Syllabus Information

1. General information

1.1. Aims of the course

The course and its expected results respond to the following approaches and objectives:
The subject Latest Artistic Trends contributes to the professional profile of the degree by completing the theoretical and practical training of students in current art from 1968 to the present day. A subject, on the other hand, with which many of the students will face in their professional life, especially if they are going to develop it in Museums and Contemporary Art Centers or in the field of art criticism. In this sense, students will develop generic and specific competencies consistent with the learning outcomes expected to be achieved in the course.
As general objectives, the following stand out:
- The capacity for analysis and synthesis essential for the development and defense of arguments. Current artistic proposals raise not only formal problems, but also conceptual issues related to contemporary philosophical, political and sociological thought. Elaborating and defending arguments thus becomes an essential skill for students to be able to think critically with works of art.
- In the same sense, they will have to develop their ability to search for and manage relevant information and compile data in order to make judgments.
- Adaptation to new situations, since many proposals will be completely new and it will be the students who will have to make a first critical judgment about them.
- Creativity in relating artistic proposals to each other and to the context of current thinking.
- Knowledge of other cultures, because in the globalized world artists work everywhere with similar languages, but in different contexts.
- And, of course, the necessary skills of observation and visual analysis in an essential formal analysis.
As specific objectives of this subject we can highlight:
- A critical awareness of the spatio-temporal, geographical and cultural coordinates of current art, an art that students should not forget that it is developed in a globalized world.
- Awareness of the debate around the "fall of the great narratives", fundamentally of the "great narrative of history" and of the critical position of the philosophy of art and of the artistic proposals in this regard.
These approaches and objectives are aligned with the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Agenda 2030 (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/es/), so that the acquisition of the learning outcomes of the subject provides training and competence to contribute to some extent to their achievement:
Goal 4: Quality education;
Goal 5: Gender equality;
Goal 10: Reduction of inequalities.

1.2. Context and importance of this course in the degree

Recent Artistic Trends is a subject included in the second cycle of Fine Arts, so it must be understood from a more specialized point of view than others. The basic objective in this sense is to bring students closer to the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the work of art and the way in which its transformations have driven changes in the concept of space in which it is inserted, making it an active element and not a mere support for passive contemplation. Through this course, students can examine the expressive and artistic evolution of the most significant currents since the sixties of the twentieth century, and see how there has been an active institutional critique of the museum and its viability with respect to new political, social, postcolonial and formal approaches to artistic creation. In the same way, students can develop their oral and written communication skills in their own language, as well as the treatment and management of information through autonomous learning in order to promote their creativity and knowledge of other cultures and customs.
Another fundamental objective is to introduce students to the knowledge of selective criteria and their reading of history. Beyond the painting, sculpture or applied arts (characteristic of the art museums of the 19th century), the work expands in this period of analysis to other formats, materials and languages, exceeding the expectations of conventional exhibition spaces. All of which must be considered a basic training to adequately educate Fine Arts students involved in contemporary artistic production.

1.3. Recommendations to take this course

The course Last Artistic Trends aims to provide students with the fundamental bases for the study and analysis of the various movements, manifestations, authors and works from 1968 to the present day. Given its specific nature, it is recommended that students make a special effort and interest in learning the terminology and languages of the current artistic world, although it can be taken with a minimum level of historical and artistic knowledge of the 2nd year of Bachillerato.
This course aims to introduce students to the changes that have occurred in art since the sixties: in terms of the body, the process, the behavior, the distribution of the work, the dialogues between different artistic languages and critical work on exhibitions and international events of contemporary art.
It is advisable that students have completed their pre-university education in the field of art and that they have acquired a minimum prior knowledge of Art History in general and of 20th century Art in particular, in the understanding that they will rarely have studied the crisis of art in 1968 and current artistic proposals.
In the same sense, it is advisable that in his first formation he has worked, in an initial way, some of the main philosophers and thinkers of the contemporary world.

2. Learning goals

2.1. Competences

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be more competent to...
General competences
CG01. Ability to produce and relate ideas within the creative process.
CG15. Capacity for ethical commitment and the promotion of gender equality, environmental protection, principles of universal accessibility and democratic values.
Specific competences
CE01. Critical understanding of the history, theory and current discourse of art. Critical understanding of the history, theory and current discourse of art. Analytical assimilation of the concepts on which art is based.
CE02. Critical understanding of the evolution of aesthetic, historical, material, economic and conceptual values. Analyze the evolution of art values from a socioeconomic and cultural perspective.
CE05. Knowledge of the theory and current discourse of art, as well as the current thinking of artists through their works and texts. To constantly update the direct knowledge of art through its own creators.
CE06. Knowledge of the vocabulary, codes, and concepts inherent to the artistic field. To know the language of art.
CE08. Knowledge of the different functions that art has acquired through historical development. Study the evolution of the role of art through time.
CE19. Ability to identify and understand the problems of art. Establish the aspects of art that generate creative processes.

2.2. Learning goals

In order to pass this course, students must demonstrate the following results...
At the end of the course the students will have achieved different learning outcomes both for their professional activity and in the fundamental knowledge of the subject.
In the fundamental knowledge of the subject the student will:
- Will have acquired a critical awareness and a diachronic vision of the artistic proposals from the art crisis in '68 to the present day.
- Will have obtained specific knowledge of the multidisciplinary methodology appropriate to the analysis of artistic proposals.
- They will have acquired a first knowledge of the main thinkers and philosophers of the contemporary world.
- They will have acquired instrumental knowledge applied to current art, in particular those related to the moving image, computer science and new materials and artistic behaviors.
- They will have learned, at an initial level, to think critically about artistic proposals in their intellectual and institutional context, thus being able to make a first critical and argued judgment about them.
In learning for their professional activity, the students will:
- Will have acquired organizational, planning and structuring skills both in their autonomous work.
- Will have exercised the capacity of analysis and synthesis, as well as information management and compilation of data to make judgments in the elaboration and defense of arguments.
- They will have trained and improved their capacity for visual analysis and their ability to contrast it with the main currents of contemporary thought.

2.3. Importance of learning goals

It is intended that, at the end of the course, the students who take the subject Last Artistic Trends know the active role of the art of the past as a reference for contemporary creation. In addition, it allows students to have aesthetic and artistic contents that will help them to recognize the historical background of the current plastic creation and the development of their plastic projects.
Students will acquire sufficient knowledge to be able to compare different ways and possibilities of historical and theoretical approach to the latest trends in art. Students will be able to make a critical study of the relationships between the current visual arts with respect to the art of the last decades of the twentieth century. They will be able to recognize the historical and contemporary references adopted by current creators to produce their works. Will be able to characterize the different stages of the evolution of artistic production in the last decades. Will be able to evaluate the continuities and crises in the models of artistic representation. Will be able to discuss the concepts of modernity and contemporaneity in art.
Will be able to handle in a solvent way the main concepts that have vertebrated the development of plastic art along the XX and XXI centuries, knowing its main figures, movements and tendencies. The student will be able to relate contemporary artistic manifestations with their historical background, pointing out the influence of the works of art of the past in the creations of current art. Will be able to take advantage of the different ways of approach in the analysis of the plastic arts of the present time. Will be able to reflect on the importance of theoretical and visual documentation as part of the artists' production process. Will be able to handle the texts of current plastic creators as one of the fundamental sources for the history of contemporary art and their reflections as one of the main driving forces of their creations.

3. Assessment (1st and 2nd call)

3.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

The students must demonstrate that they have achieved the expected learning outcomes through the following evaluation activities
Students will be evaluated using the continuous evaluation method, based on the participatory methodological system proposed for the course and three concepts will be taken into account in equal parts. Therefore, in order to be evaluated, students will have to carry out the following activities:
(a) Continuous evaluation system:
- Individual work (30%): analysis of a text referring to part of the content of the subject. The student must answer several questions about a reading indicated by the teacher at the beginning of the course.
- Practical report (30%): cataloging and commentary of several images from different periods included in the syllabus of the course. The student must identify, catalog and explain two or more images proposed by the teacher from among those previously analyzed in class.
- Exam (30 %): an exam at the end of the last block of contents. The exam will consist of the development of a topic to choose between two. The students will have to develop the topic proposed by the teacher in the indicated time.
-Tutoring and class participation (10%).
To qualify for the continuous evaluation it will be necessary to attend at least 85% of the classes.
Evaluation criteria: The correctness of the contents presented, the students' capacity for analysis and synthesis, their ability to make a reasoned and orderly exposition, as well as the proper use of artistic terminology, good presentation and formal and orthographic correctness will be assessed.
b) Global evaluation test (to be held on the date set in the academic calendar)
- Exam (50%): Performance of an exam, in which the student must respond to two statements proposed by the teacher on different issues related to the subject matter of the course.
- Practice report (25%): Cataloging and commenting on several images belonging to any of the thematic blocks of the course. The student must identify, catalog and explain the images proposed by the teacher from among those previously analyzed in class. This written test, of a practical nature, will take place immediately after the exam.
- Individual work (25%): Performance of a theoretical test related to a text related to the subject. The student will have to answer several questions about a reading indicated by the teacher at the beginning of the course. The final work will be done at the end of the internship report.

II. Second call
Global evaluation test (to be taken on the date established in the academic calendar).
This global evaluation test will include the same tests as in the first call and its computation will be the same, reaching a total of 100%. The evaluation criteria are the same.

4. Methodology, learning tasks, syllabus and resources

4.1. Methodological overview

The learning process that has been designed for this subject is based on the following:
The evolution of the plastic arts after 1968. For this purpose, the '60s and '70s, the expansive period, as well as the contemporary movements and trends in the Western artistic context, will be explained. The process of dematerialization of the work of art and the consolidation of process art, conceptual art and action art will be discussed in depth.
It will also explain the art in the 80's, the introspective period, the postmodern thought or the revision of the past. The artistic context of the 80's is presented, its idea of rupture of avant-gardism and the return to painting. The emerging movements and trends are analyzed formally and conceptually, from the Italian Transvanguardia to the new New York painting.
Finally, on the border between two decades, 1985-1995. New strategies in the context of multiculturalism. The artistic context since the mid 80's is presented, analyzing and deepening the new strategies: activist and alternative art; the use of the body as a place of artistic practice and the evolution from sexual difference to transgenderism.

4.2. Learning tasks

The program offered to the student to help him/her achieve the expected outcomes comprises the following activities....
The program of training activities offered to students to achieve the expected learning outcomes is as follows:
1) Theoretical classes: they will adopt the format of oral presentations by the teaching staff of the theoretical contents of the subject in the classroom setting (lectures).
2) Practical classes (in the classroom or outside the classroom with the teaching staff). They will consist of:
-Practices of analysis, commentary and interpretation of images by projecting them and discussion in class, applying different methodologies.
-Commentary and analysis of the fundamental problems of the subject.
-Commentary and analysis of sources and texts.
-A programmed practical visit may be made to apply the knowledge acquired both in the classroom and through the personal work of the students, analyzing in the field the issues addressed in the theoretical and practical classes.
3) Personal study (assimilation of the contents exposed in the theoretical and practical classes, reading and study of the recommended bibliography, previous personal preparation of the commentaries and analysis of texts and sources), as well as the preparation of the practical activities and the personal work of the students.
4) Tutorials: the time dedicated to the orientation of the students' learning, to the discussion of the problems arisen in the development of the subject, and to the explanation and revision of the tasks entrusted to the students.
5) Performance of the evaluation tests.

4.3. Syllabus

The course will address the following topics:

Introduction
THEME 1. FROM THE FORM TO THE IDEA. THE DEMATERIALIZATION OF THE WORK OF ART 1968-1975.
1.1.- The contestation to minimal art.
1.2.- The displacement of minimal art towards the processual.
1.3.- The eccentric abstraction.
1.4.- The process art or antiformal.
The art of the earth: painting with nature. 1.6.
1.6 .- The art of the body or the body as a pictorial medium.
1.7 .- Activism, arte povera and social sculpture in Europe.
1.8 .- Conceptual art and its trends.

THE RETURN AND REAFFIRMATION OF PAINTING 1975-1979.
2.1 .- The photorealism.
2.2.- Painting reduced to its material components.
2.3.- The American painting of the seventies.

THEME 3. POSTMODERNITY 1980-1985
3.1.- Postmodernism in Europe.
3.2.- Postmodernity in the United States.

TOPIC 4. POSTMODERNITY 1985-1990
4.1.- The phenomenon of the neos in Europe
Art and new technologies: the activation of the senses 4.2.- Art and new technologies: the activation of the senses

THEME 5. THE (MULTIPLE AND VARIED) LOOK AT REALITY
5.1 The activist and alternative postmodern art in the United States

4.4. Course planning and calendar

Provisional course calendar

Schedule of face-to-face sessions and presentation of work
The exposition of contents will be done through presentation or explanation by the teaching staff (and as far as possible by external collaborators when appropriate for a specific topic) but, in the same way, the period of instruction will be based on oral or written contributions from the students. The theoretical classes will be accompanied by images and texts that correspond to what has been covered in class or any other material of interest to the students such as videos or documentaries.
1st Week INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE, TO EXPLAIN TO THE STUDENTS THE METHODOLOGY OF THE COURSE, THE BIBLIOGRAPHY, THE ELABORATION OF THE PRACTICES AND THE WORK AND THE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION.
1st to 7th Week. Topic 1. Evaluation test (continuous).
8th and 9th week. Topic 2.
10th and 11th week. Topic 3. Evaluation test (continuous).
12th and 13th week. Topic 4.
14th and 15th week. Topic 5. Review and evaluation test (continuous).
The date of the global evaluation test will be duly indicated by the Center prior to its realization.
The dates of the tests related to the continuous evaluation will be indicated by the teacher in charge during the development of the subject.