Class by Gennifer Weisenfeld: Contemporary Japanese Visual Culture

Gennifer Weisenfeld, Duke University
Ishibashi guest professorship in summer semester 2010

Contemporary Japanese Visual Culture: Women, Gender & Sexuality

The lecture was recorded on June 30, 2010. Time: 01:30:04. All rights reserved.

This course is an introduction to the art and visual culture of contemporary Japan, concentrating on the postwar period with particular emphasis on the 1980s to the present. Organized largely by medium, course sections will cover the diverse yet mutually influential artistic forms of performance art, installations, sculpture, painting, graphic and industrial design, fashion design, photography, animation, and comics (manga). While exploring the transnational spread of popular culture within the Asia-Pacific region and the cross-cultural exchanges between East and West, the class will consider the relationship between high art and popular culture. Students will also be asked to consider the impact of economic globalization and consumerism on visual culture as artistic production and practice have become increasing commodified in the modern world. The objective of the course is to enable students to view visual artifacts in their historical contexts and to understand and critique standard conceptions of Japanese culture.