ARTH 4440 - Topics in Modern Sculpture: Body, Object, Image

The course explores the history of sculpture from the 1880s to the present day, a period when sculpture breaks free from its traditional materials and techniques and preoccupation with human figure. We look at a wide range of approaches and types of objects including figurative statuary, monuments, found objects and assemblages, site-specific installations, land art and total environments. Among the questions asked are: What is the role of sculpture in major artistic movements of the 20th century? To what extent have the aesthetic strategies of sculpture differed from those of other media such as painting and architecture? How have artists at different moments sought to either emphasize the material status of sculpture as an object or make sculpture conform to the visual models of modernism. How have sculptors responded to the material and technology of modern industry, the emerging practices of photography and film and the processes of mass production and consumption?