HHIS-317: Text and Image in China

Writing and written words are central features in Chinese visual culture, both as material and conceptual phenomena. This course introduces the intersections between practices of text and image-making through various sites of art and design from China and Asia. Through lecture, discussion, and practice, the course will study the dialectic between text and image by exploring the origins and early development of writing in China, and the relationship between word and image, narrative and illustration, diagram and planning, and visual and verbal communication. Sites include ornamental writing, poetry and paintings, sacred texts and monuments, political propaganda, and contemporary art through works by Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Taiwan). Case studies may also include examples from Korea and West-Central Asia. By considering the role of power, social, and political processes on the history of text and image-making in China and beyond, the class will explore a more expansive conception of design, making, and communication in the past and present.