Undergraduate Course: Art, Science and Modernity (HIAR10099)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | History of Art |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Throughout the 20th century the European avant-garde was informed and influenced by developments ongoing in the life and physical sciences. New discoveries in physics, biology and engineering impacted as never before upon society as electricity, industrialization, psychiatric medicine, relativity physics, public health programs and the onset of the nuclear age all changed profoundly how people responded to the scientific age and its perceived benefits. Between the years 1907-1969 science was conveyed to the public in a variety of ways: newspapers, 'popular' science books, government education programs and the gradual 'creep' of new technology into everyday life all contributed to the current of interest circulating around the subject. This seminar analyzes (through both visual and literary sources) how the 20th-century avant-garde reacted to this stimulus by examining how the iconography of modern art tallied with the new concepts of space, time, matter and mind emerging in contemporary science. Subjects investigated will include: the role of ether physics in the rationalization of the 'fragmented' picture-plane of Cubism; the influence of psychiatry on representations of the body in Viennese Secessionism; the importance of biological imagery in the creation of biomorphism; the nuclear age and concepts of infinity and sublimity in postwar abstraction. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| By the end of the course students will understand the importance of science as a stimulus to 20th-century avant-garde art movements and be able to identify and explain the reasons for this. Students will also be cognizant of the theory underpinning contemporary art/science interdisciplinary research and competently discuss some of the major issues ongoing in this field of study. They will also be able to skillfully interweave visual and textual sources as a means of expounding upon how scientific ideas visually and ideologically impacted upon avant-garde production in the period 1907-69. More broadly, students will be able to understand the historical background against which various 20th-century European avant-garde and scientific innovations took place. |
Assessment Information
| 1 x 2 hour examinaton (50%) and 1 x extended essay - 2,000 words (50%) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Edward Juler
Tel: 0131 651 1460
Email: ejuler@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email: Sue.Cavanagh@ed.ac.uk |
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