Course Co-ordinator: Dr A Bryzgel

Pre-requisite(s): Students are not permitted to register for the course after the end of week 2 of teaching. Available only to students in Level 4 or above.

Note(s): This course will be available as HA 4361 in 2012/13.

This course will examine the phenomenon of performance art as it developed both in the capitalist West and the communist East. By considering the artistic production of Western artists in light of what their contemporaries were doing behind the Iron Curtain, we will arrive at a more nuanced understanding of performance art in general, and in the West. Furthermore, by examining these performances from the East in the context of theories expounded on the avant-garde, we will reconsider the idea of the end of the avant-garde and develop an expanded understanding of postmodern art practice.

3 hours per week, divided into lectures and seminars.

1st attempt: One 1½-hour written examination (30%), in-course assessment (70%). The in-course assessment includes class participation (10%), one 2,000 word essay (40%) and a slide test (20%).