HCRT-215: Combined Trajectories

This course reflects on collaboration as a way of understanding creative practices and, more broadly, as a fundamental human experience. Despite the apparent undermining of the individual genius by the advent of postmodern thought, creative practice is still predominantly an individual enterprise. However, the last few years have witnessed a significant change in the conditions that privilege individual creation: economic crisis and social movements have emerged in every continent, creating spaces that stimulate values of collaboration, alternative economies and social engagement. We will explore recent social and artistic accounts of collectivism by artists, philosophers, sociologists and writers, and revise current examples of collective artistic endeavors. Students will creatively engage in collaboration exercises and present the readings to the class by means of lectures, performance, and/or other resources and artifacts related to their professional practices.