Postmodern Gothic

Theory, technology, and art collide in this course's final presentations, held on or after the last day of class. We'll think of this as a more or less public event titled The Promises of Monsters. In order to do it, we'll need a working knowledge of monsters -- the place of the monstrous in history, how defining "monster" works to stabilize the definition of "human", how defining sexuality, gender, and ethnicity works in similar fashion; how monsters and machines are gendered; how the idea of the monstrous relates to rationality and delirium; how these themes are inflected to stabilize "normal" and "abnormal"; and in general the complex ways in which That Which is Different comes to be That Which is Evil (and sometimes Powerful, and sometimes Savior, and sometimes...?). Using film, video, sound, and other media, we will compare modern representations of the monstrous with a few of the postmodern, to gain an appreciation of how the idea of the monster has changed in that transition, and what the changes imply for our own ideas of bodies, subjectivity, and desire.

Class is in studio and discussion format. This means that your active participation is a requirement of the course. During the semester we expect you to contribute your own ideas and arguments to the discussions, and to be willing to take the responsibilities and risks such contributions imply.

There are no written exams. Instead you will use the theories and tools you acquire during the semester to MAKE STUFF! about some aspect of postmodern gothic. What you make can be in any form: sound, installation, video, computer animation, collage, sculpture, assemblage, performance -- you name it. You will do this in stages, starting with simple projects and moving to more complex ones, using humor, irony, uncommon approaches, and bizarre techniques.

To download a sample syllabus in .pdf format Click Here

Here are some resource we use for the course:

PoMo

asics of Postmodernism Postmodern images and a basic quote or two Elements of Structuralism Dracula Jacque Attali's Noise Gianfranco Sanguinetti Theses on the Situationists and their time

Fredric Jameson: Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism Betty Friedan Linda Nicholson Kate Millett: Sexual Politics PoMo for students by students Structuralism Chip Morningstar's "How to Deconstruct Almost Everything" Postmodern Essay Generator

 

 

Goth

Gothic Literature Poe's "The Black Cat" Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe's complete works Note: Clicking on a title on the Poe main page doesn't open it in your browser -- it downloads a text file to your hard drive. Gothic architecture Monsters in Literature and Film

Gargoyles Gothic music Gothic literature links Amiens Cathedral Project Classical Gothic music list Popgoth music (maybe)

 

 

PoMoGoth

on a Haraway's "Cyborg Manifesto"

Donna Haraway's "Promises of Monsters"

T.A.Z.
Read the online chapters until you've had enough.
Be sure to also read "Communications of the Association for Ontological Anarchy",
Communique #1, Part II: "Some Poetic-Terrorist Ideas Still Sadly Languishing
in the Realm of "Conceptual Art", on the main page (scroll down).