EALC 23812 COSI: Making Space: Buddhist Art from India to China
From Star Trek's episode Mirror, Mirror, to the recent Everything Everywhere All At Once, multiple universes have their place of honor in the zeitgeist of our age. While it may seem like a recent development, the idea of complex space has been explored by numerous cultures of the past. Throughout the course of its long history, Buddhism has provided one of the most sophisticated explorations of space, from the infinitely small to the infinitely large. This course is an introduction to Buddhist Art from India to China, with a special focus on the making of "space." Taking the theorization of "space" as a guide in our survey of Buddhist art, we will learn about how visual culture participates in philosophical reflections on the construction of spaces. This course asks several questions specific to the study of Asian art while also broaching theoretical debates relevant across time and space, such as: how can visual culture offer a theory of "space"? What spatial mechanisms direct the viewer across space? How do objects change when removed from their original space-and what meanings do they acquire in their new contexts? The course will focus on objects from the Asian Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. Students will be taught to work with them, investigate their history of excavation and relocation, as well as the ethical aspects of Western collections of Asian Art. Students will also gain basic skills in connecting material culture to religious and historical texts.