ART of the MOOC: Public Art and Pedagogy
Public art and experimental education combine to create new ways of learning and experiencing creativity in shared spaces.
Public art and experimental education combine to create new ways of learning and experiencing creativity in shared spaces.
This course examines public culture and art in their radically reinvented contemporary forms, focusing on public art, spatial politics, and experimental pedagogy. Designed by artist and Duke professor Pedro Lasch and co-taught by Creative Time artistic director Nato Thompson, the course connects major developments in recent decades to wider topics like spatial politics, everyday social structures, and experimental education. Students will learn about public practice and socially engaged art through lectures, guest presentations from key thinkers and practitioners, and optional hands-on projects. The course encourages participants to treat the MOOC itself as a public art medium, emphasizing practical components, local project productions, and global exchanges.
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What you'll learn
Understand the relationship between public art and spatial politics
Analyze the role of socially engaged art in addressing urban and social issues
Explore the use of media, institutions, and organizations as artistic forms
Examine experimental approaches to education in the context of art
Develop critical thinking skills in analyzing public art interventions
Gain insights from leading practitioners in the field of public art
Skills you'll gain
This course includes:
210 Minutes PreRecorded video
9 assignments
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FullTime access
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There are 7 modules in this course
This course provides a comprehensive exploration of contemporary public art and experimental pedagogy. Students will examine how artists engage with spatial politics, social structures, and educational practices to create impactful public works. The curriculum covers key topics such as the relationship between art and urbanism, the use of media as social form, the creation of alternative institutions, and the development of experimental educational models. Through a combination of lectures, guest presentations, and optional practical projects, learners will gain insights into the theories and practices that shape socially engaged art. The course emphasizes critical thinking and encourages students to consider the MOOC itself as a form of public art, fostering a global community of learners and practitioners.
Introduction to Public Art and Pedagogy
Module 1 · 10 Minutes to complete
Public Art and Spatial Politics: Lectures, Guest Presentations, and Quiz
Module 2 · 2 Hours to complete
Public Art and Spatial Politics: Projects and Self-Assessments
Module 3 · 1 Hours to complete
Fictions, Alternative Structures, and Mock-Institutions: Lectures, Guest Presentations, and Quiz
Module 4 · 1 Hours to complete
Fictions, Alternative Structures, and Mock-Institutions: Projects and Self-Assessments
Module 5 · 1 Hours to complete
Experimental Pedagogy: Lectures, Guest Presentations, and Quiz
Module 6 · 1 Hours to complete
Experimental Pedagogy: Projects and Self-Reflection
Module 7 · 1 Hours to complete
Fee Structure
Payment options
Financial Aid
Instructors
Visual Artist and Associate Research Professor
Pedro Lasch, born and raised in Mexico City, splits his time between North Carolina, where he has been teaching at Duke University since 2002, and New York, where he collaborates on projects with immigrant communities and art collectives like 16 Beaver Group, which he has been involved with since 1999. His solo exhibitions include *Open Routines* (Queens Museum of Art, 2006), *Black Mirror* (Nasher Museum of Art, 2008), and *Abstract Nationalism* (The Phillips Collection, 2014), while his work has been featured in group exhibitions at prestigious venues such as MoMA PS1, MASS MoCA, Walker Art Center, CAC New Orleans (USA); Royal College of Art, Hayward Gallery, Baltic (UK); Centro Nacional de las Artes, MUAC, Galería de Palacio Nacional (Mexico); as well as international platforms like the Gwangju Biennial (South Korea), 12th Havana Biennial (Cuba), Documenta 13 / AND AND AND (Germany), and the 56th Venice Biennale / Creative Time Summit (Italy). Author of three books, his art and writings have appeared in collections, journals, and publications including *October Magazine*, *Saber Ver*, *Art Forum*, *ARTnews*, *Cultural Studies*, and *Rethinking Marxism*, alongside international media outlets such as *The New York Times*, *The Philadelphia Weekly*, *El Universal*, and *La Jornada*.
Chief Curator
Nato Thompson joined Creative Time in January 2007, where he curated numerous groundbreaking projects, including *A Subtlety* (2014), *Living as Form* (2011), Trevor Paglen’s *The Last Pictures* (2012), Paul Ramirez Jonas’s *Key to the City* (2010), Jeremy Deller’s *It is What it is* (2009, in collaboration with New Museum curators Laura Hoptman and Amy Mackie), *Democracy in America: The National Campaign* (2008), and Paul Chan’s *Waiting for Godot in New Orleans* (2007). Before this, he served as Curator at MASS MoCA, organizing large-scale exhibitions like *The Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere* (2004), with its catalogue distributed by MIT Press. Thompson’s writings have been featured in esteemed publications such as *Bookforum*, *Frieze*, *Artforum*, *Third Text*, and the *Huffington Post*, earning him the 2005 Art Journal Award for distinguished writing. He also curated *Experimental Geography* for Independent Curators International, accompanied by a book from Melville House Publishing, and authored *Seeing Power: Art and Activism in the 21st Century*, published in 2015.
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4.7 course rating
121 ratings
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