Unexceptional Art

This course proposes the notion of aesthetic
exceptionalism to capture the widespread belief
that art and artists
are exceptional. The course will seek to challenge
that belief in view of the political
exceptionalisms that many in
the art world would find dubious, and the economic
exceptionalism that structures the art market.
Engaging with
sculpture, conceptual artwork, and painting by
emerging and established artists, the course will
draw on
aesthetic and political philosophy to propose the
radically democratic notion of unexceptional art
as an antidote
to the problems of aesthetic exceptionalism that
it uncovers. Course readings will range from key
texts in political
philosophy (by Carl Schmitt, Bonnie Honig, Judith
Butler, Chantal Mouffe) to readings in aesthetic
theory
(François Jullien, Bernard Stiegler, Byung-Chul
Han) and will consider specifically Western
thought's rootedness
in exceptionalism. Course discussions will
consider scandals related to aesthetic
exceptionalism in the artworld
(the recent Toporovski affair in Belgium) and will
include at least one in-class visit by a Los
Angeles-based artist.