Art History 236 - Architectures of Collecting

In what spaces are collections—of art and artifacts, plants and animals, papers and memories—held? What physical spaces have been created to house, preserve, sequester, and display such things? Upon what conceptual and infrastructural practices does collecting depend? To consider these questions, this class focuses on case studies from 1500-present, drawn from across the world: museums of ethnography and racial justice, private houses and public gardens, seed banks and aquaria. In addition, this class addresses the ethical implications of thinking about architecture and collecting—both literally and metaphorically—as joint, codependent endeavors. Counts for ARU. Enrollment limited to 30.