Public Space, Memory, and Social Dialogue
In the era of Anthropocene marked by the climate crisis, devastating wars, nuclear arms race, violent social divide and other crises, there is an urgent need for the new kind of monuments, memorials, and other commemorative projects that may contribute to the ending of perpetuation of mistakes and injustices of the past while advancing new visions for the responsible and informed future.
This course is intended to inspire and guide discussion, research, and experiments in search for new directions in commemorative art and design.
Student projects will be developed and presented in the context of readings, discussions, presentations, and guest visits with the focus on proactive participatory, discursive, performative, and dialogical approaches to the practice of memory.
The project proposals may be envisaged as permanent, occasional, or temporary, mobile, or wearable, social media based, or AI assisted. They may be autonomous, complemental, or supplemental to the existing monuments and memorials, take form of participatory installations and projections, connect the distant from each other monuments, engage divided social groups and other sites of memory.
The class, individually or as a group, will have an opportunity to create a real scale media installation or video mapping projection that actively engage an existing architectural or sculptural site, interior or exterior, situated inside or outside the Harvard campus.
The course is open to all while MDes students from all Domains are particularly welcome and encouraged to join.