CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art

CUL 223
Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and
Conceptual Art
S2 Day 2017
Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies
Contents
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as a result of change in University policies,
procedures or rules. The University reserves the
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this publication.
General Information 2
Learning Outcomes 3
General Assessment Information 3
Assessment Tasks 3
Delivery and Resources 9
Unit Schedule 9
Policies and Procedures 11
Graduate Capabilities 13
Recommended Readings: 19
Disclaimer
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 1
General Information
Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are
available at http://students.mq.edu.au/student_admin/enrolmentguide/academicdates/
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Jillian Kramer
jillian.kramer@mq.edu.au
Contact via Please contact via email.
Y3A 152, Phone: (02) 9850 2252
By Appointment
Tutor
David-Jack Fletcher
david-jack.fletcher@mq.edu.au
Contact via Please contact via email.
Credit points
3
Prerequisites
15cp at 100 level or above
Corequisites
Co-badged status
Unit description
This unit introduces students to a range of theories that question traditional hierarchies of
value and that enable a critical re-evaluation of the practices of everyday life. This unit
theorises key topics such as: countercultures; oppositional cultures and post-subcultures; the
politics of high versus popular and low culture; and counter-cultural practices in global and
local contexts. The following practices, sites and objects are examined: graffiti, hip hop and
crimes of style; graffiti and the cultural politics of public space; graffiti as a form of political
activism and dissent; the relation between kitsch and high art; the politics of kitsch in the
context of colonialism and Indigeneity; the cultural politics of tourist sites; gigantism and
miniaturism; queer culture, camp and kitsch; and celebrity kitsch.
Unit convenor and teaching staff Credit points Prerequisites Corequisites Co-badged status Unit description
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 2
Learning Outcomes
1. Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
2. Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
3. Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
4. Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
5. Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
General Assessment Information
Assessment Tasks
Name Weighting Due
Preparation & Contribution 15% Ongoing
Class Test 20% Week 4 Tutorials (25/08/2017)
Visual Analysis 20% 11:59pm 22nd of September 2017
Final Essay 45% 11:59pm 8th of November 2017
Late Submissions:
Tasks 10% or less: No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task
prior to the decline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an
application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.
Tasks above 10%: No extensions will be granted. Students who submit late work without an
extension will receive a penalty of 10% per day. This penalty does not apply for cases in which
an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.
Re-marking:
The MMCCS Re-mark Application form is available at http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/
download/?id=167914
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 3
Preparation & Contribution
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 15%
This assessment task is designed to ensure that our weekly tutorials are a productive learning
environment that will equip you with the knowledge and skills that you need in order to
understand the key concepts, complete your assessments and meet the learning outcomes.
Over the course of the session, students are expected to prepare for their weekly tutorials by
attending the lectures and completing the readings. In the tutorial, students should aim
to contribute to class and group discussions in productive ways. You will be assessed on your
preparedness for the tutorial, your engagement in tutorial activities and your ability to contribute
to our class discussions.
Students will be assessed according to the following criteria:
1. Demonstrates preparation for tutorials, including engagement with the weekly lectures
and required readings
2. Demonstrates active engagement and with peers in the tutorial activities
3. Offers informed and productive responses to questions and activities
If you cannot attend a tutorial due to an unavoidable and serious disruption, please email your
unit convenor and submit a disruption to studies notification via ask.mq.edu.au. To learn more
about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.
This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Class Test
Due: Week 4 Tutorials (25/08/2017)
Weighting: 20%
In week four tutorials, students will be given a 45 minute class test on the readings completed in
weeks one, two and three. Students should prepare for this short answer test in three ways.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 4
First, students should review the readings and identify the key concepts put forward by the
relevant scholars. Second, students should develop a clear understanding of the readings and
concepts. Third, students should practice outlining the concepts and identify relevant and
productive examples.
In this 45 minute class test, students will answer a series of short answer questions (they will be
required to write answers from two sentences – two paragraphs in length). They must attend the
tutorial allocated in e-student, bring a blue or black pen and stay for the length of the test.
Class tests will be assessed according to the following criteria:
1. Demonstrate a clear and cogent grasp of the key concepts that enable us to re-evaulate
and critique practices of everyday life that are often unexamined or dismissed as
worthless
2. Identify relevant examples that relate to the key concepts
3. Employ effective communication skills
Submission: Students will complete this class test in their weekly tutorial on Friday the 25th of
August 2017.
Disruption to Studies: If students are unable to sit the class test, they must contact the unit
convenor and submit a disruption to studies request via. ask.mq.edu.au. If the disruption to
studies request is approved in line with university policy, an alternative assessment time will be
arranged. To learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.
This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Visual Analysis
Due: 11:59pm 22nd of September 2017
Weighting: 20%
For this assessment, students will continue developing the knowledge and skills that they will
need in order to complete the final essay. They will build on their understandings of the key
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 5
concepts in order to perform their own forensic visual analysis. Students are required to respond
to the following prompt:
• Drawing on an example of kitsch or graffiti, perform an 800 word visual analysis that
explores the ways in which “many everyday practices are tactical in character …
victories of the ‘weak’ over the ‘strong’” (de Certeau 1988, p. xix).
In their answers, students must unpack an image of their chosen example. Drawing on the
readings, they should aim to build a strong argument that exposes the ways in which their
example is (or is not) ‘tactical in character.’ The image they have chosen should be cited and
pasted at the beginning of their analysis.
Students must also use academic referencing and attach a reference list at the end of their
essay. For more information on referencing please follow the link to Macquarie University
Library’s Referencing Guide here: http://libguides.mq.edu.au/Referencing.
Each visual analysis will be marked according to the following criteria:
1. Demonstrates a clear and effective grasp of relevant key concepts
2. Develops an argument that is supported by both theoretical concepts and forensic
analysis of a well chosen example
3. Effectively uses writing skills to present academic research, including consistent and
accurate use of in-text referencing.
Submission: This visual analysis will be submitted via the link to turnitin on the unit ilearn site.
Late Penalty: A late penalty of 10% per day including weekends will be applied.
Disruptions to Studies: Students who experience a serious and unexpected disruption to their
studies should submit a Disruption to Studies application via ask.mq.edu.au in order to seek an
extension for this assessment task. Extensions will be granted in line with university policy. To
learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.
This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 6
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Final Essay
Due: 11:59pm 8th of November 2017
Weighting: 45%
For this assessment, students are required to write a 2,000 word essay in response to one
of the questions listed below. Drawing on the concepts offered in the relevant readings, students
must perform a forensic visual analysis in order to demonstrate their argument.
Please note that students must not write on the same topic or example that they used in their
visual analysis. For example, if a student used an example of graffiti in the visual analysis they
should not pick one of the questions about graffiti for their final essay. If a student wrote about
kitsch for their visual analysis, they should not write about kitsch for their final essay.
• Popular culture, Stuart Hall argues, is structured by the “double movement of
containment and resistance.” Discuss in relation to a particular cultural practice such as
graffiti or the production/consumption of kitsch.
• Graffiti, as a subcultural practice, contests established legal notions of public space,
private and corporate property and art practice. Discuss in relation to a specific example
of your choice.
• The subcultural practice of graffiti challenges established notions of the ‘aesthetics of
authority’ (Ferrell 1996, p. 176). Discuss in relation to a specific example of your choice.
• Discuss how graffiti is a “contentious form of political participation.” Evidence your
arguments with relation to specific and culturally-situated examples of political graffiti.
• Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s work, discuss how both kitsch and art are in fact all about
questions of taste and distinction and the consecration of the social order. Discuss in
relation to a specific example of either art or graffiti.
• Discuss the importance of technologies of reproduction in relation to kitsch. In your
answer, you need to discuss Benjamin and Olalquiaga’s work on the aura and the
democratisation of the image in relation to an original and specific example.
• Aboriginalist kitsch is enabled by white supremacism: it is an “assertion of rights of
ownership in the intellectual and cultural sphere to match power in the political and
economic sphere,” B. Hodge and V. Mishra. Discuss.
• “We are enveloped by the gigantic, surrounded by it, enclosed within its shadow.
Whereas we know the miniature as a spatial whole or as temporal parts, we know the
gigantic only partially. We move through the landscape; it does not move through us,”
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Susan Stewart. Discuss gigantism and the miniature in the context of examples in the
Australian landscape.
• Kitsch and queer “are in a lascivious embrace. They constantly transmute,” Craig Judd.
Discuss in relation to a specific and original example.
• Queer kitsch brings into focus a concept of the self as “performative, improvisational,
discontinuous, and processually constituted by repetitive and stylised acts,” Moe Myer.
Discuss in relation to an example of your choice.
• “Representational excess, heterogeneity, and gratuitousness of reference, in constituting
a major raison d’etre of camp’s fun and exclusiveness, both signal and contribute to an
overall resistance to definition,” Fabio Cleto. Discuss.
• “The audience’s connection with celebrities, celetoids and celeactors is dominated by
imaginary relationships,” Chris Rojek. Discuss in relation to a specific example of
celebrity kitsch.
• Construct your own essay question, with reference to the topics and readings of the unit,
in consultation with your tutor.
Essays will be marked according to the following criteria:
1. Demonstrates a clear and effective grasp of the key concepts raised in the relevant
readings
2. Identifies relevant example/s and provides contextualised and forensic analysis
3. Develops a well-supported and well-researched argument
4. Effectively re-evaluates practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless
or ephemeral
5. Critiques relevant hierarchies of value
6. Effectively uses writing skills to present academic research, including consistent and
accurate use of in-text referencing.
Submission: The final essay will be submitted via the link to turnitin on the unit ilearn site.
Late Penalty: A late penalty of 10% per day including weekends will be applied.
Disruptions to Studies: Students who have experienced a serious and unexpected disruption
to their studies should submit a Disruption to Studies application via ask.mq.edu.au in order to
seek an extension for this assessment task. Extensions will be granted in line with university
policy. To learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.
This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 8
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Delivery and Resources
Unit Schedule
Attendance:
You are required to attend a 1 hour lecture and 1 hour tutorial from weeks 1-12. As active
participation in the process of learning is linked to, and underpins the unit Learning Outcomes,
you will need to apply for Disruptions to Studies to cover any missed tutorial (if the disruption is
greater than three consecutive days).
Unit Delivery: Lectures and Tutorials will begin in the first week of the semester.
This unit will be taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials. Echo recordings of the
lectures will be available on iLearn. Each week, students will also be required to complete the set
readings and relate them to the lecture material in the tutorials.
For lecture times and classes, please consult the MQ timetable
website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on
your classes and classroom locations.
Required Texts: CUL223 Required readings
The required readings for CUL223 will be available via the MQ library. Links will be listed on the
ilearn site.
Week One: Introduction
1. Hall, Stuart 2009, ‘Notes on Deconstructing “the Popular,”’ in Storey J (ed.),
Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Pearson Education, England, pp. 508 – 518
2. de Certeau, Michel 1984, ‘General Introduction,’ The Practice of Everyday Life, Trans.
Steven Randall, University of California Press, London, pp. xi – xxiv
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Week Two: “Crimes of Style”
1. Ferrell, Jeff 1996, ‘Crimes of Style,’ Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of
Criminality, Northeastern University Press: Boston, pp. 159-197
2. Tate, Greg 2003, ‘Introduction: Nigs R Us, or How Blackfolk Became Fetish Objects,’
Everything But the Burden: What White People are Taking From Black Culture, Random
House, New York, pp. 1 – 14
Week Three: The Cultural Politics of Graffiti
1. Hasley, Mark, Young, Alison 2002, ‘The Meanings of Graffiti and Municipal
Administration,’ The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, Vol. 35, No. 2,
pp. 165 – 186
2. hooks, bell 1992, ‘Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance,’ Black Looks: Race and
Representation, South End Press, Boston, pp. 21 – 39
Week Four: Graffiti as a “Contentious form of Political Participation”
1. Waldner, Lisa, Dobratz, Betty 2013, ‘Graffiti as a Contentious Form of Political
Participation,’ Sociology Compass, Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 377-389
2. Peteet, Julie 1996, ‘The Writing on the Wall: The Graffiti of the Intifada,’ Cultural
Anthropology, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 139 – 159.
Week Five: Kitsch, Bad Taste and Distinction
1. Dorfles, Gillo 1969, ‘Kitsch,’ in Dorfles G (ed.), Kitsch: The Bad World of Taste, Universal
Books, New York, pp. 14-48
2. Codd, John 1990, ‘Making Distinctions: The Eye of the Beholder,’ in Harker R, Mahar C
and Wilkes C (eds.), An Introduction to the Work of Bourdieu, Macmillan, UK, pp. 132 –
159
Week Six: Kitsch, Mechanical Reproduction & Modernity
1. Benjamin, Walter 1985, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,’ in
Arendt H (ed.), Illuminations, Trans. Harry Zorn, Pimlico, London, pp. 211 – 244
2. Olalquiaga, Celeste 1998, ‘The Souvenir,’ The Artificial Kingdom: A Treasury of the
Kitsch Experience, Bloomburg, London, pp. 67 – 79
3. Olalquiaga, Celeste 1998, ‘The Debris of the Aura & Dust,’ The Artificial Kingdom: A
Treasury of the Kitsch Experience, Bloomburg, London, pp. 80 – 91
Week Seven: Assessment Workshops (No readings this week)
RECESS
Week Eight: The Politics of Kitsch
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Policies and Procedures
1. Connor, Liz 2016, Friday Essay: The Politics of Aboriginal Kitsch, The Conversation,
viewed 29 June 2017, https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-politics-of-aboriginalkitsch-73683?sa=pg1&sq=kitsch+aboriginal&sr=1
2. Johnson, Vivien 1996, ‘Introduction: Aboriginal Art in the Age of Reproductive
Technologies,’ Copyrights, National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association and
Macquarie University
Week Nine: Gigantism & Miniaturism
1. Stewart, Susan 1992, ‘The Gigantic,’ On Longing, Duke University Press, Durnham and
London, pp. 70 – 103
Week Ten: Kitsch/Art
1. Cadwell, John 1992, ‘Jeff Koons: The Way We Live Now,’ in Simpson F.W. (ed.), Jeff
Koons, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, pp. 9 – 14
2. Wallis, Brian 1992, ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero: Aspects of the Critical Reception of
the Work of Jeff Koons,’ in Simpson F.W. (ed.), Jeff Koons, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, pp. 27 – 34
Week Eleven: Queer as Kitsch
1. Cleto, Fabio 1999, ‘Introduction: Queering the Camp,’ in Cleto F (ed.), Camp: Queer
Aesthetics and the Performing Subject: A Reader, University of Michigan Press, Ann
Arbour, pp. 1 – 43
Week Twelve: Celebrity Trash
1. Rojek, Chris 2001, ‘Celebrity and Celetoids,’ Celebrity, Reaktion Books, London, pp.
9-49
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students
should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the
Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The
Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special
Consideration Policy.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Student Support
Student Enquiry Service
Equity Support
IT Help
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of
Policy Central.
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of
Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they
are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your
student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information
visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Additional information
MMCCS website https://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/
department_of_media_music_communication_and_cultural_studies/
MMCCS Session Re-mark Application http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/
download/?id=167914
Information is correct at the time of publication
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details,
visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study
strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
• Workshops
• StudyWise
• Academic Integrity Module for Students
• Ask a Learning Adviser
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide
appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/
offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Graduate Capabilities
Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge,
scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them
competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where
relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able
to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific
knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary
solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Preparation & Contribution
• Class Test
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate
and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to
critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and
When using the University’s IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy.
The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to
have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Preparation & Contribution
• Class Test
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Problem Solving and Research Capability
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing
data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and
they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in
order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative
in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
http://unitguides.mq.edu.au/unit_offerings/73124/unit_guide/print 14
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Creative and Innovative
Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be
imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We
want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Effective Communication
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms
effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to
read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess,
write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication
technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Learning outcomes
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Preparation & Contribution
• Class Test
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation’s
historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with
knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded,
sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should
have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social
justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Preparation & Contribution
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• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible
We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work
with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and
country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active
participants in moving society towards sustainability.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Preparation & Contribution
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to
demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement.
They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to
handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing
environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment tasks
• Visual Analysis
• Final Essay
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue
knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they
participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships
with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing – personally, professionally
and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to reevaluate
those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or
ephemeral.
• Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the
presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position
cultural objects and practices.
• Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and
informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and countervisual
practices.
• Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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• Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of
cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.
Assessment task
• Final Essay
Recommended Readings:
Amato, Joseph (2000) Dust: A History of Small and the Invisible. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Arogundade, Ben (2000) Black Beauty. London: Pavillion Books.
Baldwin, Elaine et al (1999) Introducing Cultural Studies. Hemel Hempstead, UK: Prentice Hall.
Benjamin, Walter (1990)“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Illuminations.
Ed. Hannah Arendt. New York: Schoken Books.
Bennet, Andy and Keith Kahn-Harris (eds.) (2004) After Subculture.
Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Brassai (2002) Graffiti. Paris: Flammarion.
Butler, Francis (1994) “Youth Art and Mobile Galleries,” Artlink 14.3 (Spring).
Caldwell, John (1992)“Live Now,” and Brian Wallis, “We Don’t Need Another Hero: A Critical
Reception of the Work of Jeff Koons,” in F. W. Simpson (ed.), Jeff Koons. San Francisco: San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Byrd, Ayan D. and Lori L. Tharps (2002) Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in
America. New York: St Martin’s Griffin.
Calzada, Remi and Henke Pijenburg (1991) “The Hip-Hop Movement”and “An Interview of
Bernard Stiegler by Elizabeth Caillet,” Graffiti Art. Paris: Musee National des Monument Fracais.
Cleto, Fabio (1999) “Introduction: Queering the Camp,” in F. Cleto (ed.), Camp: Queer Aesthetics
and the Performing Subject. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Codd, John (1990) “Making Distinctions,” in R. Harker, C. Mahar and C. Wilkes (eds.), An
Introduction to the Work of Bourdieu. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan.
Craig Judd, Craig (1995) “Kitschville: The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras,” Artlink 15.4
(Summer).
Cresswell, Tim (1996) In Place Out of Place: Geography, Ideology and Transgression.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Cross, John (1995) “Kings of Kitsch: Big Things” and Paul Ryan, “Bigs R Us,” Artlink 15.4
(Summer): 5- 14
de Certeau, Michel (1988) “Introduction,” The Practice of Everyday Life. Trans. Steven Rendall.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Deutsche-Guggenheim (2001) Jeff Koons. Berlin: Deutsche-Guggenheim.
Dyer, Richard (2002) “It’s Being so Camp as Keeps Us Going,” The Culture of Queers. London
and New York: Routledge, 2002.
Ferrell, Jeff (2001) Tearing Down the Streets. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave.
Ferrell, Jeff (1996) “Crimes of Style,” Crimes of Style. Boston: Northwestern University Press.
Foreman, Murray (2002) The ‘Hood Comes First: Race, Space and Place in Rap and Hip-Hop.
Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.
Frow, John (1995) Cultural Studies and Cultural Value. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Geason, Susan and Paul R. Wilson (1996) “Introduction” and “The Theory,” Preventing Graffiti
and Vandalism. Canberra: Australian Insitute of Criminology.
Gibian, Peter (1997) Mass Culture and Everyday Life. New York: Routledge.
Gillo Dorfles, Gillo (1969) “Kitsch” and “Conclusion” in Gillo Dorfles (ed.), Kitsch: The World of
Bad Taste. New York: Universal Books.
Gibson, Lisa and Joanna Besley (2004) Monumental Queensland. St Lucia: University of
Queensland Press.
Glenn R. Cooke, Glenn R. (1995) “Kitsch or Kind: Representations of Aborigines in Popular Art,”
Artlink 15.4 (Summer).
Gott, Ted and Lisa Sullivan (2002) “Keith Haring in Australia, 1984,” Art and Australia 39.4 (June/
July): 560-567.
Hall, Stuart (1994) “Notes on Deconstructing ‘the Popular’,” in John Storey (ed.), Cultural Theory
and Popular Culture. Hempel Hemstead, UK: Harverster Wheatsheaf.
Harris, Daniel (2000) “Cuteness,” Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic. N.p.: Da Capo Press.
Hebdige, Dick (1987) “Subculture: The Unnatural Break,” Subculture: The Meaning of Style. New
York: Routledge.
Hodge, B. and V. Mishra (1991) The Dark Side of the Dream. North Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Hooks, bell (1992) “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance,” Black Looks. Boston: South End
Press.
Jahoda, Gustav (1999) Images of Savages. London: Routledge.
Jeffries, John (1992) “Toward a Redefinition of the Urban: The Collision of Culture,” in Gina Dent
(ed.), Black Popular Culture. Seattle: Bay Press.
Johnson, Vivien (1996) “Introduction: Aboriginal Art in the Age of Reproductive Technologies,”
Copyrites. Sydney: National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association and Macquarie University.
Jones, Lisa (1994) Bullet Proof Diva: Tales of Race, Sex, and Hair. New York: Anchor Books.
Joselit, David (1998) “Investigating the Ordinary,” and Roberta Smith, “Rituals of Consumption,”
Art in America (May).
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Kulka, Tomas (2002) Kitsch and Art. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State
University Press.
Macdonald, Nancy (2001) The Graffiti Subculture. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.
McCracken, Grant (1997) “Blondness: The Periodic Table,” Big Hair. London: Indigo, 1997.
Marcus, Julie (ed.) (2000) Picturing the ‘Primitif.’ Canada Bay, NSW: Lhr Press.
Merecer, Kobena (1990) “Black Hair/Style Politics,” in Russell Ferguson et al (eds.), Out There.
New York and Cambridge, MA: The New Museum of Contemporary Art and The MIT Press.
Mink, Janis (2000) Duchamp. Cologne: Taschen.
Muggleton, David (2004) Inside Subculture. Oxford: Berg.
Muggleton, David and Rupert Weinzierl (2004) The Post-Subcultures Reader. Oxford: Berg.
Myer, Moe (1994)“Introduction,” The Politics and Poetics of Camp. New York and London:
Routledge, 1994.
Neat, Patrick, Where You’re At: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip Hop Planet. London:
Bloomsbury, 2003.
Nelson, Robert (1995) “Kitschophrenia,” Artlink 15.4 (Summer): 12-13.
Neat, Patrick (2003) Where You’re At: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip Hop Planet. London:
Bloomsbury.
Olalquiaga, Celeste (1992) Megalopolis. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Olalquiaga, Celeste (1999)“The Souvenir “ and “The Debris of the Aura,” The Artificial Kingdom.
London: Bloomsbury.
Phillips, Susan A. (1999) Wallbangin’: Graffiti and Gangs in L.A. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Phillips, Ruth B. (1995) “Why Not Tourist Art? Significant Silences in Native American Museum
Representations,” Gyan Prakash (ed.), After Colonialism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Politi, Emma (1997) Keith Haring: Subway Drawings and New York Street Art. Milan: Mazzotta.
Rojek, Chris (2001) “Celebrity and Celetoids,” Celebrity. London: Reaktion Books.
Sikov, Ed (1997) “Laughing Hysterically: Sex, Repression, and American Film Comedy,” in
Martin Duberman (ed.), Queer Representations. New York: New York University Press.
Solomon, Robert. C (1991) “On Kitsch and Sentimentality,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism 49.1 (Winter).
Stewart, Susan (1999)“The Gigantic,” On Longing. Durham: Duke University Press. Storey, John
(1993) An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Hemel Hempstead, UK:
Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Unit guide CUL 223 Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art
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Storey, John (ed.) (1994) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Hemel Hempstead,
UK: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Tofts, Darren (1994) “The Terrain of the Unspeakable: Pink Flamingos and the Cutlure of Trash,”
Meanjin 51.4 (Summer).
Tuv, Jan-Ove (2001) “In Defence of Kitsch,” in Odd Nerdrum et al (eds.), On Kitsch. Oslo: Kagge
Forlag. Wimsatt, William Upski (1994) Bomb the Suburbs. Chicago: The Subway and Elevated
Press.
Benjamin, Walter (1970) Illuminations. London: Jonathan Cape. PN514.B3623
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Press. HN8.C4313/1984
Cleto, Fabio (ed.) Camp: Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press. NX180.H6.C36
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Hall, Stuart (1976) Resistance Through Rituals. London: Hutchinson. HQ799.G7.R47
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Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan. HM24.I65
Hebdige, Dick (1979) Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen. HQ799.G7.H4
hooks, bell (1992) Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press.
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Johnson, Viviene (1996) Copyrites: Aboriginal Art in the Age of Reproductive Technologies.
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The House of Aboriginality [CD-ROM] (1998). Sydney: Centre for Flexible Learning, Macquarie
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