CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL FOR UNDERGRADUATES
LONDON STYLE: VISUAL CULTURE, COUNTER CULTURE
Key Information
Module code
Taught during
Module workload
Module leader
Department
Credit
Level
Pre-requisites
Assessment
ISSU1027
Block Two: Monday 25 July – Friday 12 August 2016
45 teaching hours plus approximately 100 study hours
Dr Sue Walker
History of Art, Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences
0.5 UCL credits, 7.5 ECTS, 4 US
Level 1, first year Undergraduate
Standard entry requirements
10-minute presentation (10%)
a tangible creative piece of work (45%)
1,500-2,000 word essay (45%)
Module Overview
The course will demonstrate that present day icons of “London Style” from fashion, film and music are
indebted to narratives of counter-culture, comedy, satire and dandyism. Subject matter ranges from
Shakespeare to Punk taking in eighteenth century satire and the Victorian novel. Course content will signpost
the histories that underlie contemporary perceptions of “London Style,” marketed today through the fashion
design of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen and contemporary British art’s preoccupation with
marginal subjects and media.
Students will engage with a range of material, sources and techniques to sustain creative workandcultivate
skills ranging from academic writing to portfolio presentation
Examples of themed seminars will include:
 Week One: Subversive Shakespeare
Considering Shakespeare’s comedies, the use of improvisation and slang and their (re)presentation until the
present day. The days’ teaching will hopefully include a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe.
 Week 2: English Revolution and Restoration:
Using the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, this class will look at representations of protagonists in the
English Civil War and short lived “English Republic” to consider the meanings of an English Revolution and how
this might be represented. We will also consider the paradox that, in contrast to Cromwell’s Puritanism, the
Restoration of Charles II enabled artists, poets and playwrights to produce bawdy and formally innovative
works which perhaps offer greater potential for counter cultural content.
Please note that this module description is indicative and may be subject to change.
1
 Week 3: Satirical London
UCL and the British Museum’s collection will allow us to explore the ways in which satirists from Hogarth to
Gillray have represented London underworlds and lampooned its fashions and privileged classes. Satire and
caricature will also allow us to consider the relationship between elite and popular culture.
Module Aims




To promote an historical understanding of present day perceptions of London culture meditated
through fashion, music and film.
To develop skills in academic reading and cultivating a critical response to texts and objects.
To explore processes for cultivating and developing creative ideas
To present the conceptual basis for creative work based on reading historical cultural sources and to
locate their work in a broader cultural context.
Teaching Methods






Themed seminars based on relevant readings- combining lectures and discussions.
Museum and Gallery visits
Supervisor led creative workshops
Peer to peer presentation of creative work
Moodle resources: Readings, Films, Seminar presentations.
One to one support in person and by email.
Interactive lectures and seminars, open class and small group discussions, supervisor-led workshops,
excursions and gallery visits, one to one support and private study. Reading lists will be available online via
the UCL library site. Students will be directed towards class materials, further support and discussion forums
on Moodle.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, students will:





Have critically engaged with an historical and theoretical narrative which examines antiestablishment trends in London’s visual culture and their relationship to elite art forms and
commerce
Have gained first-hand knowledge of London art collections and archives holding a range of materials
including painting, prints and costumes
Have developed an interdisciplinary approach to the module material which will encompass cultural
studies including histories of theatre, art and literature, creative practice, history, politics, and
museum studies
Have experienced the range of resources available at UCL for research and creative practice
Have mapped the development of their own creative work, from inspiration through academic
research and experimentation with different media, to the final presentation of a complete piece of
self directed work.
Please note that this module description is indicative and may be subject to change.
2
Assessment Methods



10-minute presentation (10%)
a tangible creative piece of work (45%)
1,500-2,000 word essay (45%)
Key Texts
Ackroyd P, London: The Biography, Vintage, 2001.
Arnold D. ‘Panoptic Visions of London: Possessing the Metropolis’ in Art History, 32, 2, 332-350.
Bolton A (ed), Alexander McQueen : savage beauty (exh cat) Victoria and Albert Museum, 2015.
Coverley M. Psychogeography. Harpenden. 2010.
Gatrell Vic, The First Bohemians: Life and Art in London’s Golden Age, Allen Lane, 2013.
O’Connell S. London (exh cat The British Museum). London. 2004.
Lowenthal C, Performing Identities on the Restoration Stage, Carbondale, 2003.
Mayhew H, The London Underworld in the Victorian Period volume 1, 2005 edition.
Myrone M (ed) Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Romantic Imagination, exh cat Tate Britain, 15 Feb
to 2nd May 2006.
Savage J, England’s Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, Faber and Faber, 1991 (2005 edition)
Stanfill S (ed), 80s Fashion from Club to Catwalk. exh cat, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2013.
Wilcox C, Vivienne Westwood (exh cat), Victoria and Albert Museum, 2005.
Please note that this module description is indicative and may be subject to change.
3