Online Art Course. What Do We Mean by Contemporary Sculpture?

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern and contemporary art, addressed from current perspectives.

Drawing on contributions from experts in specific fields, these courses are based on the Museum Collection and its dynamic art program.

According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word sculpture means:
a: the action or art of processing (as by carving, modeling, or welding) plastic or hard materials into works of art
b     (1): work produced by sculpture
(2): a three-dimensional work of art (such as a statue)

Upon reading these definitions, works like the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s David, or even that equestrian statue in a town square come to mind. However, as an artistic discipline, sculpture has changed significantly over the past 150 years, so that its scope today goes well beyond the traditional works we are familiar with that we identify as sculptures.

This course offers an answer—one among many—to the question “What do we mean by ‘contemporary sculpture’?”

Objetives

This online course is aimed at:

• Providing the key concepts to understand the development of sculpture from the late 19th century to the present.
• Analyzing a series of formal and technical issues that are essential to understand this development, such as taking sculptures off their plinths or using new materials.
• Exploring new forms of creation in today’s sculpture, in terms of both object and space, and analyzing the ways in which they interact with the viewer.
• Shedding light on women artists and their real contributions, thus giving them the place they deserve in the history of 20th- and 21st-century art.

Conducted by:
Brigitte Leal, Emeritus Deputy Director, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris [+ info]

Structure and Contents [+info]

Language:
Spanish

Duration:
The course will be available online for three months. Students will be able to access the course wherever they are, progressing at their own pace. Upon completing a module, they will be able to move on to the next one.

Target audience:
People over 18 who are interested in broadening or updating their knowledge of contemporary sculpture or in getting a few key references. No prior knowledge required. Members of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Community will have priority over other applicants to access the 50 places available.

Hatoum credits:
Mona Hatoum, Home, 1999
Wood, galvanized steel, stainless steel, electric wire, crocodile clips, light bulbs, computerized dimmer switch, amplifier, and speakers
76.2 x 198.1 x 73.7 cm (table)
Overall dimensions variable
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa