Università Roma Tre

Atlas of Postmodernity

The course deals with the transformations of the artistic field in the second half of the twentieth century. Through the analysis of works and texts it addresses the differences and transformations between modernism and postmodernism. Particular attention will be given to some specific links such as the city's experience, the relationship between artistic languages, the media and mass culture, the relationship with the political and the social sphere.

References

Gaetano Chiurazzi (a cura di), Il postmoderno, Bruno Mondadori 2007
Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) [selection]

Essays

Clement Greenberg, Avanguardia e kitsch, in L’avventura del modernismo, Johan & Levi, Monza 2011.
Douglas Crimp, The Photographic Activity of Postmodernism, “October”, 15 (1980)
Hal Foster, The Return of the Real (1993) [parti scelte]
Craig Owens, The Allegorical impulse: Toward a Theory of Postmodernism (1980), in B. Wallis (a cura di), Art after Modernism: Rethinking Representation, New York 1984
Leo Steinberg, Neodada e pop: il paradigma del “pianale” (1972), in G. Di Giacomo, C. Zambianchi (a cura di), Alle origini dell’opera d’arte contemporanea, Laterza 2008.

Some of these texts are available for download at: http://romatrecontemporanea.blogspot.it/

For general preparation, it is very useful to consult an art history textbook such as: Hal Foster et al., Art since 1900, Thames & Hudson
Images of the artworks, as well as videos and artist's films, are easily found on the net and in particular at the sites of the major international museums (MoMA, Tate, Center Pompidou etc.), as well as YouTube, Vimeo and Ubu.