Thursday 30 January 2014

Program and readings

This course studies what writing is - what does it mean that writing exists? Where does it come from? What does it produce? How does it affect us? What is our relation to writing? And not at all least: how can we study, understand, use writing - especially in the context of visual culture and art/ artistic research?

The course will consist of reading and discussing texts, some little lecturing, assignments and discussion again. I really mean students should read and discuss texts - and topics through those texts. I will give few assignments as exercise, and then one final assignment that can be done either individually or in a team.

Programs is as follows:

4.2. What happens when you write?
No texts to be read before the meeting.
Instead I ask everybody to do this exercise:
- take something that has happened, preferably to you, possibly recently - something you have not already told about many times.
- tell about it to somebody. It might be a friend from this course, or somebody else.
- write about it, and bring the text with you. Don't write too long - we can anyway only go through short bits from everybody - but I'd like to have everybody prepare to show the text on board, read it.
We'll discuss the texts and the experience of writing.
 the stories and what happened to a) the event, b) the told story, when it became written.

Then we read a short piece by McLuhan, and discuss it.
McLuhan 8. Spoken Word
McLuhan 9. Written Word


We form a FB group for sharing of texts, and a google-doc also.


11.2. Writing as social phenomenon

To be read before the meeting:
The Origin of Writing
McLuhan 1.The Medium is the Message
Levi-Strauss: A Writing lesson.

Also: before the meeting write a short text in answer to a question, theme (or lack of something) in one of the texts. Few sentences are enough. (If we have the FB group, you can post your text there)
Plus a short note on you and writing, theme to be given in previous meeting.


18.2 Deconstructing Writing
To read before the meeting:
Foucault: What is an author
Derrida: excerpt from Grammatology

Also: before the meeting write a short text in answer to a question, theme (or lack of something) in one of the texts. Few sentences are enough. (If we have the FB group, you can post your text there)
Plus a short note on you and writing, theme to be given in previous meeting.


4.3. and 5.3. Writing in space

To read before meeting
More McLuhan:  2. And 18.
Article on role of writing in contemporary society

Also: before the meeting write a short text in answer to a question, theme (or lack of something) in one of the texts. Few sentences are enough. (If we have the FB group, you can post your text there)
Plus a short note on you and writing, theme to be given in previous meeting.

4.3. Lecture on Detienne and the Greek: writing and public space. Discuss writing and its role in our society, in our surroundings, in urban space.
Assignment: Do a study of writing and its meaning in urban space/ or personal space. Acceptable: just go and observe and make a study of something that catches your attention.
5.3. Discussion about the assignments and findings.



11.3 and 12.3. Experimental Writing

Read before meeting:
Barthes: From work to text
Marazzi: Dyslexia and Economy

Also: before the meeting write a short text in answer to a question, theme (or lack of something) in one of the texts. Few sentences are enough. (If we have the FB group, you can post your text there)
Plus a short note on you and writing, theme to be given in previous meeting.

11.3.
Max on experimental writing and assignment: experiment with writing.
Max will bring with him for you to read through: Arnold Berleant's article "Descriptive Aesthetics"

12.3. Experiments and discussion


26.3. Fourteen takes on writing (or as many as it takes)

Final assignment: individual or pairs/groups: study writing in experimental way.
Also plan and include your written contribution in a format chosen by you as part of your study/ experiment!

Send the writings to everybody by 21.3.

We discuss the assignments and the course 26.3.


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