Delights of Ephemera explores the significance of mass-produced materials in the context of art movements and exhibitions. Contrary to its definition, ephemera can have power and permanence, giving agency to marginal and marginalized groups and providing a record of actions outside institutional structures. A poster for an exhibition can be as important—or more important—as the exhibition itself. Readings, lectures, field trips, research, and student presentations cover topics including traditional and experimental forms of ephemera; ephemera collections; production and distribution; formal and conceptual relationships; and the dual role of ephemera as historical document and work of art. Over the term, students design and produce four ephemera prototypes, culminating in final projects that investigate the ephemera-exhibition relationship and ways that objects of ephemera can embody the content they represent.
Learning Outcomes:
-understand and think critically about the conceptual relationship between form and content
-develop ideas through a process of research, creation, presentation and revision
-think strategically about how to communicate messages to wide audiences, in and outside specialized areas of interest or expertise
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Prerequisites: Prior coursework in visual arts and instructor consent (email annethompson@bennington.edu).
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 4
M/Th 10:00AM - 11:50AM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 18
Course Frequency: Every 2-3 years
Categories: 4000 , All courses , Four Credit , Fully In-Person , Visual Arts (VA)
Tags: activism , archives , art exhibitions , art history , art movements , curatorial practice , ephemera , politics , visual art