Object of the course is e reflection on the origins of contemporary art, along with an interrogation concerning the status of a paradigm of “contemporaneity” in artistic experience. At the same time, the following problem will be examined: whether in the world of visual arts can be detected tendencies which represent a break with dominant directions of the artworld, which in turn appear driven exclusively from the logic of the market?

Art from modernity to postmodernity.

The changes in the theoretical foundations of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.

The artworld and the market of art.

According to Hegel, despite the art is no more a supreme need of the spirit, artists continue to create pictures and sculptures. In a similar way, today we witness the proliferation of new pseudo avant-garde tendencies: new Dadaism, informal art, action painting, body art, happening, performance, etc., which only are keep alive by marketing.

Does exist a common paradigm of all these different artistic orientations? And is it possible to pinpoint in the field of visual art an “outside”, where artworks can grow and so cross the borders of the mummified artworld?

At this last question we will try to give an answer investigating the Street Art movement.

Knowledge and understanding. At the end of the course the student is expected to have a general knowledge of theoretical problems and basic concepts of modern Aesthetics; to know and to explain some fundamental works of twentieth-century Aesthetics; to contextualize reasoning and philosophical theories.

Making judgments. The student must show that he/she can think critically about the different philosophical positions as well as aesthetic positions.

Learning skills: the student must be able to orient him/herself in the field of theoretical knowledge and to understand the main question of Aesthetics.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Frontal lessons

Attendance

The course requires regular frequency. Otherwise, the student must contact the teacher.

Course books

W. Benjamin, L’opera d’arte nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica, trad. it. di E. Filippini, Torino, Einaudi, 1966.

G. Di Giacomo; C. Zambianchi, Alle origini dell'arte contemporanea, Laterza edizioni, Roma-Bari, 2008.

G. Di Giacomo, "Dalla modernità alla contemporaneità: l’opera al di là dell’oggetto", Studi di Estetica, 4ª serie, I-II (2014), pp. 57-84.

M. Irvine, The Work on the Street: Street Art and Visual Culture, in AA.VV. The Handbook of Visual Culture, ed. Barry Sandywell and Ian Heywood, Berg Publishers, London & New York, 2012, 235-278.

Assessment

Verbal exam

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.