Art in Apocalypse

"Apocalypse" comes from Greek words that mean off and to cover: what has come to signal the end of worlds has a root that means to take the cover off, or unveil. Art in Apocalypse leaps from this etymology to examine the ways in which artistic practice has long been responsible for revealing systems of oppression and illuminating novel forms of resistance that usher in new futures. Across multiple historical and political contexts, this course familiarizes students with artistic approaches to apocalypse that center creative practice as pathway to social change. The course introduces students to a network of discourses that underpins contemporary art practice to demonstrate the ways that art can thrive at the end of worlds.



Litia Perta is an arts writer and teacher. Her PhD is from UC Berkeley and she is a Whitney ISP alumna in critical studies. Her books include Writing Bodies, Supervision: On Motherhood and Surveillance, and inclusion in catalogue essays for Nicole Eisenman, Eve Fowler, and Anna Sew Hoy, among others. She lives and works in rural Vermont.