FYS 29 Art and the Sea
The sea increasingly linked coastal cultures across the early modern world as European colonial, mercantile, and missionary projects rapidly gathered steam. Activities like commercial trade and religious conversion gave rise to art forms that redefined notions of “people” and “place.” How do these shores, coastlines, horizons, and vast open waters challenge traditional histories of the border-bound mainland? This course will examine the early modern artworks that arose from contact and conflict among maritime communities. It will explore the waterborne incursions of seafaring imperial powers like Venice, Portugal, Spain, England, and the Netherlands into Asia, Africa and the Americas. Our own location in coastal California also invites particular attention to Pacific art histories (both indigenous and colonial). Materials include maps and marine art, prints, portable objects, and the vast material culture of port cities arising from artistic exchange and innovation. The sea’s promise of economic fortune and new discovery occurred in conjunction with violent colonial conquest, displacement, and enslavement. Readings and artworks will engage those narratives along with the themes of portability, trade, exile and migration, and concepts of “local” versus “global” culture.
Prerequisite
Open only to first year frosh