Topics vary semester to semester. Specific topics may satisfy different Core Program requirements.
In Praise of Shadows
This interdisciplinary art course is about perception and takes its inspiration from Jun’ichiro Tanizaki’s classic text, which profoundly illuminates the significance of shadows in our sensory experiences, via Japanese aesthetics. The course works through the premise that shadows and darkness do not just produce conditions that hide/conceal/obscure, but also that they can reveal and illuminate. Using photography, printmaking and hybrid sculptural forms, we will experiment with various artistic strategies that explore the nature of the contingent relationship between shadow and light. Our experiments will extend to questions and explorations that help us unpack social and cultural conventions and hierarchies that exist. Additionally, visits to studios and workshops around LA will enhance our hands-on activities. We will not only approach the theme of shadows through artistic practices, but also through philosophy, physics, literature and anthropology, so students from all disciplines are encouraged to enroll to maximize a diversity of ideas and fields of knowledge in our explorations.