In Spring 2011 a special course on Art in the Environment:
Translating the Ephemeral Via Changing Technologies will be
offered by visiting Fulbright Professor Cherie Sampson of the University
of Missouri. The course will meet from 1615-1800 in Pinni B-4087 from
Monday-Thursday, 14-17 February. Evaluation based on the lectures
and short background readings will be via an exam, answers to which should
be e-mailed by Friday, 25 February.
The course will consist of four lectures,
including video and photo presentations, which focus on contemporary
practices and trends in environmental art in the U.S., Finland and abroad.
The focus will be on historical, theoretical and technological
perspectives, with an emphasis on works with a performative, embodied
aspect. The 16 February lecture will be presented by Dr. Hanna Johansson
of the Christina Institute for Women's Studies at the University of
Helsinki (see
biodata).
Changing media technologies over the decades have posed unique
manifestations for documenting and presenting ephemeral art. In the
digital era, questions have particularly arisen regarding the
interrelationship of local and global in environmental art, a form that is
so intimately bound to place.
FIN-2 is an intermediate-level course worth 2 ECTS credits which will
meet the 'cultural studies' requirements of the ETRAN curriculum as well
as those of the FAST minor program. Interested students should subscribe
to the FIN2-L e-mail list. Further course
information will be given in February via the FIN2-L list.
Cherie Sampson works in video, digital and performance art and
environmental sculpture. She has researched, performed and exhibited in
Finland in 1997/98 and 2004, with her performance art interpreting
Kalevala texts based on her research of the Kalevala tradition. Her
Fulbright Professorship for Spring 2011 will be hosted by the University
of Eastern Finland (Joensuu). Further background on Cherie and her work is
available via cheriesampson.net, the University of
Missouri, PNC-Minnesota and numerous YouTube clips, including Her Blue Sea
Fire and River of Spirit of
Ice.
