AHT 254 Art in Practice: From the Studio to the Auction House
With its celebration of visual culture that ranges from an edgy arts scene to vibrant film production, from scores of galleries and museums to the graffiti that is etched into the very fabric of the city, Zurich is an exemplary site to study the history, development, and production of different forms of art and design in the 20th and 21st centuries. This module focuses on visual cultures and their histories and brings students into direct dialogue with artists, art spaces, and cultural institutions in Zurich to develop an understanding of past and present modes of representations and their role in shaping the world then and now. Classes combined with visits to art museums and galleries, and historic sites such as the birthplace of DaDa, the Kunsthaus Zurich, the Museum Rietberg, the Klee Museum in Bern, and the Musée de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, foster students’ knowledge of art history and visual design through direct confrontation with artworks. Similarly, an understanding of contemporary tenets of aesthetic production and distribution will be developed through visits and discussions with actors of both the commercial and independent art scenes. The latter become particularly important sites to study the contemporary art market and its dynamics on both the primary (studios, dealers, and galleries) and secondary (auction houses) art markets in the Swiss environment. The module further questions the specificity of Swiss art production and examines it as a useful model to understand and engage with contemporary global visual industries.