AESTHETICS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS.
Course topic: The death of art and after.

Contents:
During the course the notion of “death of art” that we encounter in Hegel's aesthetics with reference not only to its philosophical assumptions will be investigated, but also to its outcomes in contemporary art, especially in the twentieth century avant-gardes. We will also illustrate the artistic theories that have made modernity a turning point in understanding art and feeling in general.

Reference texts:

1) G. W. F. Hegel, Estetica, (the first part, Introduzione all’estetica, which includes the following paragraphs, Delimitazione e posto dell’estetica; Trattazioni scientifiche del bello e dell’arte; Concetto del bello artistico; Suddivisione) in the Einaudi edition, vol.I, from p. 5 to p. 104 (it is possible to use any edition on the market);
2) A. Marroni, L'arte ansiosa. Perché non ci sono più né artisti né arte;
3) J. Ortega y Gasset, La disumanizzazione dell’arte, Roma, L. Sossella editore (or any other edition);

Furthermore, a volume chosen from:
1) F. Bonami, Lo potevo fare anch’io, Milano, Mondadori.
2) A. Vettese, Artisti si diventa, Roma, Carocci.
3) A. Dal Lago e S. Giordano, Mercanti d’aura. Logiche dell’arte contemporanea. Bologna, Il Mulino.
4) H. Prinzhorn, L’arte dei folli, Milano, Mimesis.
5) J. Baudrillard, Il complotto dell’arte, Milano, SE.
6) D. Thompson, Lo squalo da 12 milioni di dollari. La bizzarra e sorprendente economia dell’arte contemporanea, Milano, Mondadori.
M. Perniola, L'arte espansa, Torino, Einaudi.

Formative aims of the course

The course aims to provide useful tools for the understanding of some trends in aesthetics and art, with particular regard to contemporary artistic theories and practices. At the end of the course the students will have to be able to express a critical judgment about the artistic phenomena, starting from modernity up to the contemporaneity. Furthermore, they must be able to plan and manage artistic events in which the ability to evaluate and interpret works of art is a predominant part of the event itself.

The final assessment consists of an oral exam on the entire syllabus. The aim is to assess students’ skills and in particular, an understanding of the issues discussed during the course, an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course programme, a correct command of the specific language as well as critical and methodological abilities will be evaluated. The grading scale goes from 1 to 30 with honours (cum laude): 1-17 fail, 18-21 sufficient, 22-24 fair, 25-27 good, 28-29 very good, 30-30 with honours (cum laude) excellent.