Theories of the Avant-Garde, Then and Now    

Asger Jorn, L’avant-garde se rend pas (The avant-garde does not surrender), 1962, oil on canvas (on found painting)

Instructor: Marek Wieczorek
T/Th: 10-11:20am, Art 317

Office: 355 Art building—marek@uw.edu
Office hours: Thursdays 11:30am-12:30pm

2022 marks the 60^th anniversary of Renato Poggioli’s Theoria dell’arte d’avanguardia (1962), the first comprehensive theorization of the avant-garde, which was followed, twelve years later, by Peter Bürger’s Theorie der Avantgarde (1974), a more in-depth study that is still widely cited. In this course, Theories of the Avant-Garde, Then and Now, we will examine how notions of the avant-garde have changed over the past half century in conjunction with new forms of artistic expression and new theorizations connected to activism and the globalization of contemporary art.

Coined in the mid nineteenth century, the term “avant-garde” refers to the work and ideas of a group of artists who advanced the cause of modern and abstract painting and sculpture by pushing the boundaries of their medium into unknown and often socially- or politically-charged terrain. How did the military term “avant-garde” (advance guard or vanguard) get attached to their art, replete with associations of being at the forefront, strident, and even “ahead of the pack”? What to make of their belief and promise to have art matter not only in the aesthetic, but also the social and political realms? Bürger raised important questions concerning the aim of some of the historical avant-gardes of the early twentieth century (Futurism, Expressionism, Neo-Plasticism, Dadaism, Surrealism), which was to destroy the institution of autonomous art in order to reconnect art and life. His outlook aligns with historical-materialist (Frankfurt School) models of history and Walter Benjamin, who aptly characterized the avant-garde as attempting “to wrest tradition away from a conformism that is about to overpower it.” This in contrast to the post-war “neo avant-gardes,” which Bürger considered cynical responses to their forebears, although more recent commentators proposed alternative, more productive and affirmative, interpretations of such art.

In recent decades we have seen a re-emergence, among various new forms of contemporary art, of questions of history and temporality, politics, ethics, identity, and the like, often claiming new forms of activism and attempts at reconnecting art and life. Can these manifestations be aligned with earlier theories of the avant-garde, or, conversely, can they help us reframe earlier avant-gardism in terms of performativity or activism? Critics such as Hal Foster point to the value of the construct of the avant-garde and the need for new narratives of its history, whereas David Joselit argues that “art’s globalization has the potential to redress Western modernism’s cultural dispossession of the global South.” Compared to earlier forms of vanguardism, such new forms of art are more widely accepted and also more broadly resonant than ever before with contemporary audiences. These almost seem to expect societal relevance and engagement on the part of contemporary artists, thus preempting worries about historical exclusivity or elitist hermeticism, or critiques of the culture industry and the ideology of progress. Awareness of avant-garde strategies has enabled novel kinds of institutional analysis and new spaces of critical play, as well as political, social and cultural positionings that seem to point to a new vitality in contemporary art. This vitality extends to the condition of global contemporary art when we take into account the new ways in which artists from the global South in particular have begun to address climate activism and redress their historical and cultural dispossession through such avant-garde strategies as reverse appropriation (of “primitivism”) and shock tactics.

Because discussion is an integral part of the course, class participation is vital to the success of the class as well as to your grade. Grading for the course will be based on two papers of medium length (75%) and participation (25%).

Course book: Bürger, Peter (1984). Theory of the Avant-Garde (1974), trans. Michael Shaw, foreword by Jochen Schulte-Sasse. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Learning Objectives

• Developing a solid knowledge of the various theories and periods covered in class.
• Being able to recognize important artworks from each period, and talk about what characterizes each period, movement, or style in terms of its avant-garde status.
• Understanding in what ways and aspects the theorists and artists covered in this course were innovative, including through a critical discussion of the conceptual underpinnings of the theories.
• Developing the ability to articulate ideas and thought processes in relation to the artists' work.

• Equal Opportunity

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  Access and Accommodations

  Your experience in this class is important to me. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

  If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

  Washington state law  requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or  significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious  activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an  accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy

  Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course  using the Religious Accommodations Request Form

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  Land Acknowledgment:  I would like to acknowledge that I live and work in Salish territory, specifically the lands of the Suquamish and Duwamish and the shared lands and waters of the Tulalip and Muckleshoot. There is a long history of education on this land dating to long before the establishment of this university.