Program Overview

ART501 Theories of Criticism

This subject, along with ART502/ART512 and ART503/ART513, is intended to encourage and assist practitioners to reflect critically on their own disciplines. What, if anything, makes works of art, be they texts, textures, actions or video, different from other things? How are they produced, and how do they achieve their effects? On what basis can they be said to be good or bad? We survey the basic types of answers which have been proposed to these questions, and consider the extent to which theories, while useful, are subjective, competitive, and relative.

Availability

• Session 2 (60)
• Online
• Wagga Wagga Campus

Subject Information

Grading System

• HD/FL

Duration

• Two sessions

School

• School of Communication and Creative Industries

Enrolment Restrictions

• Only available to students enrolled in the Master of Creative Practice

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

• be able to demonstrate a familiarity with a range of theoretical literature from the Greeks to the present day from a reading of selected documents of critical theory.
• be able to demonstrate an analytical appreciation of key issues in theories of art.
• be able to demonstrate a detailed understanding of the theoretical and critical implications in some areas of arts practice.

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:

• Classical theories
• Ideas of inspiration and genius
• Aesthetic theories
• Determinism
• Psychology and psychoanalysis
• Formalism and structuralism
• Post-structuralism