artisan societies throughout western Europe, c.1150–1500, with particular emphasis on Late Gothic structures. Course 80A or one course from the 10-series or a course in medieval studies is recommended as preparation. (Formerly course 165B.)

Visual culture and representation explored through close study of texts, images, and institutions that register the fundamental theoretical and societal changes from the late Middle Ages through the 17th century. Readings in literature, drama, visual art, religion, science, philosophy, and politics. (Formerly course 173.)

Addresses the feminist critique of art history and visual culture; queries the viability of a feminist sensibility or politics in visual representation and reception. Approaches these topics through the problem of the representation of the woman artist and the feminine/feminist voice in cultural institutions and discourse. (Formerly course 175.)

Introduces students to video art and documentaries from the 1960s to the present. Topics include experiments with multi-channel and installation spaces, community television, new documentary practices, questions of interactivity and narcissism, video's role in democratizing image making by women and people of color, and the digital turn in video.

Study of architecture, manuscripts, metalwork, sculpture, stained glass, and other arts in England from c. 1170-1250 with focus on the uses which the society of the period made of these works. Appropriate for students with background in medieval culture or who have completed course 10A or its equivalent.

An examination of the built environment—houses and palaces, shrines and temples, walls and gates, monuments and tombs, village and city plans—in relation to cosmological views and religious traditions. Special focus on the Chinese Buddhist monastery.

Consideration of Buddhist monasteries in China: as built environments set within architectural traditions; as centers for the realization of specific religious aims and practices, with distinctive visual programs to support those aims; and as nodes within social and economic landscapes.

Meaning and form of building in western European society, 1000–1130, within monastic, imperial, ducal, and urban environments. Course 80A or one quarter of the course 10-series or a course in medieval studies is recommended as preparation.

The Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, in conjunction with Art History 181C, The History of UC Santa Cruz Campus Plan, will be organizing an exhibit entitled, Inside the Large Small House: The Residential Design Legacy of William Wurster. The project introduces students to the general methods of organizing and mounting an exhibition; including research, design, and production of a catalog. Provides hands-on experience in gallery management and curation.

The relationships of feminist art to feminist political writing and theory, including feminist artistic and literary debates about essentialism, constructionism, race, class, gender, preference, psychoanlaysis, film theory, pornography, identity politics, postmodernism, and queer theory.

Focusing on work of artists Monet, Degas, Morisot, Cassatt, Caillebotte, and others, course themes include development of a Parisian avant-garde, representing modernity, new art exhibition strategies, issues of gender in/and representation, and rise of landscape painting. Prerequisite(s): course 137 recommended.

Theories of postmodern culture, from the writing of Jameson, Baudrillard, Lyotard, Hutcheon, Eagleton, Harvey, and others, and the interconnections between these theoretical positions and contemporary visual culture, centering on cinema, painting, and photography.

The acts of posing and painting, called portraits, studied as aesthetic performances within a system of genres and as representational strategies that respond to peculiar instabilities—social, political, and economic—of the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years' War.

Roads, bridges, walls, market squares, civic buildings, hospitals, houses, churches, and districts in the economic, social, and political environments of the medieval urban fabric. Recommended for students with background in medieval, urban, or architectural studies. Course can be taken for senior exit credit only by permission of the instructor. (Formerly course 190J.)

Embracing the last great transition between imperial dynasties in China, the 17th century was a period of extraordinary creativity in Chinese painting. Both the proponents of traditional values and the seekers after viable individualism were equally vigorous and inventive. Much of their work still has a strong and immediate appeal to the eyes and minds of today. Explores both the working of this period and the nature of its continuing appeal. (Formerly course 191I.)

Examination of the changing perceptions of the real in American culture from Realism and Naturalism to Photorealism and Virtual Reality. Course emphasizes what the changing perceptions of the real tell us about American culture. (Formerly course 191N.)

Topical approach to the visual culture of mountains in Chinese history-encompassing both imaginative constructions and physical realities-especially in relation to religious practices. Considers examples and contexts in relation to such topics as pilgrimage, local and state religion, and individual or group retreat and reclusion. Enrollment restricted to junior and senior history of art and visual culture majors and by permission. Prerequisite(s): a previous course on Chinese history or culture (in such departments as history of art and visual culture, history, literature, or anthropology); instructor determines if prerequisite is met. Can be taken for senior exit credit only by permission of the instructor.

The Chinese tradition, from the earliest material evidence to the most recent, has persistently emphasized a close relationship between written language and pictorial image. This concern has appeared equally in artifactual and theoretical form. Its best known representation is in the association of calligraphy with painting. Course examines the evolution and meaning of that association. A knowledge of the Chinese language is not necessary. Can be taken for senior exit credit only by permission of the instructor. (Formerly course 190G.)

This course will examine the ways in which the work of art appears in philosophical writings in the European tradition from Greek times to the present. The readings will be chosen for the ways in which the ideological and theoretical aspects of art are addressed by philosophy. (Formerly course 190N.)

Introduces the visual studies discipline and primary texts that have made significant contributions to it. Explores theoretical discourses that have proven influential and productive for practitioners of visual studies, in a range of thematic foci and cultural contexts. Features intensive readings and student-led discussions. Students continue to work on the research topic they selected in course 201A. (Formerly course 202, Theories of the Visual.)

Provides an in-depth case study of the visual practices and culture of a specific society. Builds on the foundation established by courses 201 and 202, offering sustained application of the general methods and theories to which students were previously introduced. The society under consideration rotates each year depending on the research interest of the faculty member teaching the course in any given spring.