HAA 101

The Making of Art and Artifacts: History, Material and Technique
Francesca Bewer
TBA
To what extent do the availabilty of materials and development of material technology influence artistic choice and innovation?  How was a particular work of art made, and why does it look the way it does?  The course will explore these and other questions of materiality through a combination of close looking at objects in the Harvard Art Museums' collections, hands-on experimentation with a range of artist's materials and techniques, and discussions of related readings.  Among the goals of the course are for students to gain a better understanding of the dynamic relationship between makers and the materials and techniques they use; to be able to better recognize traces of artistic processes in works of art; and consider the implications of alterations that can occur in objects over time.  The course will be taught by the Harvard Art Museums' research curator for conservation and technical studies in collaboration with staff of the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies - professionals who routinely consider questions of materiality and how they effect the way we understand, interpret, preserve and present works of art.