How does

mediate what it means to be human?

Spring 2025 taught by Susan Merriam

This course is a meditation on the meaning and histories of artistic experimentation in early modern Europe (1500-1800). At this time, art and science were often intricately connected, and artists took for granted the notion that they could manipulate and experiment with materials (oil paint for example), techniques (such as printmaking), and conceptual approaches to art making. Some of the areas we will examine include anatomical studies, optical experiments, and the use of materials and techniques. Questions we will pursue: What is meant by “visual experiment”? How might artistic failure be generative? How did artistic experiments shape practices we would now consider to be located solely in the realm of science, such as anatomical study? What is the relationship between experiment and risk? How might we compare artistic experiments in the early modern period to those undertaken in our own? As we study artistic experiment, we will create our own visual experiments using both old and new technologies. A highlight will be working with a life-sized camera obscura. This course satisfies the Experimental Humanities core course requirement for “History of the Experiment.”