JINS 378 - Visual Music: From Mimesis to Abstraction

Through readings, listening assignments, analysis of images, discussion and writing, this course examines explicit relationships between music and visual art. Beginning with Plato’s characterization of the arts as mimesis or representation of hypothesized realities, extending to Wagner’s conception of Gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”), as well as to painter Kandinsky’s obsession with synesthesia or “colors of sound,” the course concludes with an overview of contemporary artworks - some digital - inspired by Kandinsky’s approach.

Prerequisite: Junior status.
Credits: 3
NOTE:
* This course fulfills the Junior Interdisciplinary Writing-Enhanced Seminar Interconnecting Perspective of the Liberal Studies Program.
** This course counts toward the 63-credit Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) graduation requirement.
*** This is a writing-enhanced course.