Over the past decade, scholars and a variety of
fields-architectural theory, film studies, anthropology, history, and gender
studies-have focused upon space as a vehicle for a subtle and rich array
of meanings in representation. Building upon books such as Gaston
Bachelard's "Poetics of Space" and Henri Lefebvre's "Production of Space",
writers have considered how depicted space is a dynamic aspect of representation-not
simply a frame, or background, for a more significant action. The
traditional hierarchy of "figure" and "ground" falls away when we consider
how space
impinges upon a figure, contracts or expands depending
upon the composition, activates a sensation of claustrophobia, or alternately,
of a threatening emptiness. We will consider American and European
painting
(including both architectural imagery and landscapes),
photography, and hopefully, film-mostly of the modern era (late 18th to
20th century). Studies, however, will be encouraged to work on individual
research projects in their own areas of interest. |
