CAPPL 3422 Art and the Environment: Strategies for Critical Engagement
In this studio/seminar course, students will engage in hybrid research practices to examine today’s pressing ecological issues on a local level. The semester will begin with a close examination of Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ public art installation “Turn Around Surround”, which sits atop a former landfill— now Cambridge’s Danehy Park— and culminate with an exhibition showcasing student research through artwork and writing. Through on-site research, engagement with archive methodology, and investigations into visual and material culture through an ecological justice lens, students will explore materiality of place and create small individual pilot projects that address local issues, that then build to a final collaborative project.