RESEARCH
Despite the factors that constrain what gets made, when, and by whom, I believe that attention to the texture of ordinary life allows artists to push the boundaries of perception. In this light, I have written on an international group of artists, including Yael Bartana, Dan Graham, Akram Zaatari, Bruce Nauman, and Elin Hansdottir, as well as photo-based works by Fluxus—a postwar collective that focused the viewer's attention on everyday occurrences, such as smiling or leaving the room. My method of analysis combines phenomenology and feminist/queer theory.
Recently, I served as lead curator to the reinstallation of Bruce Nauman's 1970 San Jose Installation, which culminated in my co-authoring Bruce Nauman: Spatial Encounters (with Constance M. Lewallen, University of California Press). Currently, I am completing a manuscript on the diorama—a pre-cinematic light and paint entertainment that emerged in nineteenth-century Paris. I argue that the diorama persists in other guises today, and consequently serves as a sentimental and backward-looking impulse in contemporary art. My interview with installation artist Dan Graham on this topic is forthcoming in a special-issue of Culture et Musées devoted to the diorama.
HISTORY
Before entering the academy I was a professional photographer. In this capacity, I was fortunate to work with a number of notable artists—such as Richard Barnes, who sparked my interest in archives and evidence. Simultaneously, I earned a MA in Inter-Arts from San Francisco State University—studying with performance artist Christine Tamblyn, theorist Kaja Silverman, and filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha—and then a PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester. My dissertation was advised by Professors Michael Ann Holly and Douglas Crimp. Since then, grants and fellowships from the Camargo, the Clark Art Institute, the Centre Allemand d’histoire de l’art, the National Humanities Center, and San José State University have helped me to continue my research.
TEACHING
I am Associate Professor and coordinator of the Art History and Visual Culture at San José State University. I also teach graduate seminars in the MFA program. My seminar topics include the archive, contemporary craft, photography and perception, the spectacle, and art historical methods. My undergraduate courses include the history and theory of new media, introduction to visual culture, the art of the 1960s and 70s, and issues of materiality in contemporary art (called "The Thing").
I can be contacted at dore.bowen@sjsu.edu.
Despite the factors that constrain what gets made, when, and by whom, I believe that attention to the texture of ordinary life allows artists to push the boundaries of perception. In this light, I have written on an international group of artists, including Yael Bartana, Dan Graham, Akram Zaatari, Bruce Nauman, and Elin Hansdottir, as well as photo-based works by Fluxus—a postwar collective that focused the viewer's attention on everyday occurrences, such as smiling or leaving the room. My method of analysis combines phenomenology and feminist/queer theory.
Recently, I served as lead curator to the reinstallation of Bruce Nauman's 1970 San Jose Installation, which culminated in my co-authoring Bruce Nauman: Spatial Encounters (with Constance M. Lewallen, University of California Press). Currently, I am completing a manuscript on the diorama—a pre-cinematic light and paint entertainment that emerged in nineteenth-century Paris. I argue that the diorama persists in other guises today, and consequently serves as a sentimental and backward-looking impulse in contemporary art. My interview with installation artist Dan Graham on this topic is forthcoming in a special-issue of Culture et Musées devoted to the diorama.
HISTORY
Before entering the academy I was a professional photographer. In this capacity, I was fortunate to work with a number of notable artists—such as Richard Barnes, who sparked my interest in archives and evidence. Simultaneously, I earned a MA in Inter-Arts from San Francisco State University—studying with performance artist Christine Tamblyn, theorist Kaja Silverman, and filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha—and then a PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester. My dissertation was advised by Professors Michael Ann Holly and Douglas Crimp. Since then, grants and fellowships from the Camargo, the Clark Art Institute, the Centre Allemand d’histoire de l’art, the National Humanities Center, and San José State University have helped me to continue my research.
TEACHING
I am Associate Professor and coordinator of the Art History and Visual Culture at San José State University. I also teach graduate seminars in the MFA program. My seminar topics include the archive, contemporary craft, photography and perception, the spectacle, and art historical methods. My undergraduate courses include the history and theory of new media, introduction to visual culture, the art of the 1960s and 70s, and issues of materiality in contemporary art (called "The Thing").
I can be contacted at dore.bowen@sjsu.edu.