Surrealism and Creativity

Subject 760-241 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 2 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2009.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 1-hour lecture and a 2-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: 3 contact hours/week , 5.5 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: For BCA 12.5 points of first year visual media or interdisciplinary subjects or equivalent. For BA students 12.5 points of first year art history or cinema studies.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Contact

Assoc Prof Ken Wach
Phone: 8344 8329
Subject Overview: This subject includes programmed study which examines and analyses the art and related critical writing of the 1920s and the 1930s in the context of the major aesthetic movements and schools of thought in contemporary Europe and Australia. Topics explored may include surrealist art, theory and aesthetics; Dada and the art of revolt; art, irrationality and creativity; psychoanalysis and the role of the imagination; automatism and the arts; literature and the arts; surrealism and the Spanish Civil War; surrealist sculpture; and the development of the avant-garde. Students will have the opportunity to study relevant theory and the manifestoes, view films, and read the literature of the period with emphasis upon the formation, manifestation and influence of early modernist aesthetic precepts.
Objectives:
  • demonstrate a developed knowledge of the aesthetic theory and artistic practice of the 1920s and 1930s;
  • be able to make informed, relevant, critical and analytical observations about the art of the period;
  • be aware of artistic parallels and conceptual interrelationships;
  • possess a broadened grasp of historical and stylistic process in the visual arts.
Assessment: Written work totalling 4000 words comprising an essay of 2500 words 60% (due at the end of semester), a seminar class presentation of 45 minutes duration comprised of a verbal presentation 10% together with a written synoptic paper of 1,500 words 20% (both of which are due in class through individual negotiation), and regular attendance and satisfactory participation in tutorials and workshops 10%. A hurdle requirement of a minimum 80% attendance is required.
Prescribed Texts:
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • research through competent use of the library and other information sources, and through defining areas of enquiry and methods of research;
  • demonstrate teamwork;
  • demonstrate time management, independent organization and planning;
  • communicate knowledge in oral, written and/or creative form.
Notes: Formerly available as 760-241 and 760-331 Surrealism and the Creative Imagination. Students previously enrolled in Surrealism and the Creative Imagination are not eligible to enrol in this subject. BA students may credit this subject to an art history or cinema studies major.
Related Course(s): Bachelor of Creative Arts and Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Creative Arts and Bachelor of Teaching
Diploma in Arts (Art History)

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