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Celebration and Festivity Settings for public, communal events are carnivals and parades, bonfires, amusement parks and dance clubs, parties and flash mobs. Events may be innovative or traditional, present challenges to power or be designed to manipulate, be spontaneous outbursts or ritual ceremonies. These structures are echoed in the art world by situationist interventions, fluxus happenings, public performances and performance art, tactical media manifestations, orchestrated audience participation like Pierre Huyghe’s "Streamside Day Celebration", and art festivals like "Burning Man." Many of the contemporary works challenge boundaries between life and art, or between art and politics. What all these public transgessions of the everyday have in common is that they are partially unpredictable because they tap into the abandonment and energies of crowds. This class will assess celebrations, festivals and their settings as critical and affirmative functions within societies, and as subject and element of the creative process in contemporary artwork. Readings will include Elias Canetti’s "Crowds and Power." We will extensively consider artwork that addresses the above and will give significant room to discuss seminar participants’ related projects and experiences. |
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