Monday 1st July | 18:00 – 21:00 | Alice Black Gallery

Since the emergence of avant-garde art in the 19th century, the relationship between art and society has been confrontational. Today, it's widely acknowledged that art should engage critically with the dominant social, cultural and aesthetic values of its time. But what makes a work of art 'critical'? In our exploration, we will consider the historical events that reshaped the role of art in the Modern era, alongside the discourses and theories that continue to inform and make sense of the role of art in society today.

Set Reading (provided upon enrolment)

• Mouffe, Chantal (2008). Art and Democracy: Art as an Agonistic Intervention in Public Space. Open 14: Art as a Public Issue: How Art and Its Institutions Reinvent the Public Dimension, Liesbeth Melis and Jorinde Seijdel eds. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, Amsterdam: SKOR, pp. 6-15.

• Latour, Bruno and Mikhaïl Xifaras (2016). The Future of Critique, a Philosophical Encounter between Bruno Latour and Mikhail Xifaras. l'Emile, No. 6 (2016), pp. 62-63.