080052 EX Viennese Art: Monument / Counter-Monument (2019S)

This excursion considers the complex interconnected histories of the art of sculpture, the public monument, and the appearance of the counter-monument towards the end of the 20th century. A counter-monument, writes James Young, “would have to be a monument against itself: against the traditionally didactic function of monuments, against their tendency to displace the past they would have us contemplate—and finally, against the authoritarian propensity in monumental spaces that reduces viewers to passive spectators.” We will visit works of public sculpture in Vienna in order to consider the paradoxical forms and aims of counter-monumental sculpture, as well as the conditions – historical, political, and art historical – to which it responded.

In particular, weekly readings and on-site analyses focus on issues related to site-specificity and temporality, materiality and dematerialization, and (anti)figural representation in public sculpture. How do works of public sculpture set out to activate spectators, crystalize the past, provoke reaction, or even efface themselves? Do they succeed? We will trace the intersections of art historical concerns with memory culture, which offers a rich perspective on the transformation of the form and role of commemorative monuments and memorials in public space, in particular after 1945 and after 1989. On site visits include works by Olafur Eliason, Donald Judd, Alfred Hrdlicka, Franz West, and Rachel Whiteread, amongst others.

Meetings will be discussion-based. Students will leave this course with the resources to articulate and write art historical interpretations rooted in attentive description of public sculpture and contextualized with reference to historical and theoretical scholarship. Above all, the course is about enriching our appreciation of the role of art in our everyday lives.

N.B. Please bear in mind that the majority of our meetings take place outdoors, regardless of weather, and prepare accordingly. Please contact me by email with any questions about accessibility.