VC 178 - Extraction! Art, Architecture, & Environmental History

What is art and architecture? What is the environment? This seminar will explore the intersection of the environment with art and architecture from a material point of view, charting their entangled relationship from the age of exploration to the dawn of the Anthropocene, ca. 16th-19th c. In addition to examining how the environment has inspired (and challenged) art and architecture, we will especially focus on the raw and critical resources that made art and architecture possible: tracing a material's journey from its literal roots in a garden to its extraction, production, trade, materials science, and use in art and architecture. We will also consider the ecological aftermath of these processes, learning to interrogate what underpins visual culture's beauty: from environmental impact, toxicity, global politics, colonialization, enslaved labor, and the economy. This class will have on-site visits to the Huntington Museum, Library, and Botanical Gardens.