PRSP 401
INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS IN EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES:
Spring, 2003
David Means, Associate Professor, First College
Office: 805 Mpls. Campus (612) 659-7159
“The audience for everything has grown in size, and the number of experiences to
watch has grown even more rapidly. These two factors mean that the nature of
the audience must change. When that
occurs, our current standards of excellence need to be rethought and redefined.”
- from Interactive Excellence by Edwin Schlossberg
Public
performances and exhibitions provide critical and cultural tools for audiences
to develop aesthetically; to engage new ideas and meanings; to interact with
others in defining excellence; and ultimately participate in a broader
discussion on the nature of art and creativity in expressing cultural values.
The instructor will lead students in an investigation into the nature of
creativity in as an instigator of public discourse on the arts, and the specific
role of audiences as a conversational medium in which culture may further be
defined. The seven-week accelerated
format will coincide with Metro State’s Strange Attractors International
Festival of Experimental Intermedia Art, and students will have the opportunity
to view these events while speaking directly with artists involved in the
productions. In addition to regular weekly assignments, students are expected
to attend local exhibitions and concerts and complete a final critical or
creative project.
Competence Statement
“Knows the principles and
approaches to interdisciplinary study well enough to be able to analyze,
interpret and critique an interdisciplinary topic from a range of educational
perspectives.”
Evaluation
Class Discussions and
Assignments 70%
Final Critical or Creative
Project 30%
Accelerated Learning Class
Format
This course consists of seven weekly class sessions and will be
reading intensive, with regular museum and concert attendance, written
assignments and a final project expected from each student.
Required Text
Interactive Excellence:
Defining and Developing New Standards for the Twenty-first Century by Edwin
Schlossberg. Ballantine (1998).
Recommended Texts, Recordings
and Essays
Sounding Off: Music as Subversion/Resistance/Revolution. ed. Fred Ho and Ron Sakolsky.
“Zone of Magnified Power”, by
David Means in Public Art Review #22, Forecast, 2000.
“Life At Night” CD recording of
internet opera by John O’Brien (2001)
Dark and Light Visions: The
Relationship of Critical Theory and Cultural Studies to Art that Focuses on
Emerging Technologies. Stephen Wilson (1992).
Part I will introduce interdisciplinary perspectives on
critical thinking, creativity and cultural arts practices.
I. Introductions & Overview of Interdisciplinary Study: Educating the Audience and Artist
3/18 What is the nature of interdisciplinary study? How does the
study of an interdisciplinary topic reveal larger questions about the nature of
learning? How can extending interdisciplinary connections lead to a deeper
level of critical thinking? What is the relationship between creative content
and cultural context? How are cultural values transmitted through performances
and exhibitions?
Specific Seminar Focus: What is the role of the
audience in performances and exhibitions?
How do they help give context and meaning to works of art in
contemporary society? How can interdisciplinary study lead to lifelong
learning?
View: “The Shock of the New”, Robert Hughes (PBS)
Assignments:
1. Read Ch. 1 & 2 of text and visit a local exhibition;
select an artwork which you consider to be ‘modern’ and write a 1-2 page
critique using ideas from the Hughes video.
Handouts: David Means’ article “Zone of Magnified
Power”.
II. Changes in Technology Create
New Audiences
3/25 Discussion of Modernity and its impact on society
Public
Art Within a Social and Cultural Context:
Discussion
of Dan Senn’s “Catacombs of Yucatan” project
View: “Projections” video documentary on Krzysztof Wodiczko
Dan Senn’s percussive videos
Assignments:
1. Use the Guidelines to Critiquing Cultural Events to write up
a 2-3 page critique of a local performance or exhibition. Make a few short notes
(Contexts for Critical Listening and Thinking) to help direct your critique.
2. Read Ch. 3 from text
III. Standards of Excellence Reveal the Nature of the Audience
4/1 Discussion of Political Art
View: “Out of the
Mud” – In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theater
Listen: “Jackass:
Boy George and the Bullies of Babylon Prepare to Go to War –
Once Upon a Time in Paranoid America” –
Fred Ho
Assignments:
1. Use the Guidelines to Critiquing Cultural Events to write
up a 2-3 page critique of a local performance or exhibition. Make a few short
notes (Contexts for Critical Listening and Thinking) to help direct your
critique.
2. Read Ch. 4 & 5 from text
Part II will examine problems and methods used for completion of
a final critique project, which link local performances and exhibitions to
issues covered in the
text.
IV. Analyzing Methods and
Approaches: The Tools of Communication
Change the Conversation
4/8 Discussion of Critical Methods and Social-political Content
View: “The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez” / “Nixon in
China” – Peter Sellers / John Adams
Assignments:
1. Prepare a draft outline for a possible final critique
project
2. Read Ch, 6 from text
V. Museums and Public Places Provide
a Context for Audiences to Develop
4/15 Performance Installations
View: “Dionysus’ Scales” – Mario Van Horrik and
Petra Dubach
“Visual
Sounds” –Pierre Bastien / Felix Hess / David Means
Assignments:
1. Prepare a final outline for critique project
2. Read Ch. 7
VI. Interacting in the Audience
Creates the Possibility of True Excellence
4/22 Dance Theater and Interactive Performance
A
conversation with Georgia Stephens about “Gumballa”
View: “Xperation Date” and “Dr. Lucci Learns to
Waltz”
Assignments:
1. Complete Final Project
VII. Project Presentations and Class Feedback
4/29 Fill out Instructional Improvement Questionnaires
Reception
List elements of content from
this event:
Elements of Culture and
Society Elements of Art and Creativity
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
How are these elements related?
To each
other?
Similarities
Differences
To
other exhibitions and performances?
To
other social and cultural issues?
What is the new context for these larger concepts and what is
the significance to -
Artists and audiences?
Culture
and Society?
Guidelines to
Critiquing Cultural Events
Describe the nature of the performance or exhibition; what are
the most significant cultural and creative elements? As an audience member, what expectations did you have regarding
your anticipation of these elements in an artistic setting?
What context best frames the questions and issues of culture
and creativity in this event?
How do the elements of culture and creativity relate to one
another and to the larger social
setting in which this event is viewed?
What
cultural and aesthetic assumptions of are you relying upon to form the basis of
your interpretation? How do they relate to your own likes and dislikes? to your
anticipations described in part I?
How would you evaluate the quality of the event from the
perspective of an audience member?
In
terms of the creative content of artistic materials?
In larger cultural
and social contexts?
How would you evaluate the reception and impact of the event?
on the
audience?
on your own
preferences and aesthetic values
How has your critique of the event challenged your previous
assumptions?
What other changes in your critical thinking have taken place
as a result of attending this
event?
Edwin Schlossberg:
Interactive Excellence
Defining and
Developing
New Standards
For the
Twenty-first
Century
1.
Educating the Audience – and the Artist
2.
Changes in Technology Create New Audiences
3.
Standards of Excellence Reveal the Nature of the Audience
4.
The Tools of Communications Change the Conversation
5.
New Standards of Excellence are Needed
6.
Museums and Public Places Provide a Context for Audiences to
Develop
7.
Interacting in the Audience Creates the Possibility of True
Excellence
Return to First College Conversations Page
I Definitions / Questions
II Materials / Methods
III Improvisation / Collaboration / Composition
IV The Raw and the Cooked
V Transformation
VI Composition
VII Performance