TIM_BM_005 Documents of Presence and Experience I. Process and Experience

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2026
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
123920 Jennifer De Felice (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Jana Horáková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. MgA. Jennifer Ann Helia DeFelice, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. MgA. Jennifer Ann Helia DeFelice, Ph.D.
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Ing. Alena Albíniová
Supplier department: Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 150 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/150, only registered: 0/150, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/150
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Abstract
Documents of Presence and Experience is a series of lectures accompanied by audiovisual projections. Art films, videos, and documentaries and excerpts from lectures by international artists and collectives from the early 20th century to the present are shown throughout the course, illustrating theoretical deliberations on given themes and artistic movements. Art and artist databases, institutional resources, alternative communities, and artist residencies are also showcased within the sessions. Conceptual texts and deliberations are included as part of the curriculum.
Learning outcomes
Upon succcessful completion of the course students will be able to:
- identify and summarize the guiding concepts of important avant-garde movements
- recognize conceptual tendencies within contemporary art practice
- write a theoretical text detailing or adopting the mechanisms of the manifesto
- analyse the socio-politcal context which gave/gives rise to shifts in aesthetic paradigms
Key topics
  • -Oral Tradition – Myth
  • -Steps to be Taken – Ritual
  • -The Nature of the Game – Play
  • -Performing Culture
  • -Conceptual Approaches
  • -Language Texts and Signs
Study resources and literature
    required literature
  • Schechner, Richard: Performance Studies
  • Dewey, John: Art as Experience
    recommended literature
  • Stiles, Kristine, Selz, Peter: Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
The presentations are divided into semester-long blocks which deal with individual themes related to perfomativity as a phenomenon. Key concepts such as experience, contemporaneity, avant garde, ritual, play, indeterminacy, social engagement, participation, and improvisation are explored, relying heavily on artistic texts and theoretical works. Lectures are accompanied by audiovisual material.

The classes are based on presentation and class discussions. Students will asked to participate actively in discussion based on reading assignments.
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
Final evaluation will be based on attendence (75%), active participation in class, the presentation of a project or theme of the student's choice accompanied by a theoretical text (comparative study, curatorial project, personal manifesto (approx. 5 n/s) based on the given theme of the semester.

Semester projects will be assesed based on relevance of theme and quality of research and delivery (presentation, text).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught once in three years.
The course is taught every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2026, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2026/TIM_BM_005