Perception and Creativity
SS 369.01 & SS 369.02
Pratt Institute Fall 1998
Tuesday 9:30-12; 2-4:30pm
South Hall Basement
Professor: B. Ricardo Brown, Ph.D.
Office: Dekalb 419
Office Phone: 1.718.636.3567, ext. 2709
Office Hours: Monday 12-1, 4:30-5:30; Tuesday 4:30-5:30 and by appointment
Email: BRBrownIII@earthlink.net
URL: http://www.geocities.com/brbgc
Course Description
The way our senses engage and are engaged by the world is too often
taken as a natural phenomenon divorced from the social relations of
everyday life. Because of this connection between our sense and the
social relations, when we talk about perception and creativity, we are
also talking about knowledge, both in terms of the standard knowledge
of the world and also knowledge as power, or the language of power. We
are also talking about knowledge that is not found in the halls of
power, but in the body of the person perceiving and creating, in the
very ways that perception and creativity are a part of ourselves or are
denied as being a part of our lives.
In this course, we will examine perception and creativity in a variety
of ways that, while not exhausting the range of possibilities, allow us
to investigate the relationship between individual and social creation.
Course Requirements
One in-class and one take-home essays are required. The essays will
each will count for 80% of the final grade. The remaining 20% will be
based upon class participation. This is not intended as a lecture
course. Participation in class discussions is necessary for your
effective engagement with the readings and for others in the class to
learn from your experiences and views.
The take-home essay is to be typed, double spaced on white A4 paper,
with a portrait orientation. I am not impressed by special fonts or
graphics, so unless such things are necessary, they will effect your
grade. The take-home essay is due the final day of Exam Week.
An Internet account giving access to both email and the WWW is strongly
recommended. These accounts are available from the college at no cost,
so I will expect that one would have a very good reason for not having
one (Ludditism or technophobia are not sufficient excuses).
Grades and Incompletes
Grades will be posted at the end of the semester. Incompletes will be
granted only in accordance with the established policy of the college.
The request must be made in advance of exam week. It must be made in
writing and is “available only if the student has been in regular
attendance, has satisfied all but the final requirements of the course,
and has furnished satisfactory proof that the work was not completed
because of illness or other circumstances beyond control” (Pratt
Institute Bulletin).
Required Texts
Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings
Yukio Mishima Sun & Steel
Ralph Waldo Emerson Essays: First and Second Series
These books are generally available at any decent bookstore, including
the chains like Barnes and Nobles (18th and 5th Ave). Try the Strand
(12th street and Broadway) or Academy Books (18th and 5th Ave) for used
copies. Amazon.com is also fast and reliable. All of Emerson’s texts are also available on the internet. You can link to them via my page or use any of the available search engines.
For grammatical or stylistic questions, William Strunk and E.B. White’s Elements of style is highly reccommended.
Course Outline
Session One (9/14)
Introduction to the Course
Session Two (9/21)
Some Perspectives on Creativity
R.W. Emerson “The Poet”
Karl Marx Excerpt from the General Introduction to the Grundrisse
J.G. Bennett “Living in the Medium”
Session Three (9/28)
Modernism
Movie Degenerate Art
Olivier Messiaen "Quartet for the End of Time"
Paul Klee “On Modern Art”
F. Nietzsche Ecce Homo “Introduction”
T. Tzara “Dadaist Manifestos”
Session Four (10/5)
Modernism and Postmodernism
J.L.Borges, “A New Refutation of Time,” “The Garden of Forking Paths,” “The Lottery at Babel,” “Pierre Menard”
Michel Foucault “What is an Author?”
Session Five (10/13)
Reactive Art
Movie: Mishma
Session Six (10/19)
Reactive Art
Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel
Session Seven (10/26)
Midterm Essay
Session Eight (11/2)
Art and Technology/Artificial and Virtual
Walter Benjamin v. Theodor Adorno on “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Session 9 (11/9)
The Artist as intellectual and the Intellectual as Artist
Audre Lorde Sister Outsider
Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault on intellectuals
Session 10 (11/16)
Landscape, Perception, and Place
Donald Meinig The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes
R.W. Emerson “Nature” and “Experience”
Session Eleven (11/23)
Landscape, Perception, and Place
Movie True Stories
Session Twelve (11/30)
Lanscape, Perception, and Place
True Stories Discussion and readings on music and place (TBA)
Session Thirteen (12/7)
Landscape, Perception, and Place
Movie: Roger and Me
Session Fourteen (12/14)
Review, makeup, class.
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