21 Apr 2010

The Svartarkot Centre for Research & Education in Iceland presents 'The Landscape in Our Bodies'

THE LANDSCAPE IN OUR BODIES: EARTH, WATER, AIR, AND FIRE
The course deals with the subject of Landscape, both as idea and experience, combining practical exploration and conceptual investigation with the interplay of art, theory and writing, in an original and interdisciplinary fashion.
Parting from the rather uncanny condemnation of Landscape as an outmoded genre or a sweet leftover of the Romantic tradition, the course sets out to investigate the complex relationship between humans and the natural world, as it appears in contemporary art practice and recent debates in art history and art theoretical circles.
Focusing on identity, dreams, psychoanalysis and imagination, the course aims to raise awareness about the importance of creative involvement and bodily perceptions, in clarifying the apparently incoherent mixture of conceptual and somatic features in the concept of Landscape and its representations. Working through a wide range of ideas and images of nature, we will examine the historical and cultural context that drives the contemporary discussion on the subject of Landscape.

POST GRADUATE LEVEL / 10 ECTS CREDIT POINTS
The course is designed for students who wish to investigate the relationship between contemporary art practice and innovative modalities of expression. Interdisciplinary in nature, it is designed to meet the needs of MA and MFA students of fine art, art history, art theory, art writing, curatorial studies, or the humanities. Experimental in approach, it is investigative and enquiring, and encourages a sensory as well as tangible examination of our environment that goes beyond the merely aesthetical reading of art and landscape, in order to examine the more complex and vexed relationship between humans and nature.
Supervisors are Icelandic Visual Artist Einar Garibaldi Eiriksson and Art Critic Olafur Gislason. Keynote speaker is James Elkins, Art Historian and Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

THE SVARTARKOT CENTRE FOR RESEARCH & EDUCATION
Launched in 2005 as an initiative of the Reykjavik Academy, the Svartarkot Centre harnesses its unique location at the edge of the habitable world to explore the intricate yet dynamic relationship between culture and nature from a fresh perspective.
By exploring this complex relationship, the Svartarkot Centre aims to encourage active dialogue and cooperation between disciplines. More than a multidisciplinary approach, this represents a concerted effort to encourage a pooling of academic resources aimed at providing an all-round understanding of humanity and its cultures in the context of their natural environments.

THOUGHT AT THE EDGE
For full information and registration details, please visit our website: www.svartarkot.is