Lori Waxman

Walking is the most obvious thing in the world. We all do it. In fact it is a primary way to differentiate human beings from other sentient creatures. And yet, for the past century, artists have made revolutionary, romantic and aesthetic use of this most commonplace gesture.

In this class, we consider groups like the Surrealists, the Situationist International and Fluxus, all of whom walked in cities as a means of making vanguard art. We explore the flaneurs who came before them and contemporary artists like Francis Alys and Janet Cardiff, who came after. We look outside urban limits too, at Richard Long and the long history of Romantic walkers and traditional nomads that preceded him.

Course work includes a midterm exam and a final paper?and maybe, just maybe, we will go on a couple of walks ourselves.

Art criticism-the description, analysis, exegesis, contextualization, and judgement of art-is perceived as being a bit bedraggled of late. It just doesn't seem to be doing its job. It is either lumbering under the ponderous weight of crusty deconstructive theory, or fleeing to the safety of the academy with its self-perpetuating and self-fulfilling hermeticism. It is crippled by the strangling constraints of political correctness, wallowing in a solipsistic subjectivism, stuck in celebrity self-aggrandizement, and floundering in a vest undifferentiated sea of relativism. What to do? This seminar comprises reading, writing, and discussion of art criticism and cultural commentary, including a concise historical survey and many field trips to visit area exhibitions, curators, and artists. The current state of criticism is assessed by readings of contemporary art writing in journals, weeklies, daily newspapers, and on the web. Special attention is devoted to understanding different audience for practical as well as theoretical reasons. Emphasis is placed on developing new critical strategies to address new types of artistic practice-installation, video, digital media, interactive and socially engaged projects and service oriented practices-and on new venues for art criticism-new journals, 'zines, CDroms, and the internet. This is accomplished though visiting art exhibitions, class discussion of critical strategies, writing and presenting one analytical research paper.

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.