Spectacle Pedagogy: Art, Politics, and Visual Culture

This book examines the complex interrelationships between art, politics, and visual culture through the concept of spectacle pedagogy. In a series of essays Charles R. Garoian and Yvonne M. Gaudelius utilize the narratives of collage, montage, assemblage, installation, and performance art to expose, examine, and critique the pervasive influence of visual culture. Looking at current events such as the war in Iraq and on terrorism, as well as modes of communication that include advertising and photography, they note that while visual culture has the power to teach us what and how to see and think, as well as to influence how humans interact with one another, it is imperative to understand-particularly for students-the complex and contradictory relationships that exist between art-making activities and the spectacle pedagogy of visual culture.