🔵 🔴 🟡 Course description

The overall work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk) will be examined historically, in its artistic, cultural and social dimensions (ceremonies, celebrations, dinners). The concept of inter-artistry of the Total Artwork will be studied through different arts, such as the performing arts (Opera, Theatre, Dance, Performance), Architecture and Garden Design. Particular emphasis will be placed on the creation of contemporary Total artwork through contemporary movements and practices in the visual, performing and digital arts, taking into account the practices of interaction, participation and co-creation of the viewer.

At the end of the course the student should be able to:

• know the concept of the Total work of art, historically,

• understand the Total Artwork with an emphasis on contemporary times and new media,

• critically evaluate the Total Work of Art through the study of specific artistic works, movements and trends.

🔵 🔴 🟡 Theory (3 hours)

1. Introduction. Wagner and the concept of "Gesamtkunstwerk" (Total Artwork): characteristics and function.

2. Manifestations of the Total Work of Art in Social and Cultural Events: Celebrations in Public Space.

3. Manifestations of the Total Artwork in social and cultural events: the dinner, from the ancient Greek symposium to the staged dinners of the Grimod de la Reynière.

4. Manifestations of the Total Work of Art in Other Arts: Opera as a Total Work of Art, from Richard Wagner to William Kentridge.

5. Manifestations of the Total Artwork in other Arts: Architecture and Garden Design as a Total Work of Art – the Gardens of Versailles and the "Delights of the Enchanted Island".

6. The historical evolution of the Total Work of Art in Theatre and Performance: the historical avant-gardes I. Futurism and performance.

7. The historical development of the Total Work of Art in Theatre and Performance: the historical avant-gardes II. Futurism and cuisine.

8. The performing arts in the Bauhaus: the experiments of Oskar Schlemmer.

9. The 'Théâtre total': Antonin Artaud and Jean-Louis Barrault.

10. The work of Samuel Beckett as a Total work of art.

11. The multifaceted creation of the Fluxus group as a Total work of art.

12. The Immersive Theatre: a contemporary Total work of art.

13. The Total Artwork in the Digital Age: Cyberspace and Virtual Immersion.

Review language: Greek

🔵 🔴 🟡 Evaluation method:

• 20% participation in the course
• 30% oral presentation
• 50% written assignment

• Face-to-face
• Use of PowerPoint and audio-visual examples (13 lectures)
• Support of the learning process through eClass with weekly provision of audiovisual material, links, photos, extra bibliography and related information (exhibitions, cultural institutions, etc.)

https://eclass.uop.gr/courses/PDA102/ 

🔵 🔴 🟡 Course Textbooks [Eudoxus]

• Karaiskou, V. (2009). Visual and Stage Avant-Gardes in the First Half of the 20th Century, Papasotiriou Publications.
• Papalexiou, E. (2009). When Speech Turns Into Matter: Romeo Castellucci | Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Plethron Publications.

Extra Bibliography

• Artaud, A. 1992. The theater and its idol. Athens: Dodoni
• Adorno, Th. W. 1947. 'Wagner, Nietzsche and Hitler'. The Kenyon Review. 9 (1): 155–162
• Biggin, R. 2017. Immersive Theatre and Audience Experience: Space, Game and Story in the Work of Punchdrunk. Cham: Springer
• Broadhurst, S. & Price, S. 2018. Digital Bodies: Creativity and Technology in The Arts and Humanities. London: Palgrave Macmillan
• Di Benedetto, St. 2017. ‘Scenography and the Senses. Engaging the tactile, olfactory, and gustatory senses’. The Routledge Companion to Scenography. A. Aronson (ed.). London: Routledge
• Imhoof, D., Menninger, M. E., & In Steinhoff, A. J. (eds.). 2016. The total work of art: Foundations, articulations, inspirations. Spektrum
• Kirby, E. T. 1970. Total theatre: A critical anthology. New York: Dutton
• Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. 1999. ‘Playing to the Senses: Food as a Performance Medium’, Performance Research 4.1: 1-30
• Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. 2006. ‘Making Sense of Food in Performance: The Table and the Stage’. The Senses in Performance. S. Banes and A. Lepecki (eds.). New York: Routledge
• Roberts, D. 2016. The total work of art in European modernism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press
• Smith, M. W. 2007. The total work of art: From Bayreuth to cyberspace. New York: Routledge
• Stourna, A. 2018. “Banquet Performances Now and Then: Commensal Experiments and Eating as Mise en Scène”, Platform: Journal for Theatre and Performing Arts, 11.2, “Feasting”: 10-31
• Wagner, R., & Warner, E. 2013. The artwork of the future. London: The Wagner Journal