Course Descriptions
In the following listings, courses numbered 110 through 499 are studio electives offered to students from Yale College and the graduate and professional schools. Permission of the instructor is required for enrollment in all courses. Graduate students of the School of Art who wish to broaden their experience outside their area of concentration have priority in enrollment.
Courses numbered 500 and above are offered only to graduate students of the School of Art. In exceptional cases qualified Yale College students may enroll in a graduate course, with the permission of both the instructor and the director of undergraduate studies. Please refer to the section on Academic Regulations for further pertinent details. It should be noted that, as a matter of policy, all faculty members teach on both the graduate and undergraduate levels, although the degree and the nature of contact may vary.
Tutorials, which are special courses that cannot be obtained through regular class content, require a proposal written by the student and the faculty member concerned, defining both content and requirements. Proposals must be presented to the Academic Subcommittee for approval.
For the most up-to-date course information, please refer to our Web site at http://art.yale.edu/courses.Film/Video/Interdisciplinary
Film/Video/Interdisciplinary is not a formal area of study in the School of Art; however, a number of students work primarily in video while enrolled in other areas. The School offers two graduate video courses each term taught by practicing video artists. These classes address fundamental technical issues as well as the far more challenging questions of the contemporary practice of video by artists and this medium’s relation to other forms of art practice. Classes in video are taught in a variety of locations throughout the School of Art and are attended by students from all areas of study.
Art 111a or b, Visual Thinking An introduction to the language of visual expression, using studio projects to explore the fundamental principles of visual art. Students acquire a working knowledge of visual syntax applicable to the study of art history and popular culture, as well as art. Projects address all four major concentrations (graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, sculpture). No prior drawing experience necessary. Open to all undergraduates; required for all art majors. Materials fee: $25. Anna Betbeze and faculty
Art 141a and 142b, The Language of Film Workshop A workshop in which the problems and aesthetics of the medium are studied in practice as well as theory. In addition to exploring movement, image, montage, point of view, and narrative structure, students photograph and edit their own short videotapes. The writing and production of short dramatic scenes are emphasized in the fall term. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite for film studies majors: Film Studies 150. No prerequisite for art majors. Michael Roemer and Sandra Luckow
Art 145a or b, Introduction to Digital Video Digital video represents a provocative combination of vernacular and classical styles through its ease of use and its potential for extremely high production values. This class introduces the basic tools of digital video production. Topics include DV camera operation, sound, and Mac-based editing (Final Cut Pro). After students learn these basic techniques, the remainder of the class consists of individual and collaborative assignments that explore the visual language and production challenges of DV. This class is directed to the spatial and visual aspects of the medium rather than the narrative. The class also includes screenings of experimental films, video art, and DV feature films. Enrollment limited to twelve undergraduates. Materials fee: $150. Faculty
Art 201b, Critical Theory in the Studio This course introduces students to key concepts in modern critical theory and examines how these ideas can aid in the analysis of creative work in the studio. Psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, structuralism, and poststructuralism are examined in relation to modern and contemporary movements in the visual arts, including cubism, surrealism, Arte Povera, pop, minimalism, conceptual art, performance art, the pictures group, and the current relational aesthetics movement. Materials fee: $25. Jeffrey Stuker
Art 341a or b, Intermediate Fiction Film Workshop In the first half of the term, students write, stage, and edit short dramatic scenes, each four to five minutes long. During the second half, they create somewhat longer projects. Focus on writing short dramatic scenes with a concrete understanding of the way they will be acted, directed, and photographed. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 141a or b. Michael Roemer and Jonathan Andrews
Art 342b, Intermediate Documentary Film Workshop Students explore the storytelling potential of the film medium by making documentary art. The class concentrates on finding and capturing intriguing, complex scenarios in the world and then adapting them to the film form. Questions of truth, objectivity, style, and the filmmaker’s ethics will be scrutinized using examples of the students’ work. The term begins with exercises in storytellling principles and progresses to students’ short projects. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 141a or b. Sandra Luckow
Art 395a or b, Junior Seminar Ongoing studio projects discussed and evaluated with an emphasis on their relationship to contemporary issues in art, criticism, and theory. Readings, slide presentations, critiques by School of Art faculty, and gallery and museum visits. Critiques address all four areas of study in the art major (graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, sculpture). Prerequisite: at least four courses in art. Required for all art majors. Jeffrey Stuker
Art 442, Advanced Fiction Film Workshop A yearlong workshop designed primarily for art and film studies majors making senior projects. Each student writes and directs a short fiction film. The first term focuses on the screenplay, production schedule, story boards, casting, budget, and locations. In the second term students rehearse, shoot, edit, and screen the film. Materials fee: $150. Enrollment limited to eight. Priority to majors in art and in film studies. Prerequisites: Art 141a or b and Art 341a or b. Jonathan Andrews
Art 495b, Senior Project A project of creative work formulated and executed by the student under the supervision of an adviser designated in accordance with the direction of the student’s interest. Proposals for senior projects are submitted to the School of Art Undergraduate Studies Committee (USC) for review and approval at the end of the term preceding the last resident term. Weekly seminar meetings are held to discuss and evaluate the development of projects that are reviewed and graded by an interdisciplinary committee made up of members of the School of Art faculty. An exhibition of selected work done in the project is expected of each student. Enrollment limited to senior art majors. Clint Jukkala
Art 902a, Video Performance Art Workshop An interdisciplinary art workshop for students interested in extending their ideas and practice into video, performance, and/or other time-based media. Participants learn basic production skills and work individually and collaboratively. Class time is spent working on projects as well as on screenings, group critiques, and discussions of readings related to the field. Enrollment limited to sixteen graduate art students, four from each department. John Pilson
Art 909b, Interdisciplinary Art: History and Practice This seminar considers the intellectual and artistic foundations of contemporary interdisciplinary practice, beginning with the Russian avant-garde, the Bauhaus, and the work of Marcel Duchamp. A discussion of the influence of these legacies on later Conceptualism leads to considerations of the interdisciplinary practices of specific contemporary artists, including Rebecca Horn, Thomas Hirschhorn, Ann Hamilton, Pierre Huyghe, and Rirkrit Tiravanija, whose work is examined in relation to notions of fluidity, formlessness, and closeness. Selections from E. M. Cioran’s A Short History of Decay, Yves-Alain Bois and Rosalind Krauss’s Formless: A User’s Guide, and Vladimir Nabokov’s Speak, Memory, among other texts, are read and discussed to create a larger picture of what the erosion and transformation of boundaries signify in both the creation and consumption of contemporary culture. Steven Madoff
Art 949a, Critical Practice Required for all first-year graduate students in the School of Art. Four sections are offered in the fall term. First-year graduate students are required to take one of these sections in their first term and will receive three credits for satisfactory completion. The sections vary widely in subject matter but are not limited to distinct areas of study. They range from technical introductions to theoretical and critical studies. Students are randomly assigned to sections, with a goal that each section contains a mix of students from all areas of study in the School. Faculty
Graphic Design
Art 001a, Studies in Visual Biography Diaries, journals, and scrapbooks studied as authoritative examples of visual autobiography. Social history and visual methods, focusing on American and British cultural life between the world wars. Exercises in collecting, collage, and composition; methods of visually navigating space, time, and memory; discussion of the asynchronous nature of biography. Enrollment limited to freshmen. Jessica Helfand
Art 132a or b, Introductory Graphic Design A studio introduction to visual communication with an emphasis on principles of the visual organization of design elements as a means to transmit meaning and values. Topics include shape, color, visual hierarchy, word/image relationships, typography, symbol design, and persuasion. Development of a verbal and visual vocabulary to discuss and critique the designed world and contribute significant projects to it. Materials fee: $150. Julian Bittiner, Pamela Hovland, and Henk van Assen
Art 264a, Typography I An intermediate course in graphic design concentrating on the fundamentals of typography, and particularly on how typographic form and visual arrangement create and support content. The course work is based on designing and making books and employs handwork and computer technology. Typographic history and theory are discussed in relation to course projects. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 132a or b. Alice Chung and John Gambell
Art 265b, Typography II Continued studies in typography incorporating more advanced and complex problems. Emphasis on exploration of grid structures, sequentiality, and typographic translation, particularly in the design of contemporary books, and screen-based kinetic typography. Relevant issues of design history and theory are discussed in conjunction with studio assignments. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisites: Art 132a or b, and Art 264a. Henk van Assen
Art 367a and 368b, Intermediate Graphic Design The focus of this class is on the various ways design functions, how visual communication takes form and is recognized by an audience. The course looks critically at three core issues inherent in design: word and image, structure, and sequence. Word and image concentrates on the primary components of design and their effect on each other. Structure focuses on the discipline’s theories of organization and how content is shaped through the methodology employed. Sequence looks at how narrative is constructed through the use of relationship and succession. An underlying concern for this course is the analysis and refinement of an individual design methodology. The course promotes an awareness of the systematic procedures, techniques, and modes of inquiry employed while leading to a particular result. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 132a or b. Alice Chung and Pamela Hovland
Art 468a and 469b, Advanced Graphic Design This studio course asks how the individual designer can be idiosyncratic in the work that he or she produces, at the same time that the work communicates on its own to a broad audience. A probe into how best to combine words and images in two, three, and four dimensions through sets of posters, mappings, timelines, and screen-based interactions. No prior technical experience required. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 367a or permission of the instructor. Julian Bittiner, Douglass Scott, and Henk van Assen
Graphic Design 710a and 711b, Preliminary Studio For three-year graphic design graduate students. This studio offers an intensive course of study in the fundamentals of graphic design and visual communication. Emphasis is on developing a strong formal foundation and conceptual skills. Broad issues such as typography, color, composition, letterforms, interactive and motion graphics skills, and production technology are addressed through studio assignments. Barbara Glauber and Scott Stowell
Graphic Design 720, Graduate Studio For students entering the two-year program. The first-year core studio is composed of a number of intense workshops taught by resident and visiting faculty. These core workshops grow from a common foundation, each assignment asking the student to reconsider text, space, or object. We encourage the search for connections and relationships between the projects. Rather than seeing courses as being discreet, our faculty teaching other term-long classes expect to be shown work done in the core studio. Over the course of the term, the resident core studio faculty help students identify nascent interests and possible thesis areas. Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Irma Boom, Paul Elliman, Karel Martens, Susan Sellers, Linda van Deursen, and Daniel van der Velden
Graphic Design 730, Graduate Studio For second-year graduate students. This studio focuses simultaneously on the study of established design structures and personal interpretation of those structures. The program includes an advanced core class and seminar in the fall; independent project development, presentation, and individual meetings with advisers and editors who support the ongoing independent project research throughout the year. Other master classes, workshops, tutorials, and lectures augment studio work. The focus of the second year is the development of independent projects, and a significant proportion of the work is self-motivated and self-directed. Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Michael Bierut, Irma Boom, Paul Elliman, Jessica Helfand, Susan Sellers, and Linda van Deursen
Graphic Design 739, Degree Presentation in Graphic Design For second-year graduate students. Resolution of the design of the independent project fitting the appropriate medium to content and audience. At the end of the second term, two library copies of a catalogue raisonné with all independent project work are submitted by each student, one of which is retained by the University and the other returned to the student. The independent project or “thesis” is expected to represent a significant body of work accomplished over the course of two years, culminating in the design of an exhibition of the work. Keira Alexandra, Alexander Isley, and David Israel
Graphic Design 740a, Typographic Form + Meaning Creating typography that says what it means and means something more. Conventional typography is ostensibly unlearned to bring words and meaning into focus as important drivers of visual form-making and the development of a formal language. An essential by-product is expanding the conceptual framework of projects through responding to formal experimentation and innovation. Projects are print-based, providing various phases of vivisection and reconstitution of individual content and direction. All content is self-initiated, drawing from the student’s thesis and related subjects. Allen Hori
Graphic Design 741b, Typography at Large This course explores a series of typographic projects in which students address typography in terms of color, form, scale, and place. Each student chooses content appropriate to experimentation with typographic form, translating language into a set of projects interrelated both conceptually and formally. Students work in large-scale print (e.g., posters, billboards, banners, newspapers). Other media may be examined; three-dimensional space and/or type in motion can be among the selected narrative tools. Henk van Assen
Graphic Design 742b, Networks and Transactions I How can graphic design influence and be influenced by the unpredictable encounters between one group and another? Or between quantities of unknown users on one side, and vast webs of fluctuating information on the other? In this first course of the Networks and Transactions sequence, we develop a typography appropriate for these pervasive conditions of the modern world. In addition to typographic concerns, fundamentals of programming—and the PHP language in specific—are learned through hands-on work. No previous programming experience necessary. Open to preliminary and first-year graphic design students, or by permission of the instructor. Dan Michaelson
Graphic Design 743a, Type Design Type design is distinct from “lettering” in that it necessarily calls for a systematic approach, not just a concern for individual forms. The course focuses on a clear, systematic procedure to building the design of a typeface, as well as the aesthetic issues presented by single letters. The class is taught with FontLab, a type-design program for the Macintosh® that allows designers to digitize letterforms on screen and turn them into usable fonts. Students learn the software, together with the principles of designing and spacing type. Fully fledged type designers are not made in one term; the object is to “demystify” the subject and teach users of type an increased appreciation of it. Students work on individual projects, chosen in consultation with the instructors. Individual projects should be carefully chosen, so that the availability of the student’s new font makes a real contribution and serves a clear purpose. With the problems of type design so deeply interconnected, a clearly defined project is necessary to establish solid criteria for subsequent work. The nature of the project determines the route each student takes in researching his or her design. If appropriate to the project, students spend time rendering letterforms by hand, investigating historical sources, or starting immediately on screen. Tobias Frere-Jones and Matthew Carter
Graphic Design 744a, 4-D Design This course provides opportunities to explore how the conventions of print typography and the dynamics of word-image relationships change with the introduction of time, motion, and sound. There is a sequence of problems of increasing length, often with personal choice of subject matter. Most weeks we spend part of our class period looking at selected film and video examples and talking about how they work. Our work focuses on the controlled interaction of words and images to express an idea or tell a story. The goal is to experience firsthand, using simple tools and techniques, the extra dimensions of time-based communications, and to learn to choreograph aural and visual images through selection, editing, and juxtaposition. While problems center on linear narrative forms, by exploring the extra dimensions of time, motion, and sound (the actual stuff of the world we live in) we also anticipate the unique issues of nonlinear and interactive media: engagement, action and feedback, orientation and navigation. Christopher Pullman
Graphic Design 747b, Design for Video and Film In the last decade, the world of design and image making in video and film production has become an increasingly hybrid one, including aspects of direction, art direction, illustration, animation, design, and sound design. The class focuses on storytelling and on building concepts into compelling messages. Special emphasis is given to experimental techniques and to the question of relevance in the students’ formal decision making. Weekly meetings include group critiques, viewings, readings, and occasional guest speakers. The projects encourage students to extend their ideas into a time-based medium. Karin Fong and Todd St. John
Graphic Design 752a, Networks and Transactions II This class explores the dynamic relationship between data and visual form by making connections between multiple networks of information and people, all of which are in motion. The overall focus is on experimentation, visualization, and designing new ways of working with dynamic content. We also discuss how to site, show, or publish work in ways that are appropriate to each student’s thesis. Assignments are completed in Junction and Messenger. Previous experience with Flash not required. Prerequisite: Graphic Design 742b or permission of the instructor. Dan Michaelson
Graphic Design 762b, Exhibition Design Problems in the graphic design of a collaborative and self-initiated exhibition. Prerequisite: Graphic Design 752a. Glen Cummings
Master Classes in Graphic Design These are one or two weeks in duration and generally take place at the beginning of the term when both instructor and students are free to devote full time to a single, intensive project. In recent years, master classes have been conducted by Michael Bierut, Irma Boom, Matthew Carter, Paul Elliman, Karel Martens, Sigi Moeslinger, Masamichi Udagawa, Daniel van der Velden, and Roel Wouters. Students are admitted at the discretion of the instructor.
Painting/Printmaking
Art 114a or b, Basic Drawing An introduction to drawing, emphasizing articulation of space and pictorial syntax. Class work is based on observational study. Assigned projects address fundamental technical and conceptual problems suggested by historical and recent artistic practice. No prior drawing experience necessary. Open to all undergraduates; required for all art majors. Materials fee: $25. Anna Betbeze, Marie Lorenz, Sam Messer, Robert J. Reed, Jr., Robert Storr, and faculty
Art 116a, Color Study of the interaction of color, ranging from fundamental problem solving to individually initiated expression. The collage process is used for most class assignments. Materials fee: $25. Clint Jukkala
Art 130a or b, Painting Basics An introduction to painting issues, stressing a beginning command of the conventions of pictorial space and the language of color. Class assignments and individual projects explore technical, conceptual, and historical issues central to the language of painting. Intended for students not majoring in art and for art majors outside the painting concentration. Students who intend to pursue the painting concentration, or take multiple courses in painting, should take Introductory Painting. Materials fee: $75. George Rush [F] and Anna Betbeze [Sp]
Art 223a and 224b, Figure Drawing The study of the human figure using a range of approaches, with emphasis on observation, anatomy, and spatial structure. Historical examples from cave painting to contemporary art are presented. Materials fee: $75 per term. Prerequisite: Art 114a or b or equivalent. Samuel Messer and George Rush
Art 230a and 231b, Introductory Painting An introduction to concepts and techniques in painting, through observational study, with emphasis on the language of color and the articulation of space. The study of pictorial syntax in historical painting and the mastery of materials and techniques are integral components of the course. Materials fee: $75 per term. Prerequisite or corequisite: Art 114a or b. Robert J. Reed, Jr.
Art 245b, Digital Drawing The study of digital techniques and concepts as they expand the possibilities of traditional drawing. Topics include vector and bitmap imaging, the stylus and scanner, printing and projection, and uses of digital drawing for making studies for other artworks. In the first half of the course, students undertake directed projects centered on these topics. The second half of the course is focused on individual development and exploration. Enrollment limited. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 111a or b or Art 114a or b, or permission of the instructor. Sarah Oppenheimer
Art 330a and 331b, Painting Studio I Further exploration of concepts and techniques in painting, emphasizing the individuation of students’ pictorial language. Class investigations encompass various approaches to representational and abstract painting. Studio work is complemented by in-depth discussion of issues in historical and contemporary painting. Materials fee: $75 per term. Prerequisite: Art 230a or 231b. George Rush [F] and Clint Jukkala [Sp]
Art 355b, Silkscreen Printing This course presents a range of techniques in silkscreen and photo-silkscreen, from handcut stencils to prints using four-color separation. Students create individual projects in a workshop environment. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 114a or b or equivalent. Open to graduate students. Marie Lorenz
Art 356a, Printmaking Instruction in a diverse range of printmaking media. Students develop work in linocut, woodcut, collograph, drypoint, and etching. Both color and black-and-white printing methods are explored. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 114a or b or equivalent. Open to graduate students. Marie Lorenz
[Art 359b, Lithography Basic techniques of stone and plate lithography. Students create prints utilizing drawing and/or photo-based imagery. It is recommended that students have a basic knowledge of Photoshop. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: Art 114a or b or equivalent. Open to graduate students. Not offered in 2009–2010]
Art 430a and 431b, Painting Studio II Development of individual themes through independent studio practice. Studio work is complemented by discussion of pertinent topics in historical and contemporary painting. Senior art majors in the painting concentration are encouraged to take Art 431b in conjunction with Art 495b. Can be taken more than once. Materials fee: $75 per term. Prerequisites: Art 330a and 331b. Samuel Messer [F]and Rochelle Feinstein [Sp]
Art 457b, Printmaking II Individual projects in a range of media: relief methods, etching, lithography, and silkscreen, augmented by group projects to create a suite of prints or a book. Emphasis on traditional and transmedia printmaking practices. Students are encouraged to take this course in conjunction with Painting Studio I or II. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisite: at least one term of Art 355, 356, or 359. Marie Lorenz
Painting 516a, Color Seminar Color in painting plays many roles. The interplay of color may be used to create light and space or to establish the expressive tenor of a work. At the same time, color can be used as a symbolic element or deployed to create a compositional armature. Through weekly studio assignments, this seminar explores the syntactical principles that allow the artist to work with color to achieve these ends. Meets biweekly for 1.5 credits. Peter Halley
Painting 524b, Materials and Techniques Seminar Study of materials and techniques in painting, surveying the use of pigments, grounds, and oil-based media, as well as synthetic media such as lucite, rhoplex, and polyvinyl acetate. Open to undergraduate art majors with permission. Mark Aronson
[Painting 527b, Between Drawing and Painting Today, the distinction between drawing and painting has become blurred as hybrid approaches yield works that do not fit neatly into either of these dichotomous categories. Current art practice reflects the vast range of possibilities of how these disciplines can interrelate. In this course, we examine connections between drawing and painting through studio projects, historical analysis, and critique. We explore definitions and relationships, considering how these forms of expression overlap and how they diverge. By gaining a better understanding of how drawing and painting intersect, students will arrive at new ways of connecting these distinct disciplines in their own work. Not offered in 2009–2010]
Painting 529b, Research and Development In this seminar, students explore strategies and methods for collecting images and data, incorporating stylistic and historical references, and using preparatory studies. Intended primarily for first-year graduate students, class sessions focus on discussion of the work students are currently developing, augmented by the examination of the practices of artists for whom the gathering and analysis of information has played a significant role (including Rauschenberg, Warhol, Smithson, Richter, and Holzer). Open to all M.F.A. students and undergraduate art majors with permission. George Rush
Painting 540a, Graduate Drawing Seminar Studio practice and theory focusing on the nature of drawing and emphasizing the development of individual students’ ideas and work. Systems and conventions of drawing and visual organization are explored in weekly group critiques. Faculty
Painting 545, Individual Criticism Limited to graduate painting students. Criticism of individual projects. Rochelle Feinstein, Peter Halley, David Humphrey, Clint Jukkala, Wayne Koestenbaum, Samuel Messer, Catherine Murphy [F], Sarah Oppenheimer [Sp], and Robert J. Reed, Jr.
Printmaking 550a or b, Graduate Printmaking Seminar This course is intended for graduate students who wish to develop individual projects in a wide range of printmaking mediums, including both traditional techniques and digital processes and outputs. Participants develop new works and present them in biweekly group critiques. Students should have sufficient technical background in traditional printmaking mediums (etching, lithography, silkscreen, or relief) as well as a fundamental understanding of graphic programs such as Photoshop. Demonstrations in traditional mediums are offered in the print studio. Students use the DMCA for digital work. Rochelle Feinstein
Painting 553a, LABoratory This course investigates the pictorial devices, conceptual positions, tropes, pedagogies, and contexts surrounding the practice of painting in America from the mid-1950s to the present. Paintings are viewed and discussed in relation to other current practices, as well as in terms of the ambient cultural/social environment. A wide variety of contemporaneous source material is read, screened, and discussed. Assigned projects and presentations are premised upon the specific issues suggested by the works under discussion. Students are required to read assigned short texts weekly and screen film and video materials on a regular basis. Rochelle Feinstein
Painting 555b, Critical Perspectives: Art in Postwar Europe A discussion of the nature of the postwar agon between Paris and New York, emphasizing contingency and circumstances—what happened where, and how circumstance contributed to distinctive developments. After the Second World War, Paris remained the axis of cultural and historical developments for Europeans. Most of the artists of the postwar generation positioned themselves in relation to France, even as they rebelled against it. Many artists, poets, painters, sculptors, essayists, and novelists spoke of beginning from “degree zero,” but in fact took up the challenges of early modernism as angry or ironic interlocutors. Meets biweekly for 1.5 credits. Dore Ashton
Painting 557b, Artistic Practice and Critical Theory The seminar provides an opportunity for a close reading and discussion of critical artistic theory, gender, and transnational studies in the context of their relationship to visual practice. This broad scope is focused around seminal works by artists, theorists, and writers including James Baldwin, Harold Bloom, Judith Butler, Paul Gilroy, George Kubler, Wassily Kandinsky, and Wynton Marsalis. Student presentations of their work in the context of the readings is encouraged and incorporated into each meeting’s discussion. Open to all M.F.A. students. Meets bi-weekly for 1.5 credits. Sarah Lewis
Painting 571a, Formalism Revisited Although formalist views of art constituted an important approach during the first three-quarters of the twentieth century, innovative artists in the past three decades have moved away from stylistic designations predicated on form. Consequently, the legacy of mid-twentieth-century formalism as codified by critic Clement Greenberg has become either a rote topic for reactionaries still clinging to a modernist point of view, or an ignored one, which has been considered irrelevant to contemporary concerns. Because formalism, considered broadly from the eighteenth century to the present, remains a tremendous and largely untapped artistic reservoir, it is a subject that merits reevaluation from our present-day perspective. As part of this reassessment, this course takes a wide historical view of formalism that moves beyond Greenberg’s limited modernist approach to a more far-reaching and provocative redefinition. It employs formalism as a tool for understanding Immanuel Kant’s transcendentalism, G. F. W. Hegel’s three-tiered idealist aesthetic, Stéphane Mallarmé’s divided symbols, Russian Formalism’s structuralism, Walter Benjamin’s aura and Guy Debord’s spectacle, as well as Georges Bataille’s emphasis on the formless that Yves Alain-Bois and Rosalind Krauss have reconsidered in recent years. In addition to these approaches, the class considers specific artists working within different contexts. The course employs the Socratic method to look at specific readings and selected works of art from the eighteenth century to the present. Robert Hobbs
Painting 590b, Painting/Digital This seminar focuses on experimentation. Each meeting addresses a particular aspect of digital technology and how the tools that artists utilize in each of these areas have evolved and influenced artistic expression. Students experiment with digital technology in their own art-making practice. This is not a course in learning software or specific techniques. Class time focuses on digital tools as they relate to contemporary painting practice and are in turn shaped by the logic and language of computing. Optional workshops exploring tools and techniques may be arranged pertaining to topics that arise from class discussion. Taught in conjunction with the DMCA. Meets biweekly for 1.5 credits. Jeffrey Stuker and Ken Lovell
Photography
Art 136a or b, Introductory Photography A course in black-and-white photography concentrating on the use of 35mm cameras. Topics include the “lens-less” techniques of photograms and pinhole photography; fundamental printing procedures; and the principles of film exposure and development. Assignments encourage the variety of picture-forms that 35mm cameras can uniquely generate. Student work is discussed in regular critiques. Readings examine the invention of photography and the “flaneur” tradition of small-camera photography as exemplified in the work of artists such as Henri Cartier- Bresson, Helen Levitt, Robert Frank, and Garry Winogrand. Enrollment limited. Materials fee: $150. Lisa Kereszi, Phillip Pisciotta, and faculty
Art 138a or b, Digital Photography An introductory course in the exploration of the transition of photographic processes and techniques into digital formats. A range of tools are presented including scanning, digital cameras, retouching, color correction, basic composition, and inkjet printing. Students produce original work throughout the technical component of the class. After mastering the basics, students work toward the completion of a final project, and the focus of the remaining classes is on critiques. Throughout the term, lectures and presentations raise critical issues concerning the impact of digital applications and by-products on the medium of photography. Enrollment limited. Materials fee: $150. John Lehr and Rebecca Soderholm
Art 237a and 238b, Intermediate Photography A course in black-and-white photography extending the concerns of Art 136a or b. Students are introduced to the use of medium-format cameras and instructed in specialized topics such as night photography, the use of flash, and the development of roll film; later in the term they learn basic digital scanning and grayscale printing techniques. Student work is discussed in regular critiques, supplemented by lectures and readings that consider the rich tradition of handheld photography and the production of artists such as Lartigue, Brassaï, Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and Robert Adams. Prerequisite: Art 136 a or b or equivalent. Enrollment limited. Materials fee: $150. Lisa Kereszi
Art 377a or b, Color Photography Examination of the unique aesthetic and technical challenges posed by color photography. Students learn principles of color balance and basic procedures of digital color printing. Student work is discussed in regular critiques. Survey of color photography since the 1960s, from Helen Levitt’s street photographs to the work of contemporary artists such as William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, and Gregory Crewdson. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisities: Art 237a or b or permission of instructor, and, for those intending to photograph with a view camera, Art 379b. Phillip Pisciotta
Art 379b, View-Camera Photography A concentrated study of the operations required to employ stand, or view, cameras effectively. Student work is discussed in regular critiques, and, through lectures and readings, the class reviews a core photographic tradition practiced from the invention of the medium and employed in much of the most highly regarded photography being produced in this country and Europe today. Students are introduced to various methods of contact printing, including platinum printing and other alternative processes, and encouraged to employ whatever digital training they have previously had in the production of their work. Enrollment limited. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisites: Art 237a or b, or Art 136a or b and the permission of the instructor, and, for those intending to photograph in color, Art 377a. John Lehr
Art 401a, Advanced Photography A course intended for those wishing to explore intensely the practice of photography, whether analog or digital. Student work is discussed in regular critiques, and lectures are framed around the aesthetic concerns that the work provokes. Materials fee: $150. Prerequisites: Art 377a or 379b or equivalent, and, for those working digitally, Art 138a. Required for art majors concentrating in photography. Gregory Crewdson
Photography 822a and b, Introductory Technical Seminar in Photography Limited to first-year graduate students in photography, this course examines the basic technical processes of black-and-white and color photography, and introduces students to the computer as a tool of photographic investigation. John Lehr and John Pilson
[Photography 823a, Technical Seminar in Color Photography Priority given to second-year graduate students in photography. This course closely examines technical and aesthetic issues raised by the practice of color photography. Not offered in 2009–2010]
Photography 824a, Technical Seminar in Alternative Processes Priority given to graduate students in photography. An intensive examination of technical processes geared to the expertise of the instructor. Matthew Monteith
Photography 825b, Technical Seminar in Photographic Reproduction Limited to second-year graduate students in photography. A general examination of the production of photographic books, including an investigation of the processes of photographic reproduction. Richard Benson
Photography 828, Problems in Photographic Criticism Limited to first-year graduate photography students. An examination of current photographic practice and its relation to the history of the medium. Tod Papageorge
Photography 845, Individual Criticism Limited to graduate photography students. Ongoing work is reviewed at weekly seminar meetings and privately. Tod Papageorge, Richard Benson [Sp], Gregory Crewdson [F], Philip-Lorca diCorcia [Sp], Paul Graham [Sp], John Pilson, Collier Schorr, and faculty
Sculpture
Art 002b, Paper This freshman seminar explores paper as a material from which to make art. We study how paper is made, and the myriad ways that it is used in the arts. Taking advantage of the resources of the University, we look at holdings in the Yale Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, the Arts of the Book collection in the Haas Family Arts Library, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Various professionals at these institutions collaborate with the instructor to provide a broad view of the materials at hand. Half of the course time is spent making things out of paper, using the material to explore the formal properties of sculpture including volume, mass, line, and structure. This exploration also includes an introduction into how paper is used in the world of contemporary art and a workshop in papermaking. Siobhan Liddell
Art 120a or b, Introductory Sculpture This course introduces the range of what sculpture might be and explores creative approaches to perception, making, and critical analysis. Assignments are designed to foster hands-on appreciation of materials and craftsmanship, as well as initiate awareness of the aesthetic and political implications of handmade objects in a digital world. Attention is paid throughout the course to understanding and articulating form in space, and to helping students develop personal ways of working alongside, and in response to, current issues in contemporary sculpture. Group discussions and presentations complement the studio work. The shops and the studio will be available during class time and during days and evenings throughout the week. Enrollment limited to twelve. Materials fee: $75. Daphne Fitzpatrick and faculty
Art 122a, Mold Making and Casting This course offers instruction in the practical aspects of mold making and casting in a variety of materials and techniques. The objective is to provide students with the principles of this traditional technology and infuse these techniques into their practice and creation of sculpture. A foundation in how objects around us are reproduced is essential for the modern sculptor in a culture of mass production. Contemporary issues of art and culture are also discussed. Students are introduced to four major types of molding techniques: waste molds, piece molds, life casts, and flexible molds. Materials fee: $75. Jon Conner
Art 211b, Sculpture as Object Introduction to concepts of design and form in sculpture. Exploration of the use of wood, including both modern and traditional methods of carving, lamination, assemblage, and finishing. Fundamentals of metal processes such as welding, cutting, grinding, and finishing may also be explored on a limited basis. Group discussion complements the studio work. The shops and the studio are available during days and evenings throughout the week. Enrollment limited to twelve. Materials fee: $75. Daphne Fitzpatrick
Art 345b, Intermediate Sculpture In this course students continue to work in response to assignments. These assignments are designed to provide further investigation into the history of making and thinking in sculpture and to raise questions pertinent to contemporary art. The opportunity exists to explore new techniques and materials while honing familiar skills. This course is designed to help students become self-directed in their work. Individual and group discussion, and visits to museums and galleries, play a significant role in this course. Enrollment limited to twelve. Materials fee: $75. Prerequisite: Art 120a or b or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Michael Queenland
[Art 346a, Sculpture as Image This studio course presents the myriad effects that an increasingly image-based culture has on sculpture, and then investigates how artists interested in sculpture might respond to these pressures. Beginning with Pop Art and minimalism, this course explores the ways that advertising, media, and the material realities of a global economy persist in “flattening” all manner of things: from the products and streetscapes we see on our television screens, to the “some assembly required” logistics of IKEA, to the very concepts of space and time themselves via the Internet. Associated with this flattening is an equal and persistent desire to penetrate and gain access to every known bit of matter and space, including our minds and bodies. This course combines intensive studio practice with lectures, readings, discussions, and group critiques. A spirit of contestation, cunning, and passive resistance permeates the course. Students enrolled in the course are assigned private or semi-private studios in which to work. The studios and shops will be available 24/7 to enrolled students only. Enrollment limited to twelve. Open to graduate students. Materials fee: $75. Prerequisites: Art 114a or b and one other introductory-level art course. Not offered in 2009–2010]
Art 445b, Advanced Sculpture This course provides the opportunity for a program of self-directed work in sculpture. Group discussion of student projects, and readings, slides, and video that address current art practice, are core to this class. Regular individual and group critiques monitor the progress of each independent project. Enrollment limited to twelve. Open to graduate students. Materials fee: $75. Prerequisite: Art 120a or b or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Michael Queenland
Art 447b, Art and Collaboration This course provides the opportunity for artists to work in groups. Collaborative studio work, augmented by discussion of student projects, readings, screenings, and video that address current collaborative art practice, are core to this class. Regular individual and group critiques monitor the progress of each collaborative project. Students enrolled in the course are assigned private or semi-private studios in which to work. The studios and shops will be available 24/7 to enrolled students only. Enrollment limited to twelve. Open to graduate students. Materials fee: $75. Prerequisite: Art 120a or b or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Faculty
Sculpture 448a, Sculpture and Questions of Definition What is sculpture? In addition to the conventional definition of sculpture being concerned with volume and mass in space, it seems that artwork falling out of any other category falls into sculpture. This studio seminar explores, through the work of the students in the class, how the conventional categories of sculpture, painting, graphic design, and photography as represented within the structure of the School of Art function to generate meaning. How art is responsive to its context and questions of authorship, process, and vulnerability are explored. Class time is spent in an effort to articulate students’ work vis-à-vis these questions. In order to facilitate this effort, various reading materials are discussed, and the work of other artists is considered. Open to art majors and graduate students from all areas of study with permission. Jessica Stockholder
Sculpture 630, Studio Seminar Limited to graduate sculpture students. Jessica Stockholder and faculty
Sculpture 632a, Laboratory in Instrument Design and the Mechanical Arts Familiarization with modern machine shop practices and techniques. Use of basic metalworking machinery and instruction in techniques of precision measurement and properties of commonly used metals, alloys, and plastics. David Johnson
Sculpture 645, Individual Criticism Limited to graduate sculpture students. Criticism of individual projects. Daphne Fitzpatrick, Jim Hodges, Jessica Stockholder, and faculty
Sculpture 649b, Critical Issues Seminar This course is designed to engage issues important to making art through reading and discussion. The content of the readings is designated by the instructor and available at registration. Open to all M.F.A. students. Rhonda Lieberman
Sculpture 651a and 652b, Video Seminar This seminar focuses on facilitating the work of graduate students who are actively engaged in producing videos. It encourages the development of student work by creating informational and creative relays between student production and the work of other video artists. Class time is spent discussing student work, reading artists’ writings on video and theoretical texts, and viewing a wide array of art video. Enrollment limited to twelve graduate art students; enrollment not limited to sculpture students. Faculty
Sculpture 660a or b, Writing for Artists This seminar is designed to help graduate students refine their writing skills and develop a greater understanding of how the use of language relates to their studio practice and their development as professional artists. In weekly workshops, students create, distribute, read aloud, and discuss their own writing in whatever form it takes: statements, reviews, manifestos, lists, publicity, poetry, fiction, autobiographical sketches, or scripts. Published writings by established artists are also read and discussed. Limited enrollment; open to all M.F.A. students. Faculty
Yale College Art Major
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Clint Jukkala
Yale College, the undergraduate division of Yale University, offers a Bachelor of Arts degree program with a major in art. Undergraduate applicants wishing to major in art at Yale must apply to Yale College directly. Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, PO Box 208234, 38 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven CT 06520-8234, 203.432.9300 (www.yale.edu/admit).
The program in art offers courses that, through work in a variety of media, provide an experience in the visual arts as part of a liberal education as well as preparation for graduate study and professional work. Courses at the 100 level stress the fundamental aspects of visual formulation and articulation. Courses numbered 200 through 499 offer increasingly intensive study leading to greater specialization in one or more of the visual disciplines such as graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, and sculpture.
The prerequisites for acceptance into the major are a Sophomore Review, which is an evaluation of work from studio courses taken at Yale School of Art, and five terms of introductory (100-level) courses. Four must be completed at the time of the Sophomore Review. Visual Thinking (Art 111a or b) and Basic Drawing (Art 114a or b) are mandatory. In exceptional cases, arrangements for a special review during the junior year may be made with the director of undergraduate studies in art.
For graduation as an art major, a total of fourteen [14] course credits in the major field is required. These fourteen course credits must include the following: (1) five prerequisite courses at the 100 level (including Visual Thinking and Basic Drawing); (2) five 200-level and above courses; (3) the Junior Major Seminar (Art 395a or b) or Critical Theory in the Studio (Art 201b); (4) the Senior Project (Art 495a or b); and (5) two courses in the History of Art. Suggested program guidelines and specific requirements for the various areas of concentration are available from the director of undergraduate studies. A suggested program guideline is as follows:
- Freshman year
- Studio courses, two terms
- Sophomore year
- Studio courses, three terms
- Art history, one term
- Junior year
- Studio courses, three terms including the Junior Major Seminar
- Art history, one term
- Senior year
- Studio courses, four terms including the Senior Project
Undergraduate studio courses open to students in Yale College
- Art 001a, Studies in Visual Biography
- Art 002b, Paper
- Art 111a or b, Visual Thinking
- Art 114a or b, Basic Drawing
- Art 116a, Color
- Art 120a or b, Introductory Sculpture
- Art 122a, Mold Making and Casting
- Art 130a or b, Painting Basics
- Art 132a or b, Introductory Graphic Design
- Art 136a or b, Introductory Photography
- Art 138a or b, Digital Photography
- Art 141a and 142b, The Language of Film Workshop
- Art 145a or b, Introduction to Digital Video
- Art 201b, Critical Theory in the Studio
- Art 211b, Sculpture as Object
- Art 223a and 224b, Figure Drawing
- Art 230a and 231b, Introductory Painting
- Art 237a and 238b, Intermediate Photography
- Art 245b, Digital Drawing
- Art 264a, Typography I
- Art 265b, Typography II
- Art 330a and 331b, Painting Studio I
- Art 341a or b, Intermediate Fiction Film Workshop
- Art 342b, Intermediate Documentary Film Workshop
- Art 345b, Intermediate Sculpture
- Art 355b, Silkscreen Printing
- Art 356a, Printmaking
- Art 367a and 368b, Intermediate Graphic Design
- Art 377a or b, Color Photography
- Art 379b, View-Camera Photography
- Art 395a or b, Junior Seminar
- Art 401a, Advanced Photography
- Art 430a and 431b, Painting Studio II
- Art 442, Advanced Fiction Film Workshop
- Art 445b, Advanced Sculpture
- Art 447b, Art and Collaboration
- Art 448a, Sculpture and Questions of Definition
- Art 457b, Printmaking II
- Art 468a and 469b, Advanced Graphic Design
- Art 471a and 472b, Individual Projects
- Art 495b, Senior Project
Permission of instructor required in all art courses. A student may repeat an art course with the permission of the director of undergraduate studies.
Graduate courses may be elected by advanced undergraduate art majors who have completed all undergraduate courses in a particular area of study and who have permission of the director of undergraduate studies as well as the course instructor.
Undergraduates are normally limited to credit for four terms of graduate- or professional-level courses (courses numbered 500 and above). Please refer to the section on Academic Regulations in Yale College Programs of Study for further pertinent details.
History of Art
The Department of the History of Art at the Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art, 190 York Street, is a department of the Division of Humanities of Yale College and the Graduate School. It offers introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses to students who are interested in (a) entering a major field of study in Yale College, (b) preparing for professional, academic, or museum careers, or (c) supplementing studies in other fields. The department offers a major in Yale College and a program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School. For a detailed description of courses and requirements see the bulletin Yale College Programs of Study and the bulletin of the Graduate School, Programs and Policies.
The history of art is concerned with a union of visual and verbal experience. It tries to explore the character and meaning of human action through a perception of works of art visually analyzed and verbally expressed. It does not ignore textual and literary evidence or any of the other materials of history, but its special relevance to human knowledge and competence lies in its own construction of the written, the seen, and the spoken. It deals with the entire man-made environment and its relation to the natural world, and therefore has offered courses in the history of all the arts from architecture and urbanism to graphics and the movies.
Students of the history of art at Yale make extensive use of University collections, such as those of the Art Gallery, the Peabody Museum, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Beinecke Library. The department profits from its relationship with the School of Art and the other professional schools and welcomes students from them.
