What is a monster? How might you defend that you are not one? Monsters hover over our cultures as fictional creatures found across the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology, and religion. Often depicted as aggressive, transgressive, threatening, and vile, we, as humans, do not lean into being monsters but rather see them as the antithesis of our being, an insult to what it means to be human. How can we challenge notions that to be human is to be perfect, as we all have monsters within us? The program will challenge students to consider key themes and nuanced tensions between what is disturbing and what is beautiful; the shifting positions of victim/perpetrator/bystander and “crazy” versus “normal”; the societal norms and the unconscious; the relationship between artificial intelligence and human experience; and the concepts of the uncanny and sublime.
This program builds upon the foundations laid out in the fall quarter program Monsters: Confronting the Other where we explored the traditional framework of monsters through 19th century literature and art history. This quarter we will focus on questions about how we redeem or revive the monstrous – what is the tension between over-romanticizing and stigmatizing the monstrous in an ever-changing society. How do we critically examine art that confronts the monstrous in the external other and internalized other?
This program is designed for students ready to actively engage in their education and contribute to a learning community. Students will be expected to invest significant effort in collective exploration and discussion of concepts of the monstrous through the areas of creative writing, visual art, and cameraless animation Cyanotype and photo processes. Program emphasis will be on the development of a substantial solo and group project incorporating fictional narrative and visual art with a 16mm film cameraless experimental animation component. Throughout the program, we will attend the Evergreen Art Lecture Series which presents a broad range of interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art issues by artists, writers, activists, and scholars. We will use the subjects and forms they bring to bear as a way to apply our themes to living issues.
First-year and sophomore students with a background in visual art and creative writing should contact the faculty via email for a signature override to join this project-based program.
Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:
4 - Alternative Media
4 - Composition: Literature
4 - Topics in Contemporary Arts and Art Practice
4 - Visual Studies and Practices: Drawing and Painting
Registration
First Year and Sophomore students require a faculty signature to register. Juniors and Seniors can register without a signature.
Academic Details
$80 required fee covers film and art supplies ($50) and a required course reader ($30).