Archaeologies of the Present

Archeologies of the Present.
Open to Graduate students.
A seminar that studies the past fifty years-- how
culture meets politics The history of our present
crisis begins essentially in 1973, with massive
shifts in the role of the nation state, in the
changing structure of media and tech in the
seventies and eighties, even in the "medication"
industries (from seventies Prozac to today);
clearly in the restructuring of cities,
especially since the nineties; and most of all,
in the fragile aspects of digital capitalism
(that inspires piracies and artificial
dis-intelligence). All these have altered the
audience (how people read culture), altered
narrative forms; while gig labor conditions
destabilize further. Where do we position
ourselves within this feudal condition? What is
cultural progress in the face of evident American
decay, in its ability to master plan since the
end of Mid-Century Modernism-- toward the comic
tragedy of Trumpismo; and beyond. How do artists
assemble a solid plan? We study theories on
oligarchical tendencies. We examine its risks,
even its potential. Does neo-feudalism spark new
forms of narrative and cultural production,? Are
we in a Renaissance despite the cultural ruins
after the end of modernism and the Western
Hegemony? How can we build an honest arts culture
within the dismantling of the American psyche?
Clearly, there are powerful strategies forward,--
across the arts-- so we take into account past
histories for comparison, even going back
millennia; and a future that is caught between
worlds at the moment.