Socially Engaged Art

This course will give students a well rounded survey of social practice art as a discipline through learning about concepts and by making their own socially engaged artwork. Students will explore commonalities of socially engaged artworks, and what distinguishes social practice from other studio-based disciplines. 

We will view and discuss examples from the canon of socially engaged art, both historical and contemporary. We will read and discuss writings on the topic from the perspectives of socially engaged artists to learn about philosophical and practical issues in artists' practices. Some examples of artists whose work and writings we will discuss are Pablo Helguera, Michael Racowitz, Mel Chin, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Tania Bruguerra, Jen Delos Reyes, and others.

Students will practice applying these concepts by creating small scale socially engaged artworks with their classmates, modeled on the concepts studied throughout the term. Social practice is distinguished, among other characteristics, as being conceptual in nature in the sense that the finished form of a project is not dictated by materials but rather the concepts being expressed. This means that projects may take any form the artist deems appropriate for the work. Students may choose to work with any type of materials that suit the work and the form the pieces take will be a central topic of discussion during the active making process. The course will culminate in documentation of finished projects and a critique, as well as presenting back to communities, participants, and/or collaborators who contributed to the making of each project or piece.

The goal of this course is for students to develop a well rounded understanding of social practice art through study and practice, to be able to define social practice, and distinguish the discipline of social practice from strictly studio based art. Students should leave the term understanding through experience how the concepts and methods of socially engaged art are applied by artists in the field, and be able to cite contemporary art historical examples of existing work emblematic of social practice and socially engaged art.