Teaching Plan Information

1. General information

• To understand the notions of public space and public art in all their complexity.
• To know the artistic proposals of different contemporary creators linked to public art and public space in order to acquire strategies and skills of formal and discursive analysis that favour, in turn, the processes of artistic creation.
• To enable students to develop their personal plastic proposals in urban or natural environments, public or private, from creative and innovative approaches.
• To observe and identify the character of the intervention space, incorporating it to the personal artistic proposal.
• To integrate research, critical analysis and experimentation in the production of the work and personal discourse.
• To acquire the relevant tools of analysis, interpretation and action to integrate into multidisciplinary teams that address intervention projects in unique spaces.
• To develop critical thinking in situations of conflict or social and cultural transformation.
• To develop the necessary sensitivity and empathy towards specific places and social contexts, in order to be able to deploy actions and interventions, from the field of art, that respond to specific needs or conflict situations.
• To train the production of artistic projects and works that are destined for spaces other than the conventional ones for artistic exhibition.

These approaches and objectives are aligned with the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/es/), in such a way that the acquisition of the learning results of the subject provides training and competence to contribute to some extent to their achievement:

Goal 4: Quality Education. 

Goal 5: Gender Equality. 

Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption 

2. Learning results

Upon completion of this subject, the student will be able to:

• Learn about the main milestones in the history of public art. Know how to identify the most important artists in the course of this current, as well as the ethical/aesthetic tendencies that have derived since the development of public art took place.
• Is able to articulate a plastic, aesthetic and ethical discourse coherent with their work and with the context in which they act.
• Know how to observe and identify the specific character of the intervention space, incorporating it into his artistic approach.
• Produce original works in environments other than conventional exhibition spaces, taking into account the characteristics and specificities of the place of intervention, transforming it or integrating it into their personal plastic proposal.
• Possess the methodological strategies necessary to integrate into multidisciplinary teams that plan or carry out interventions in public or private spaces.
• Know how to work in/for/with the community, from the knowledge of their research and practices and from respect, maintaining at all times an attentive listening and an attitude of openness to favour the flow of possible synergies.
• In specific social contexts, be able to analyse situations of conflict, tensions or transformation processes, proposing guidelines for action from plastic and aesthetic approaches, to make visible or denounce certain situations, to try to provide proposals for improvement.

3. Syllabus

The subject "Art, environment and public space" develops a set of skills, resources and methodologies that enable students to understand, design and carry out interventions and performances that go beyond the traditional sculptural concept, deploying their artistic activity in places other than conventional art production and exhibition spaces. The theoretical component of the subject is marked by the analysis of the influence of artistic practice in the social context in which it operates.

The approach of the subject responds to the development of the following topics:

BLOCK I. Introduction to public space

Introduction to public space/public art.

Dimensions of public space.

The contemporary city: conformation and characteristics.

BLOCK II. Introduction to public art

Approach to the public art of the 60's and 70's.

Approach to the public art of the 80's and 90's.

Current context. Take position. Contemporary artistic proposals.

BLOCK III. Fundamentals and strategies for reflection, creation and intervention

The personal is political. Autobiographical discourse. Intimacy and social denunciation.

Case studies: strategies of reflection, creation and intervention of other artists.

Media, critical vision and controversy of the term truth.

Civil society. Contextual, participatory, collaborative and community art proposals.

BLOCK IV. Artistic proposals in urban and rural environments

The monument after modernity.

The city as a motive for creation and intervention. Multi-sensory city.

The rural environment: characteristics and strategies for artistic intervention.

BLOCK V. Artistic proposals in natural environments

Land Art/Earthworks. Intervention projects in natural environments.

Nature as a creative principle. Ephemeral interventions in natural environments. Use of natural and manufactured materials.

Art and environment.

4. Academic activities

Since the evaluation is continuous, attendance to the sessions is essential.

The subject consists of 27 face-to-face sessions. Each classroom session lasts 3 hours.

The proposed learning activities are linked to the thematic blocks that make up the subject and that have been presented in the previous section. These blocks are taught in the order indicated. The learning activities would thus be included in each of the blocks.

- Case studies, annotated readings. Analysis and critical reflection.

- Field trip for specific activities related to the environment, for an analysis of the biophysical space, in search of cultural, social and political information.

- Introductory exercise to the public space based on the reading of the proposed texts and artistic references.

- Introductory exercise to public art based on the reading of the proposed texts and artistic references.

- Creation of a personal project for public space (urban, rural or natural).

- Creation of an individual personal project subject to the bases of two public calls, among which the student will choose one.

- Public presentation of exhibition project and work produced.

5. Assessment system

The type of evaluation will be continuous and in order to be eligible for it, students must attend at least 80% of classes. Each of the proposed assignments/practices will have a specific due date. Those papers/practices that are submitted after the deadline indicated during the course of the subject will suffer a 20% reduction in their final grade.

The student must demonstrate achievement of the intended learning results through the following assessment activities:

On the percentages reflected, a final quantitative numeric grade from 0 to 10 and a qualitative grade will be obtained according to the regulations of the University of Zaragoza and the current legislation published in the BOE.

This is a theoretical-practical subject. Some evaluation tests will be carried out individually, others will be done in groups. The specifics of each of the exercises will be presented in the classroom according to the learning needs on each occasion. Generally, the evaluation tests to be taken by students taking the subject will be:

1.  Creation of a personal artistic project - Public Art 
2.  Creation of an individual personal project subject to the bases of two public calls, among which the student will choose one. Work of reflection, research, experimentation and creation.
3.  Creation of the Collective project - Action in the public space, accompanied by a personal reflection 
4.  Development of the contents of the online repository: Reflections from text readings, visual psychogeography fieldwork, graphic and sound storytelling.
5.  Class participation, final presentation of work, oral and written presentations

In summary, the EVALUATION CRITERIA applicable to the tests indicated are:

• Treatment, development and presentation of the proposed work (portfolio, reflections, project, etc.) positively valuing the levels of research, interest and attitude. Quality, structure and interest of the projects presented.
• The adequacy between the proposed exhibition project and the lines of action set forth. The assimilation and application of the theoretical contents of the subject.
• Initiative, resolution and active participation in the realization of projects.
• Capacity for analysis and self-criticism. Capacity for personal argumentation and oral and written transmission of the work carried out.
• Student attendance and involvement in each proposed activity.
• The depth of the research, the finishes in their interventions, attitude and implication at the time of carrying out collective and/or community projects.

FIRST CALL

As already indicated, a continuous evaluation system is followed, which will offer the possibility of passing the subject with the highest grade at the end of the term.

There will also be a global evaluation test, to which all students will be entitled, even if they do not carry out the continuous evaluation, and this global test will be fixed in the academic calendar by the Centre. Students who do not opt for continuous assessment, do not pass the subject according to this system or would like to improve their grade are entitled to take a global test. In any case the best of the grades obtained will prevail.

The Global Test of the first call consists of the following parts:

1. THEORETICAL and GRAPHIC evidence: Evidence of theoretical knowledge and contextualization of the subject. Short-answer or developmental questions will be posed. Value: 40%
2. PRACTICAL test: intervention project in public space. The proposal will be included in a series of installation specifications, dimensions, materials, technical characteristics and its public strategy; as well as, what has motivated it and what is the reflection that sustains it. On the day of the test, the specific premises will be specified, such as: spatial characteristics, theme, etc.  Value: 60%

SECOND CALL

All students who have not passed the subject will have the right to take a global test during the period established for this purpose by the Governing Council in the academic calendar.

IMPORTANT NOTE

The student must know the plagiarism regulations of the University of Zaragoza and its consequences published in: 

https://biblioteca.unizar.es/propiedad-intelectual/propiedad-intelectual-plagio

Likewise, they must be familiar with the Regulation of Learning Assessment Standards approved by agreement of December 22, 2010, of the University's Governing Council: 

http://cud.unizar.es/docs/ReglamentodeNormasdeEvaluaciondelAprendizaje.pdf

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NOTES:
Plagiarism will result in the failure of the course.
The use of generative AI in the projects will always be done explicitly and in coordination with the teacher. If the use of AI is not reported and detected
If the use of AI is not reported and detected, it will penalize in the evaluation of the corresponding work proportionally to its use.
GLOBAL TEST
All students will have the right to take the global test to pass the course or to improve the grade obtained. The
students who attend the exam must be punctually present on the day and at the time indicated in the call, otherwise it will be considered as “No Show”.
will be considered as “Not Presented”.
SECOND CALL
The evaluation in second call, to which all the students who have not passed the course will have the right to, will be carried out
by means of a global test that will take place in the period established in the academic calendar, to that effect, by the Governing Council.

6. Sustainable Development Goals

4 - Quality Education
5 - Gender Equality
12 - Responsible Production and Consumption