60-390 Critical Studies: The Supernatural + Paranormal in Art: Other Histories

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

Art empowers us to grapple with inexplicable phenomena in our waking hours and dreams. Our history of art is full of investigations into supernatural events. Surrealism is an easy example from this long history. But creative projects prodding the paranormal predate the Surrealist manifesto of 1924, exceed the limits of that movement, and thrive to this day. We start with French symbolism investigating the correspondence between nature and our inner world. We end the class by analyzing the 2024-25 exhibition Spirit House, surveying Asian American and Asian-diasporic artists exploring haunting, reincarnation, and inter-dimensional dialogues. Artists we discuss include Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau, Edward Burn-Jones, Arnold Böcklin, Edvard Munch, Hilma af-Klint, Jean Cocteau, Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Dorothea Tanning, Gertrude Abercrombie, Anna Mendieta, Susan Hiller, David Hammons, Renée Stout, Betye Saar, Doris Salcedo, Kenneth Anger, Derek Jarman, Kang Seung Lee, Korakrit Arunanondchai, and Sharmistha Ray.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Spring 2027, Fall 2025

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