Macquarie University

Art and Culture - ANTH204

This unit introduces students to certain vital artistic practices and the social worlds and relationships they generate.
The unit first sketches out some theoretical questions concerning the anthropology of art, examining issues such as the universality or social-specificity of art and aesthetics as a phenomenon; the relationship between artworks and artefacts; the rise of the artist as a vocation; and how the body, senses, and emotions are trained in the production and consumption of aesthetic forms.
Next, students are encouraged to learn not only about the anthropology of art but to consider also the complementary process of anthropology as art. How do we represent – write about, film, draw – the lives, places and activities of others? Anthropology, too, is an artistic and experimental practice, as seen most clearly in the discipline and creativity of ethnographic writing or ethnographic film.
Third, we focus on the practices of artists, and the ways in which their work might contribute to anthropological understandings. How does ‘fieldwork’ with artists illuminate our understanding of art?
Last, students engage with art in a more experiential manner, through our own practice of it, enabling us to make art and to reflect upon the issues and experiences that emerge in the process. This fourth aspect of the course encourages students themselves to engage in art practice.