Department of English

This course will explore a series of essential yet overlooked moments in the history of the post-1960 American avant-garde that expand our conception of art, objecthood, and arts institutions. In particular, we will revisit three artworks that were never completed by the artists during their lifetimes--Dennis Oppenheim's unfinished work "Protection," Lebbeus Woods' "Tales from the Tectonic Forest," and Kryzsztof Wodiczko's "City Hall Tower Illumination"--all of which raise fundamental questions concerning authorship, preservation, and cultural responsibility. In addition to studying these works, the students will be invited to interact with artists, estates, scholars, curators, educators and historians to research how these past artworks might be curatorially restaged and installed at Slought and Penn in late Spring 2016. Through their participation, the students will give these works new social, cultural and political resonance and help grant the works a further or secondary life.