Kevin Kaempf

This interdisciplinary studio course is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their studio work while proceeding toward an outward-facing practice beyond graduation. An assessment of previous projects will be the starting point for an ongoing critical examination of your creative practice, through which you will be asked to contextualize and position your work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. This course is a forum for in-depth individual and group critiques with technical and conceptual discussions tailored to your practice and research. Readings will but typically include Duty Free Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War by Hito Steyerl; What Art Is and Where It Belongs by Paul Chan; selections from Delirium and Resistance: Activist Art and the Crisis of Capitalism Gregory Sholette; as well as various artist interviews from anthologies such as Tell Me Something Good: Artist Interviews from The Brooklyn Rail. The book Art/Work - Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career will be our practical guide for preparing for life after school. In addition to various screenings and field trips, class visits by local artists and curators will provide the opportunity for conversation about the lived experience of sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a focused, self-initiated Senior Project, an extended artist presentation, in-depth writing about one's work, and the tools for maintaining an independent studio practice.