INFO-633 Archives and Art-making
3 Credits
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INFO-633-01
Monday
11:30 am â 2:20 pm
Manhattan - W14, 613
This graduate course, held at the Manhattan and Brooklyn campuses, combines theory and practice to explore the dynamic role of archives in the visual and performing arts from the late 20th century to the present. Students will examine how contemporary artists engage with institutional, community, and personal archives, both analog and digital, through case studies of work by artists such as Cheryl Dunye, Zoe Leonard, Tacita Dean, Walid Raad, Isaac Julien, Theaster Gates, and others. Students will analyze how artists address archival exclusions, interrogate prevailing power structures and narratives, and challenge dominant frameworks while reimagining and reclaiming suppressed or absent histories. The seminar also includes six immersive, hands-on archival research sessions at the Pratt Institute Archives, culminating in a final project that involves creating original artwork incorporating or responding to materials from the Institute Archives.