60-280 Introduction to Contextual Practice
10 units, Carnegie Mellon University
For some time now art has moved out of gallery and museum spaces and into all facets of public life, where complex social situations and diverse audiences have become important parts of the work. In the past this might have been called Public Art, but today new strategies are being used that challenge public arts tradition of static sculptures and embrace more dynamic forms of public engagement. As its name implies, Contextual Practice embraces the context or social conditions in which an artwork exists as part of the material of that work. Evolving out of the history of sitespecific, conceptual, and performance art practices, Contextual Practice covers a range of exciting new methods to making art in the public including street art, interactive social media, environmental art, hacktivism, participatory art, guerilla performance, projectbased community art, and urban interventions. Students in this fieldbased class will create projects that work with the social dynamics of a variety of on and offcampus and online public contexts. We will research new trends in public engagement through art, architecture, and design, as well as politics, ecology, sociology, and economics. Fundamentally, this class asks students to experiment with how their art practice can intersect directly with the real world outside of the traditional art venues and how they can proactively create new sites and audiences for their work.
Prerequisites: none listed
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