RUS 295-02 - Special Topic: Russian Conceptualism and Underground Soviet Culture

1 credits (Spring)

Cross-listed as: ARH 295-06. The Communist utopia, Conceptualist art, Samizdat, ‘black humor’, religious syncretism, dissidence, neo-Marxism, apolitical bohemianism, the pathos of freedom of individuality and the mechanics of painting are closely interlinked with the cultural mythology of the late Soviet epoch. Describing representations that, when taken together, form the contemporary understanding of the underground culture, we create a historial portrait of this environment and its leading aesthetic movement - Conceptualism. The official, liberal and nonconformist spheres of late Soviet life are three dimensions of intellectual activities of the intelligentsia in which the Conceptualist group worked. This course is not limited to one specific field of art or culture. Instead, it offers a unique chance to embrace the phenomenon of “anti-Soviet” culture as a whole, analyzing activities of one of the most essential artistic communities of the Soviet underground.

Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: April 18 to May 6. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Staff, Armstrong