60-470 Advanced DP3: Painting The Unconscious

10 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This course explores the threshold between the seen and unseen using a broad range of painting styles, techniques, and materials to explore the unconscious mind. Drawing upon a range of spiritual and occult practices, including tarot, surrealist games, automatic drawing, and color meditations, this class offers students the opportunity to explore processes that unlock the imaginative potential of the unconscious and adapt them to painting. Through a series of readings, presentations, field trips, and critiques, the class will gain knowledge of the practices and histories behind the unconscious in art and learn how to harness chance more intentionally into their painting practice. This is a studiobased course in which emphasis is placed on independent research and studio productivity. We will discuss artists like Hilma af Klint, Remedios Varo, Leonara Carrington, Wassily Kandinsky, Austin Osman Spare, Ithell Colquhoun, Elijah Burgher, Xul Solar, Ghulam Rasool Santosh, Jesse Bransford, Elizabeth Insognia, Hilmas Ghost, Myrlande Constant, and Betye Saar as well as artistic movements including Symbolism, Surrealism, Transcendental Painting Group, and Neo Tantra Painting.

Prerequisites: none listed

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