This unit will introduce the student to the foundations of modernism in the creative arts through an examination of historical developments in Europe, America and Australia. Various theoretical approaches will be used to engage with formative movements and key practitioners in a broad critical context exploring both the specificity of the languages of art architecture, writing and music and their relationships to the history of ideas, culture and society. The unit will present an analysis of the avant-garde and redefinitions of modernism in terms of centre/periphery relations, notions of the primitive and the relationships between art, architecture, music, literature and modernity, technology and media. The collaborative enterprise of modernists will be a particular focus of the unit.

Unit Information