Art and the Environment

ARTH 424 Art and Environment will examine some of the diverse entanglements of artistic practices and the environment, and will address these intersections in a variety of contexts: aesthetic, historical, social and political. Taught as a series of seminars over twelve weeks, the course will traverse a range of topics that draw on research expertise within the Department of Art History and Theory. Topics include: visualising landscapes; the aesthetic experience of nature, gardens and other human-altered landscapes; colonialism and eco-violence; geology and deep time; the anthropocene and post-humanism; urbanism and art; art and environmental activism; environmental disaster and art. Students will consider these topics within art historical frameworks but will also be introduced to the necessarily interdisciplinary nature of the field.