Special Topics in the Humanities (370-6-20)

Topic

Bootlegging and Other Performances of Subversion

Instructors

Clara Lee

Meeting Info

Wirtz 240 Seminar Room 2: Tues, Thurs 10:00AM - 11:20AM

Overview of class

What is a bootleg? What makes appropriating an original work a subversive act or a creative endeavor as opposed to blatant theft? In this class, we will look at how artists, musicians, and designers, such as TELFAR, Shanzhai Lyric, Kandis Williams, and Arthur Jafa have incorporated the practice and phenomenon of "bootlegging" into their work. We begin by tracing the history of cultural reproduction, familiarizing ourselves with its guerilla forms. Further situating its practices within the context of late capitalism, we will analyze a range of objects including performance, media, sculpture, and the detritus of consumerism. Drawing on concepts from performance studies like, "repetition," "iterability," and "citation," we ask, what happens when the copy exceeds the original to reveal something more? Critically, we will develop our considerations against the historical backdrop of colonial plunder and racial dispossession. Through class discussions, close reading, written assignments, and creative exercises, we will learn to think critically about aesthetics (what makes something "good," "bad," "beautiful" or "grotesque"?) and our judgements of taste.

Teaching Method

Class discussion, group presentation, written assignment, and/or creative project

Class Materials (Required)

All readings and media will be made available on Canvas

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area