CSP 25 Gender and Visual Culture in East Asia

How does an artwork convey a message? How does an artwork's medium affect the ways in which the viewer perceives and interprets its message? Over the course of the semester, we will seek to answer these questions by unpacking the complex mechanics of meaning-making unique to individual media in Japanese art - from medieval handscrolls (emaki) and early -modern woodblock prints to contemporary performance, film, and anime. We will investigate topics such as the cinematic qualities of handscrolls, a temple that materializes paradise, defective tea utensils that deconstruct artistic hierarchies, and contemporary installations that dissolve the viewer's body. In addition to developing foundational skills of critical looking, thinking, and writing, we will ultimately cultivate our ability to interpret how individual media shape the meanings and messages that they communicate to their viewer.