CINEMA AND VISUAL CULTURES

The course is part of the related and additional programmes included in the curriculum dedicated to contemporary arts for the Master’s degree in “History of Arts and Conservation of Artistic Heritage”. Its aim is to offer students a critical-theoretical study of the relationship between cinema, aesthetics and visual arts. The objectives of the course are: to teach students how to problematize their relationship with the objects they study or consume in every day’s life, such as films and audio-visual products, adopting an informed visual and cultural approach towards the current debate in the literature of this field; to enable students to reflect upon the paradigms and cultural constructs inherent in concepts such as “film”, “author”, “work of art”, “visual” etc.

1. Knowledge and comprehension: Ability to understand and analyze critical and theoretical texts dealing with cinema.
2. Ability to apply the acquired knowledge and comprehension: ability to write a critical essay or create a power point presentation using materials retrieved in the course textbooks or during lectures.
3. Judgment skills: ability to form personal interpretations based upon the knowledge of the course related critical-theoretical literature; a critical approach to the aesthetic, cultural and historical judgment of audio-visual artworks.
4. Communication skills: ability to participate in group discussions around the subjects of the course; ability to convey the specific nature of the theoretical and historical debate using an appropriate vocabulary, during the exam as well as during lectures; ability to interact with fellow students and with the lecturer in a critical and collaborative way, both in the classroom and through virtual electronic platforms.
5. Learning skills: ability to take notes and share them in a collaborative manner; ability to consult reference texts and the bibliography they contain in a critical manner.

It is advisable that students have attended courses in history of cinema, film theory or contemporary art theory (visual, performing arts or literature) either during their BA or during MA.

Atmospheric and natural phenomena, from the most violent to the calmest, have always constituted a source of inspiration for visual and performing artists, all the more so recently in an era of ecological crisis and dire weather forecasts for the planet. The difficulty, if not impossibility, for mankind to foresee or control the outcomes of earthquakes, tidal waves, thunderstorms, sunsets, droughts, snowfalls, storms, fog and so on, make them unpredictable and out of control experiential occasions, capable of affecting not only the eventual level, but also that of proprioceptive perceptions, the ethics of the gaze, modes of representation and the status of images. Starting from Abbas Kiarostami's most recent experimental works, but also extending the coring of visions and class discussions to the most heterogeneous audiovisual products possible (from catastrophic Hollywood blockbusters to art films, from Biennale Arte installations to news and media), the course intends to trace lines of continuity between contemporary artistic practices, the historical-social contexts that determine them, the discursive flows that disseminate them and the spaces of theoretical pondering that can still be generated at the intersection of these processes, intending to consider the natural and atmospheric events studied as forms of radical mediation on a par with that imposed by technological devices.

The final exam requires students to demonstrate their knowledge of the following textbooks:
- A selection of critical texts and theoretical essays proposed by the professor and uploaded on the moodle page.
- M. Dalla Gassa, "Le condizioni del senso. Il cinema sperimentale di Abbas Kiarostami", Marsilio, Venezia, 2024

The exam will consist of both written and oral components. Students are required to submit, at least one week before the exam date, a critical essay dedicated to a contemporary artwork that uses moving images and expressive systems derived from cinematography. The guidelines for writing the essay (length, focus, structure) will be provided by the instructor and uploaded in a specific document on the Moodle platform. If the analyzed artwork is part of the exhibition "Nebula," organized by the Fondazione In Between Art Film at the Complesso dell'Ospedaletto, Venice (April 17 - November 24, 2024), the critical essay may potentially be published in the journal "STILL - Studies on Moving Images." The oral exam will focus on the readings from the syllabus and the exam texts.

The evaluation will take into account 1/3 from the paper results and 2/3 from the oral exam. The criteria for grading will consider: For the written exam: - the relevance of the in-depth case study (max 5 points) and the ability to connect the chosen subject with broader issues discussed during the lessons and present in the exam texts (max 5 points); For the oral exam: - thorough knowledge of the exam texts (max 10 points); - the ability to critically and originally elaborate on the studied bibliography and filmography (max 5 points); - the quality of the argumentation and presentation (max 5 points).

The lectures will be both face-to-face and seminar-based, and will involve students in joint discussions both on the topics covered in the examination texts and on exemplary sequences and excerpts from the recommended filmography. The last lessons of the course will be devoted to the presentation and class discussion of the research materials prepared by the students. Compatibly with the logistical difficulties involved, an attempt will be made to organise at least one visit to some exhibition spaces in the city and a meeting with art curators who have set up exhibitions related to the course theme during the weeks of the course.

Italian

Class attendance is recommended.

Ca’ Foscari follows the Italian law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) for the support and accommodation services available to students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities. If you have either a motor, visual, hearing or another disability (Law 17/1999), or a specific learning disorder (Law 170/2010) and you require support (classroom assistance, technological aids for carrying out exams or personalized exams, accessible format material, note retrieval, specialist tutoring as study support, interpreters or other), please contact the Disability and DSA office disita@unive.it.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development