Philosophy for Artists: From Utopia to the War Machine

​Over six weeks, we’ll read and discuss a series of texts that provide a framework for understanding and contextualizing the landscape around us. We’ll read texts from the 20th Century philosophy canon – Foucault’s “Utopian Body” and Deleuze’s “Nomadology: The War Machine,” for example –  as well as more contemporary texts from influential thinkers and artists such as Hito Steyerl and Timothy Morton. Informed by these readings, you will be prompted to create a series of visual and/or audio projects aimed at exploring or challenging your ideas about utopias or “other spaces.”

​Questions we’ll ask in this class include: What do we mean by utopia? What do our conceptions of utopia say about ourselves and our society? How do we incorporate theory into an art practice?

​By taking this course, you’ll gain a better understanding of a range of philosophical texts, develop strategies for incorporating philosophical concepts into your own artistic practice, and maybe even plant the seeds of a new creative project.