Undergraduate Course: Art and Capitalist Life (HIAR10183)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is concerned with artists' engagement with 'capitalist life', in all its complex, tangled and hidden aspects. Moving from the late 1960s to the present day, the syllabus tracks a persistent demand for the negotiation and documentation of social realities across a range of diverse practices; from performance and participatory approaches through to sound, lens-based and digital media. Asking what is caught by the term 'capitalist life' we will structure our discussions around specific themes including time and the working day, domestic labour, housing struggles, healthcare, sex and intimacy. Our analyses will be closely informed by feminist thought. |
| Course description |
Art and Capitalist Life brings a new perspective to the production and dissemination of art since the 1960s. While the course introduces key practices and debates from contemporary art history, a concern with the decisive role that documents and documentation have played in the intersections between art and life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries threads through the syllabus. We will explore the ways in which artists have sought to guide attention away from the representation of 'visible facts' to instead address the complex, hidden dimensions of capitalist life. How have artworks engaged with struggles for alternative futures, the negotiation of post-truth conditions and the demand for new experiences mediated by technology?
Artists and collectives whose work may be encompassed by the course include: UltraRed (sound), Petra Bauer (moving image), Shona Macnaughton (performance), Simone Leigh (social practice), Forensic Architecture (multidisciplinary research), Rasheed Araeen (mixed media), Jo Spence (photography), WochenKlausur (social practice) and Harun Farocki (film).
Teaching will be delivered through weekly seminars (2 hours per week). Screenings, exhibition visits, artist talks and a close engagement with the University's Research Collection of Contemporary Art form a core part of the syllabus. Students are expected to complete preparatory readings before each class in addition to video/web-based research.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above, and we will only consider University/College level courses. **Please note that 3rd year History of Art courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces. These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
External Visit Hours 2,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1. Essay, 2000 words, 50%, Weeks 8-10. Relating to all Learning Outcomes.
2. Portfolio, 2000 words, 50%, Exam Diet. Relating to all Learning Outcomes.
Further Information:
Portfolio (Curatorial Project Proposal), 50%, consisting of
a. audience-focused introduction, 20%
b. academic discussion on curatorial premise linking it to relevant literature and contextualising examples, 60%
c. artwork checklist with images and fully captioned, 10%
d. sample label for one artwork or art project, 10%
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| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
- Students will submit an Essay plan in Week 5. Written feedback on the plan from the Course Organiser will be given by the end of Week 6.
- Students will present their curatorial ideas for the Portfolio in Weeks 9-10, receiving oral feedback from the peers and the Course Organiser.
- Analytical skills required for the first assessment will be used and expanded in the second assessment, though the Curatorial Project Proposal will require you to address your ideas to a different audience and context. Formative feedback on each component thus can be applied to the other.
Summative Feedback
The Course Organiser will give written feedback on the Essay and Portfolio. Students will be given the opportunity to meet 1:1 with the CO to discuss feedback.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of issues associated with artists' engagement with social realities in contemporary art by producing a range of written outputs which analyse key trends, topics and approaches.
- Put artists¿ engagements with social realities into historical and theoretical context.
- Produce interpretations of contemporary artworks grounded in visual and theoretical analysis aimed at different audiences.
- Demonstrate curatorial skills and communicate creative ideas by producing and presenting a proposal for a curatorial project together with associated materials.
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Reading List
Jones, Amelia, and Adrian Heathfield, eds. Perform, Record, Repeat: Live Art in History. Intellect Books, 2012.
Jones, Chris, and Elliot Perkins. "Towards Organizing? Listening Work in Southwark, South London." A Journal of Militant Sound Inquiry 1 Naming the Moment (2024): 155¿74.
Smith, Giulia. ¿Health v Wealth.¿ Art Monthly 418 (July/Aug 2018): 6-10.
Steyerl, Hito. ¿Documentary Uncertainty.¿ A Prior 15 (2007). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry:
Your analytical and critical thinking skills will be strengthened through close study of artworks and theoretical contributions. You will develop your ability to synthesise the arguments of others and develop your own perspectives during seminar discussions and in summative assessments.
Personal Effectiveness:
The course offers opportunities for you to apply your learning in creative ways while developing new skills in curatorial thinking, strategies and responsive planning.
Communication:
Seminars and summative assessments encourage you to communicate complex ideas and arguments in discussion and in writing using a range of media from formal academic writing to structured exhibition proposals and concise gallery interpretation materials. |
| Keywords | Contemporary Art,Documentation,Feminism,Moving Image,Performance,Social Practice,Participation |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kirsten Lloyd
Tel: (0131 6)51 5799
Email: Kirsten.Lloyd@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mx Hannah Pennie Morrison
Tel: (0131 6)51 5763
Email: Hannah.PM@ed.ac.uk |
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