About
Aug 30th, 2010 by Jessica Hammerman
In this course we’ll explore and enjoy the great diversity of visual and performing arts available in New York City. Throughout the semester, I’d like you to be asking “What sustains me as an individual?” and “What sustains us as a community?” and “Where do we find that in the arts in New York?” In addition to cultivating and appreciating your personal, instinctual and emotional response to a work of art, we’ll be developing a critical and evaluative perspective of that art form. How does that artist evoke a response in me? By what techniques? What are the criteria by which I can intelligently evaluate and discuss the content, form and structure of the art work, and the expertise of the artist, in an exchange of ideas with my colleagues? “Art is made at the interface of abandon and decorum: the abandon of mind and feeling under the control of form. . .” (Lyndall Gordon, Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family’s Feuds, Viking, New York, 2010, p. 136.)
You’ll be attending a wide range of performances, including dance, theatre and opera, as well as visiting (together or alone) various museums and art galleries. We’ll begin by looking at some of the architecture of the city, in order to give context to the semester’s work and better understand how the city became what it is today and how that is reflected in the architecture surrounding us every day. Then, you’ll be expected to carry this sensitivity to space to the various other visits and events that we attend.
EVENTS – You’re expected to attend all classes and every event scheduled for our class. If you must miss an event, it is crucial that you let me know in advance. You are required to make up the missed event, or something similar, at your own time and expense and report on it to me. Absences will adversely affect your grade.
—Professor Judith Jablonka
Office hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 12:30-2:00
HN 520H
