Descripción de la Formación
This course is being offered jointly by the MFA Fine Arts and MA Social Practice and Public Forms as a summer elective. Open to all Graduate students, the course is a collaboration between CCA, SFAI, SFSU, UC Berkeley, and the Fellows Program at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). It is also a part of Tania Bruguera’s survey exhibition at YBCA.
Whether through self-organized groups, individual initiatives, or the rise of user-generated content, people are developing new methods and social formations to deal with issues that were once the domain of the state. These initiatives are not isolated incidents, but also part of an art history that has been neglected, yet shapes our contemporary world. The class focuses on the concept of Arte Útil, which roughly translates into English as “useful art,” while also suggesting that art can be a tool or device.
Studying the shifting role of contemporary art, the class considers factors of the practice of Arte Útil such as institutional self-criticism, active hyperrealism, a-legality, reforming capital, beneficial outcomes, sustainability, intersection with other disciplines, and modes of creative collaboration. The class includes weekly guest lectures and case study presentations, as well as field trips and access to ongoing Arte Útil projects in the Bay Area. The class takes place at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Enrollment in the class requires familiarization with the Arte Útil archive (http://www.arte-util.org/projects/) and lexicon (http://www.arte-util.org/tools/lexicon/), as well as the submission of a written statement of 250-400 words explaining how you think aesthetics can disrupt institutional structures and what social issues interest you, sent to school@arte-util.org. (3 credits)