ONLINE | LIVE
Histories, Theories and Debates about Experimental Photography
PABLO GIORI
Duration
Annual
Price
350€
Language
English
Photography has been experimental since its birth because it is the result of a series of experimental, new, transformative reflections and discoveries. In its evolution, the industry was conquered to democratize it and make it a business, but there were always scientists, artisans and artists creating in another way, from another place. Scientists have advanced technology, artists have advanced visual representation, and historians and philosophers have tried to explain what was happening in a very complex and diverse field.
In the last ten years, this type of photography is experiencing a great boom, not only in the number of artists, scientists and artisans involved, but also in the philosophical conception that gives it meaning. The experimental has stopped being something secondary and hidden in the archives to be Art, Science and Crafts in capital letters, to be a dignified and valuable, community search. Although much progress has been made, there is a lack of an in-depth historical vision that allows us to know where we come from and where we are going, and a philosophical reflection that allows us to understand the reasons why we do what we do.
This course, for the first time, recovers these genealogies, because we need to tell this story and understand it among all members of our community in order to continue moving forward. To do this, we will cross three levels of analysis (history, theories and debates) that have taken place in different spaces and moments and that have given meaning to what we know today as experimental photography. We will carry out the tour in two quarters of seven sessions each: the first, from October to December, where we will work from the beginnings of photography to the avant-garde and, the second, between January and May, where we will see contemporary experimental photography. In each class there will be a theoretical presentation with images, the reading of original texts and then a space for collective discussion.
Complete Program ↓
From the beginnings of photography to the historical avant-garde
1. What do we talk about when we talk about experimental photography?
Its relationships with creative, alternative and historical photography. Industrial versus experimental photography. Historical moments.
2. Inventors, scientists and craftsmen (1802-1888)
Wedgwood, Herschel, Talbot, Daguerre, and many more, 80 years of experimentation between France and England.
3. Turn of the century: From Kodak to North American Pictorialism (1888-1919)
Industrialization, mechanical reproduction and work of art.
4. Historical avant-garde and photography: Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism and Man Ray (1919-1945)
Collage, photomontages, revolution and masses, from Switzerland and France to the world.
5. Bauhaus, New Vision, Constructivism and Moholy-Nagy (1919-1946)
The German Revolution between Dessau, Weimar, Berlin and Chicago.
6. Marxism and Critical Theory: from Russia and Germany to the United States (1917-1963)
New societies, new ways of seeing: Adorno, Benjamin, Lissitzky and Rodchenko.
7. Abstraction, Conceptualism and Contemporary Art: vorticism, subjective, concrete and generative photography (1917-1980)
The experimental, the questioning of realism and “truth” and the art market.
Contemporary Experimental Photography
8. Bourdieu, Barthes and Sontag: 30 years of photo debate (1965-1980)
From France and the United States, the academics joins the debate.
9. Vilém Flusser, Marc Lenot and Joan Fontcuberta (1983-2015)
The photograph is looked at in the mirror (of the system).
10. The instantaneous (Polaroid), the Pinhole Revolution, the “homemade” (Lomography) and the analogue and digital debate (1948-2010)
Is another photograph possible? We have come to question the industry, or not.
11. Contemporary art, experimental metaphotography, expanded photography and postphotography (1962-2017)
From the self-awareness of the medium to the foundational books of experimental photography.
12. Is experimental photography the future? 144 techniques!
What do we talk about when we talk about techniques? And of the three challenges? Exhibitions and experimental photobooks exist?
13. Convergent approaches to experimentation (1960-2022)
Philosophy, Feminisms-Gender Studies, Environmentalism, Post-colonialism, Cinema, Poetry, Conservation.
Designed for:
Enthusiasts, photographers and artists are interested in deepening their historical and theoretical knowledge in the field of experimental, alternative, creative and historical photography.
Admission requirements: No prior theoretical or historiographical knowledge is required.
Goals:
• Provide a comprehensive understanding of experimental photography by recovering its genealogies and most important moments. • Foster a deep understanding of the historical, artistic and conceptual contexts that have shaped this discipline. • Create a space for reflection and discussion where participants can share ideas, question assumptions and explore new perspectives.
Price: 350 euros.
Dates:
First term: September 30, October 14 and 28, November 11 and 25, and December 9 and Thursday, 19.
Second term: January 27, February 10 and 24, March 10 and 24, and April 7 and 28.
Duration: 28 hours of classes. Live sessions of two hours each, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Spain time), every other Monday.
Modality: Live-online in real time via Zoom with Pablo Giori.
Language: English.
What’s included:
• Be part of a community of debate and critical reflection where you can share ideas from a historical and conceptual point of view. • Unlimited access to all the contents of the live and pre-recorded classes (workshops, conferences and additional downloadable materials) for life. • Be a member of the Agora Community: participate for free in our monthly Online Meetings (October 23, November 20, January 29, February 26, March 19, April 30 and May 21) and show your work on our social networks. • Access to the exclusive Agora Community group on WhatsApp with exclusive discounts, direct access to teachers and the Agora team, monthly information, special content.
