VISST 3001 - [Documentary Art]

(crosslisted) ARTH 3001
(HB) (LA-AS, ALC-AS, HST-AS)

Fall. Not offered: 2020-2021. Next offered: 2021-2022. 4 credits. Student option grading.

A. Moisey.

How do we define reality with pictures? In this transhistorical course we focus on the theory and practice of depicting real objects and spaces—on works that could be called “documentary.” These works are made not necessarily to inspire feelings of beauty or sublimity, express inner worlds, or to parody the real, but rather to crystalize attitudes and knowledge about the everyday. Techniques of landscape and view painting, mapmaking, descriptive printmaking, documentary photography and film with varying “pragmatic” purposes, including scientific illustration, patent illustration, advertisement, and political rhetoric, will be given special attention. Works and readings will range from the early modern to the contemporary era.