Counter-Monuments

In this course we will consider monuments, memorials, and the commemorative landscape. In recent years practices of public memory have undergone a reconsideration. Artists, historians, researchers, politicians, teachers, and others have been asking important questions like who is honored or remembered by a monument? How do artworks function to inscribe histories in the public sphere? What can we do with monuments dedicated to confederate soldiers and other figures related to colonial violence? We will consider what a counter-monument might look like through readings, scaffolded writing assignments, research, and the hands-on creation of sculptural objects. We will look to a series of public works by the artist Beverly Buchanan, research conducted by Monument Lab, and a recent exhibition titled Monuments at MOCA in Los Angeles to help guide our inquiry.