CHID 390 A: Colloquium in the History of Ideas

"BAD ART" (VLPA & W CREDIT) AS A WORD, ART IS OFTEN SYNONYMOUS WITH A CULTURE'S HIGHEST AESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUES. INSTITUTIONS DEVOTE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF TIME AND MONEY TO IDENTIFYING THE BEST ART, TO PRESERVING OR CATALOGING IT, ALL IN ORDER TO EDUCATE THE MASSES ABOUT HOW BEST TO APPRECIATE IT. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SO-CALLED 'BAD ART' BEGINS TO INFLUENCE OR CHALLENGE THAT PROCESS OR VALUE SYSTEM? WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THE EMERGENCE OF EVERYDAY OR AMATEUR AESTHETIC PRACTICES THAT EXPLICITLY DEFY THE PRIORITIES ASSOCIATED WITH ARTISTIC VALUE: FORMAL SKILL OR TRAINING, RARITY OR QUALITY OF MATERIALS, ORIGINALITY OF TECHNIQUE? WE WILL CONSIDER: THE FORCES THAT PRODUCED AND RE-DEFINED 'FOLK' ART, THE PLEASURES OF CULT FILMS, AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE 'POOR IMAGE' THAT CHARACTERIZES MANY FORMS OF VISUAL PRODUCTION IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS.