Art, identity and the self

This course takes identity, the self and the body as stimulating concepts within historical and contemporary creative work, and will encourage you to explore the concept of the identity from both a creative and theoretical perspective. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples and theories, this course challenges and encourages you as artists, creative students or practitioners to consider and explore your sense of self in relation to your work and world. Through engagement with artist statements, theoretical writings, talks from practising curators and theorists, and using historical and contemporary examples, as well as your own presentations, you will be encouraged to define and re-define your sense of self and critical positions as artists and maker.

The course will draw on a range of ideas from broad areas of thought such as identity politics, psychoanalysis, feminist and gender theory, film studies, art history, sociology and philosophy, to provide a broad perspective from which to approach, reflect on, and explore your own practice and the work of others. Analysis and case studies will include an exploration of portraiture and self-representation; artists and image makers who represent identity in terms of gender, race and ethnicity; body art; performance; and contemporary notions of the self such as online identities and avatars.

This course explores contemporary practices and debates and as such you can expect to be stimulated and challenged by some of the ideas and images discussed.