What is appropriation? Is it a kind of cultural violation? Is it an effective strategy for cultural critique? Is it an ethically neutral reality of cultural history and creative process? Is it an act of respectful homage? Is it a way of claiming kinship or belonging? Yes, and when is what true? Who gets to decide?This course dives in to questions about owning culture. We'll look at art (mostly 20th and 21st century US painting and performance), read art criticism, anthropology and archeology, contemporary journalism, artists' statements, etc to get a feel for the different ways people understand what it means to use other people's work, images, and lives. Because these are politically and personally loaded questions we will also spend some time learning how to apologize effectively when we've contributed to the suffering in the world; and because this is an art college you'll be asked to do several small projects where you'll engage in creative acts of love, criticism, and theft.

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