Admission requirements
See M.A. Art History program guide and Exam regulations.
Description
In this seminar, we will examine interactions between art, design, the biological sciences and ethics. There is a growing number of international artists and designers that explore the possibilities of the biological sciences to work with new materials, that is, living materials that traditionally do not belong to the artistic realm. The use of these living materials in artistic and design practice also implies the application of the tools and technologies of the biological sciences in the arts. With references to and the use of biomaterials – tissue, DNA, cells, – in works of art and design, artists and designers have taken on board the discourses and practices in the scientific lab as well. In this seminar we will reflect on the esthetical, ethical, cultural and societal implications of art and design that addresses and incorporates biological science practices and issues such as designing animals by way of transgenic research, the blurring borders between animals and humans when both are manipulated, definitions of life, etcetera. This seminar will discuss some of the most critical and cutting edge art and design and connect it to theories on rhetoric and to ethical and cultural questions and debates.
Course objectives
Students learn to:
Analyse contemporary forms of art and design in a critical way and relate them to other contemporary practices
Reflect on art and design from perspectives of ethical, moral, and philosophical frameworks
Present an academic paper about their results before the class
Present their results in a written paper with an analytic academic level
Timetable
See the timetable on the department website.
Can be followed for the MA Art History specialisations
Art in the Contemporary World
Design and Decorative Art Studies
Can also be followed as a specialist course for the MA free component (10 ec) of any other specialisation or MA progam of Leiden University.
Mode of instruction
Research seminar
Assessment method
oral presentation of paper (20%)
written paper (80%)
Blackboard
Yes, for assignments and communication in general.
Reading list
Readings for each seminar will be put on BB before the beginning of the course and before each seminar.
Registration
Students have to register for this course in uSis, the registration system of the university: http://www.usis.leidenuniv.nl. General information about registration in uSis you can find here in Dutch and in English.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Study in Leiden website for information on how to apply.
Contact information
Email: Dhr Prof.dr.ing. R. Zwijnenberg
Remarks
As a compulsory course of both the specialisation Design and Decorative Art Studies and the specialisation Art in the Contemporary World of the MA Art History, this course aims to engage you to work with contemporary forms of art and design from current theoretical and philosophical frameworks and perspectives. It complements the other courses in both its subject matter combining art and design with technology and ethics, as well as reflection on different and multidisciplinary approaches for research. The course is a necessary part of both MA specialisations, and make up these specialisation together with a specialist reading list, a specialist course in semester 1, an apprenticeship or third general course, and your MA thesis.
Provisional course schedule:
- Introduction Zwijnenberg/Groot
- Discussion of readings (“Disciplines”: Groot / Zwijnenberg)
- Discussion of readings (“Theories”: Latour /Ziarek)
- Discussion of readings (“Media”: Mitchell e.a.)
- “Practice”: workshop by an artist or designer
- Discussion of readings (“Ethics”)
- Discussion of readings (“Rhetoric”)
- Discussion of research topics, and additional lecture
- Presentation of research papers
- Presentation of research papers
- Presentation of research papers
- Presentation of research papers