This course attempts to make sense of the philosophical, political and artistic aims, accomplishments and influences of futurism, expressionism and surrealism. Students will read primary texts, including prose, poetry, literature and manifestos as well as examine selected works from the visual arts and film. Topics for discussion include the death of art, the reintegration of art and life, modernism, art and the unconscious, anti-aesthetics, art and kitsch, the autonomy of art, and art and politics. Writings about art will include works by Burger, Lukacs, Benjamin, Kracauer, Adorno, Lyotard, Greenberg, Agamben, and Foster.
