READING GUIDE FOR CHAPTER 5, 6, 7 of Themes in Contemporary Art
ch. 5
- terms: kinesis, mimesis, happenings, pluralism, femmage, guerrilla television,
- concepts: environmental semiotics, trope of interactivity, surveillance
society
- two "contradictory concepts when considering the history and contributions
of performance, installation and video" (p. 185)
- provisional definitions for performance, installation and video
- the history of performance, installation and video
- three characteristics of performance, installation and video
- potential problems with the term "performance"
- what works are appropriated by Carolee Schneeman in Eye/Body; why?
- Describe the role of Feminism in the history of performance art.
- Describe the significane of alternative spaces in installation art.
- Explain the rise of "subcultures" w/in feminism.
- Explain the significance of the statement "[Video] is telivision turned
against iteself." (p. 213)
ch. 6
- What does the author mean by "the tensions produced by different viewing
positions" with regards to the work of Bourgeois, Salcedo, Hatoum, Whiteread
and Parker?
- What are the purposes of the works of Bourgeois, Salcedo, Hatoum, Whiteread
and Parker?
- How do the works of Bourgeois, Salcedo, Hatoum, Whiteread and Parker reveal
gender concerns?
- People/theorists: Walter Benjamin (traces), Julia Kristeva (abject), Sigmund
Freud (uncanny), Bachelard (space),
ch. 7
- Give some different definitions of Globalisation, based on the chapter
- Explain how globalisation might be related to Colonialism and Post-Colonialism
- What are the challenges in defining Globalism? (related to challenges of
defining POMO, btw).
- terms: diaspora, hybridity, homogenisation, alterity
- Explain the significance of various exhibitions Documenta, Venice Biennale
etc. to the nature/definition of globalism.
- What is the significance of Edward Said's 1978 book Orientalism?
- Theorists: Gyatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, Paul Gilroy
- Artists: Oyvind Fahlstrom, Cildo Meireles, Candice Breitz, Guillermo Gomez-Pena