The fan is generally looked upon by scholars as obsessive and dangerous, ultimately antisocial and dysfunctional. However, fans’ interests might also be viewed as self-reflective and social, with the focus of their attentions often viewed as open texts for them to manipulate, contextualized by engagement with others in their fan communities. Since at least the 1970s, feminist artists have been making work referencing, engaging, or even taking the form of popular music, revealing another side of what many of us already know about our own music fandom—the often deep, highly personal connections that we have to popular culture, and the ways that these connections might be viewed as not just an appropriation, but an analysis of the original. In this seminar, Dr. Buszek will discuss the work of feminist artists that posits these deep connections to popular music may allow us to tap into like-minded, sometimes vast communities that inspire us to engage and act.
Maria Elena Buszek, Ph.D. is a scholar, critic, curator, and Professor of Art History at the University of Colorado Denver, where she teaches courses on Modern and contemporary art. Her recent publications include the books Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture and Extra/ordinary: Craft and contemporary art; contributions to the anthologies Punkademics: The Basement Show in the Ivory Tower and Design History Beyond the Canon; catalogue essays for numerous international exhibitions; and articles and criticism in such journals as Art in America, Art Journal, Flash Art, and TDR: The Journal of Performance Studies. With Hilary Robinson, she edited the 2019 anthology of new writing, A Companion to Feminist Art. She has also been a regular contributor to the popular feminist magazine BUST since 1999. Her current book project, Art of Noise, explores the ties between contemporary feminist art and popular music. See her website for further information: https://mariabuszek.com/about/
