American Pop Art(s) and Beyond 4219-SD0037
The course breaks down into seven thematic blocks that explore the problems and notions of American Pop Arts, their traditions, development and cultural significance. As such it offers an insight into various areas of American culture responsible for the formation of what we may term “American pop movement”. The blocks embrace people, places, trends and inspirations behind American pop arts and their related phenomena. They also tap into theoretical developments around the movement and its role in the formation of postmodern criticism as well as a new artistic practice related with the emergence of the so-called “new sensibility”. The aim of the course is to make students acquainted with the history and theory of American Pop Art(s) and mapping them out on the geographically formed distinctions into (and between) the West Coast and New York. Of importance will be also the impact of a similar schism in Europe and the transfer of European popular tradition onto the American cultural and theoretical practice – a phenomenon termed “pop-cosmopolitanism”.
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Upon the completion of the course, students:
• have a basic knowledge of the tradition of American Pop Art(s) Movement (APAM)
• are aware of the cultural influences of APAM and its historical conditioning.
• has a systematic knowledge of notions, trends and terms related to APAM as well as its criticism.
• can use critical terms related to APAM.
• can use critical theory to analyze APAM.
• is aware of the cultural importance of APAM.
• is open to new ideas about culture and its practices.
Assessment criteria
written assignment (critical essay)
Bibliography
a selection:
wybrane/przykładowe pozycje:
Dwight MacDonald. 1962. Against The American Grain: Essays on the Effects of Mass Culture.
Greenberg, Clement. Homemade Esthetics: Observations on Art and Taste.
Susan Sontag. 2011. Against Interpretation.
George Melly. 2013, Revolt into Style
Kristen Anderson (ed.). 2004. Pop Surrealism. The Rise of Underground Art.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: