Students

CUL 223 – Visual Countercultures: Graffiti, Kitsch and Conceptual Art

2019 – S2 Day

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Jillian Kramer
Contact via Via email
10HA 191F Phone: (02) 9850 2252
By Appointment
Tutor
Victor Zhang
Credit points Credit points
3
Prerequisites Prerequisites
15cp at 100 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit introduces students to a range of theories that question traditional hierarchies of value and that enable a critical re-evaluation of the practices of everyday life. This unit theorises key topics such as: countercultures; oppositional cultures and post-subcultures; the politics of high versus popular and low culture; and counter-cultural practices in global and local contexts. The following practices, sites and objects are examined: graffiti, hip hop and crimes of style; graffiti and the cultural politics of public space; graffiti as a form of political activism and dissent; the relation between kitsch and high art; the politics of kitsch in the context of colonialism and Indigeneity; the cultural politics of tourist sites; gigantism and miniaturism; queer culture, camp and kitsch; and celebrity kitsch.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

General Assessment Information

Special Consideration: If you have experienced an unavoidable and serious disruption and are unable to complete this task by the due date, please request Special Consideration via ask.mq.edu.au. For more information about the Special Consideration process please click here.

Late Submission: Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests. 

Grades: In line with the Macquarie University Assessment Policy, grades align with the descriptors available here

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Class Test 20% No Week 4 Tutorials (Wed. 21st Aug)
Visual Analysis 30% No 23rd of September 11:59pm
Final Essay 50% No 8th of November 11:59pm

Class Test

Due: Week 4 Tutorials (Wed. 21st Aug)
Weighting: 20%

In week four tutorials, students will be given a 45 minute class test on the readings completed in weeks one, two and three. Students should prepare for this short answer test in three ways. First, students should review the readings and identify the key concepts put forward by the relevant scholars. Second, students should develop a clear understanding of the readings and concepts. Third, students should practice outlining the concepts and identify relevant and productive examples.

In this 45 minute class test, students will answer a series of short answer questions (they will be required to write answers from two sentences - two paragraphs in length). They must attend the tutorial allocated in e-student, bring a blue or black pen and stay for the length of the test.

Class tests will be assessed according to the following criteria (please see full assessment rubric in ilearn)

  1. Demonstrate a clear and cogent grasp of the key concepts that enable us to re-evaulate and critique practices of everyday life that are often unexamined or dismissed as worthless 
  2. Identify relevant examples that relate to the key concepts 
  3. Employ effective communication skills

Preparation: Students will be expected to prepare for the class test by attending the lectures and tutorials, and completing additional study in their own time. We will discuss the assessment in tutorials from week one onwards, and you will be shown samples and given practice questions in weeks two and three tutorials. 

Submission: Students will complete this class test in their weekly tutorial on Wednesday the 21st of August

Feedback: Students will be given individual feedback upon the return of their paper. They will also be given group feedback in tutorials and the week seven workshop.

Special Consideration: If you are unable to attend the class test due to an unavoidable and serious disruption, please submit a Special Consideration request via ask.mq.edu.au. More information on this procedure is available here


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.

Visual Analysis

Due: 23rd of September 11:59pm
Weighting: 30%

For this assessment, students will continue developing the knowledge and skills that they will need in order to complete the final essay. They will build on their understandings of the key concepts in order to perform their own 1,000 word visual analysis of kitsch and graffiti. Students are required to respond to the following prompt:

  • Michel de Certeau argues that tactics are "victories of the 'weak' over the "strong"' (1988, p. xix). Using de Certeau's (1988) definition of tactics, highlight the ways in which one example of graffiti and one example of kitsch might be considered tactical in character. 

In their answers, students must draw on De Certeau's work (1988) and at least two other readings to analyse one example of kitsch and one example of graffiti. They should aim to build a strong argument that exposes the ways in which their examples are (or are not) 'tactical in character.' The images they have chosen should be cited and pasted at the beginning of their analysis.

Students must also use academic referencing and attach a reference list at the end of their essay. For more information on referencing please follow the link to Macquarie University Library’s Referencing Guide here: http://libguides.mq.edu.au/Referencing.

Each visual analysis will be marked according to the following marking criteria (please see assessment rubric in ilearn):

  1. Demonstrates a clear and effective grasp of relevant key concepts
  2. Develops an argument that is supported by both theoretical concepts and forensic analysis of well chosen examples 
  3. Effectively uses writing skills to present academic research, including consistent and accurate use of in-text referencing.

Preparation: Students will be expected to write their essays based on the guidance they receive in the lectures and tutorials. This assessment will be discussed and samples will be shown in the tutorials. We will also go through this assessment - and feedback on the class test - in the week seven lecture/workshop. 

Submission: The visual analysis will be submitted via the turnitin link in ilearn. 

Feedback: Students will receive individual feedback in gradebook. They will also receive group feedback in tutorials and lectures after individual marks have been released.

Special Consideration: If you have experienced an unavoidable and serious disruption and are unable to complete this task by the due date, please request Special Consideration via ask.mq.edu.au. For more information about the Special Consideration process please click here.

Late Submission: Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests. 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Final Essay

Due: 8th of November 11:59pm
Weighting: 50%

For this assessment, students are required to write a 2,000 word essay in response to one of the questions listed below. Drawing on the concepts offered in the relevant readings, students must perform a forensic visual analysis of at least one example in order to demonstrate their argument. Please note that students must not write on the same example that they used in their visual analysis. 

Questions: 

  • Popular culture, Stuart Hall argues, is structured by the "double movement of containment and resistance." Discuss Hall's characterisation of popular culture in relation to an example of your choice such as the cultural practice such as graffiti or the production/consumption of kitsch.
  • Graffiti, as a subcultural practice, contests established legal notions of public space and private/corporate property. Discuss this statement in relation to the relevant readings and a specific example of your choice.
  • The subcultural practice of graffiti challenges established notions of the ‘aesthetics of authority’ (Ferrell 1996, p. 176). Discuss in relation to a specific example of your choice.
  • Discuss how graffiti is a “contentious form of political participation.” Evidence your arguments with reference to the relevant readings and a culturally-situated example of political graffiti.
  • Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's work, discuss how both kitsch and art are in fact all about questions of distinction and the consecration of the social order. Discuss in relation to a specific example of either art or graffiti. 
  • Drawing on an example, discuss the importance of technologies of reproduction in relation to kitsch. In your answer, you need to discuss Benjamin and Olalquiaga's work on the aura and the democratisation of the image.
  • Aboriginalist kitsch is enabled by white supremacism: it is an "assertion of rights of ownership in the intellectual and cultural sphere to match power in the political and economic sphere," B. Hodge and V. Mishra. Discuss in relation to a specific example.
  • "We are enveloped by the gigantic, surrounded by it, enclosed within its shadow. Whereas we know the miniature as a spatial whole or as temporal parts, we know the gigantic only partially. We move through the landscape; it does not move through us," Susan Stewart. Discuss gigantism and the miniature in the context of examples in the Australian landscape.
  • Queer kitsch brings into focus a concept of the self as "performative, improvisational, discontinuous, and processually constituted by repetitive and stylised acts," Moe Myer. Discuss in relation to the readings and an example of queer kitsch.
  • "Representational excess, heterogeneity, and gratuitousness of reference, in constituting a major raison d'etre of camp's fun and exclusiveness, both signal and contribute to an overall resistance to definition," Fabio Cleto. Discuss in relation to the readings and an example of queer kitsch. 
  • Construct your own essay question, with reference to the topics and readings of the unit, in consultation with your tutor.

Essays will be marked according to the following criteria (please see assessment rubric in ilearn): 

  1. Demonstrates a clear and effective grasp of the key concepts raised in the relevant readings
  2. Identifies relevant example/s and provides contextualised and forensic analysis
  3. Develops a well-supported and well-researched argument 
  4. Effectively re-evaluates practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral 
  5. Critiques relevant hierarchies of value 
  6. Effectively uses writing skills to present academic research, including consistent and accurate use of in-text referencing.

Preparation: The final essay will be discussed, and examples will be shown, in tutorials throughout the second half of the session (From the week eight tutorial onwards).

Submission: The final essay will be submitted via the link to turnitin on the unit ilearn site.

Feedback: Students will receive individual feedback in gradebook.

Special Consideration: If you have experienced an unavoidable and serious disruption and are unable to complete this task by the due date, please request Special Consideration via ask.mq.edu.au. For more information about the Special Consideration process please click here.

Late Submission: Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests. 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Delivery and Resources

Attendance: Over the course of this unit, we are going to explore a series of topics, ideas and issues in our lectures and tutorials. For example, we'll analyse examples of graffiti, discuss how it complicates notions of public and private space and identify if it can be classified as a form of resistance. 

As the learning outcomes suggest, the activities we undertake are designed to engage with ideas about power, social justice and visual hierarchies. We aim to ensure that you finish the unit with not only new knowledge; but also enhanced critical and analytical skills that will be valuable in the workplace. 

As such, it is strongly recommended that you attend all the lectures and tutorials. They are designed to extend your skills and knowledge, prepare you to undertake assessments and ensure you get the most out of this unit. Students who elect to not attend tutorials and lectures will miss out on unit content and learning activities, and do so at their own risk.

Unit Delivery: Lectures and Tutorials will begin in the first week of the semester. This unit will be taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials. Echo recordings of the lectures will be available on iLearn. Each week, students will also be required to complete the set readings and relate them to the lecture material in the tutorials. 

For lecture times and classes, please consult the MQ timetable website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on your classes and classroom locations.

CUL223 Required readings:  The required readings for CUL223 will be available via links in ilearn. As readings are currently being updated, the complete list is available in ilearn and recommended list of readings below.

Unit Schedule

Week One: Introduction (Lectures and Tutorials start this week)

Week Two: “Crimes of Style”

Week Three: The Cultural Politics of Graffiti 

Week Four: Graffiti as a “Contentious form of Political Participation" 

Week Five: Kitsch, Bad Taste and Distinction

Week Six: Kitsch, Mechanical Reproduction & Modernity

Week Seven: Assessment Feedback and Workshops (No readings this week) 

RECESS 

Week Eight: The Politics of Kitsch

Week Nine: Gigantism & Miniaturism

Week Ten: Kitsch/Art

Week Eleven: Queer as Kitsch

Week Twelve: Celebrity Kitsch

Week Thirteen: Assessment preparation and submission (no lectures or tutorials this week)

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Additional information

MMCCS website https://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/department_of_media_music_communication_and_cultural_studies/

MMCCS Session Re-mark Application http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/download/?id=167914

Information is correct at the time of publication

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment task

  • Final Essay

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Class Test
  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Class Test
  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Class Test
  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
  • Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
  • Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
  • Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

  • Visual Analysis
  • Final Essay