Commercial Break. Kunst und Werbung I

Jenni Tischer
Institute of Arts and Society, Art and Knowledge Transfer
2026W, Academic Seminar (SEW), 4.0 ECTS, 2.0 semester hours, course number S30515

Gender/diversity/queer-specific, Ecology/sustainability/climate justice, Scientific bachelor seminar for teacher education

Description

“Televison delivers people to an advertiser” (Richard Serra and Carlota Fay Schoolman, Television Delivers People, 1973)

Advertising and art have long been closely intertwined. Contrary to the widespread assumption that advertising is merely a commercial side note, we will examine a selection of films, videos, advertisements, and artworks to explore how many twentieth-century artists used advertising as a site of experimentation or as a source of found footage. New cinematic and visual techniques – such as abstract animation, montage, and rhythm – were often developed and tested in commercials before finding their way into artistic practice. Advertising not only financed artistic work but also played a significant role in shaping the aesthetic development of the “avant-garde”.

In “Commercial Break”, we approach advertising not as the opposite of art, but as a central component of the history of modernism and avant-garde artistic production, which we examine particularly from a queer- and eco-feminist perspective. Through close readings of theoretical texts, practical artistic exercises, and analyses of contemporary artworks, we will reconsider the relationship between art and advertising from a contemporary perspective.

Examination Modalities

- Attendance (max. 2 absences)
- Active participation in discussions, preparation of all readings and artwork analyses (en/de) (60%)
- Academic seminar paper or own artistic work including written reflection (en/de) (40%)

Key Words

Contemporary Art, Commercials, Avant-garde Film, Critique of Capitalism, Marxism, Commodity Fetishism, Warenfetischismus, Werbung, motion picture, video

Dates

Tue, 06 October 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34 (preliminary discussion)
Tue, 13 October 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 20 October 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 03 November 2026, 10:00–11:30 Meeting Point: Entrance: Unteres Belvedere, Rennweg 6, 1030 Vienna , "Exhibition Visit: Erika Giovanna Klien"
Tue, 10 November 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 17 November 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 24 November 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 01 December 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 15 December 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 22 December 2026, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 12 January 2027, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 19 January 2027, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34
Tue, 26 January 2027, 10:00–11:30 Seminar Room 34

Course Enrolment

From 01 September 2026, 00:01 to 05 October 2026, 00:02
Via online registration

Art Education: study subject kkp (Bachelor): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UBA-003.10

Art Education: study subject kkp (Bachelor): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UBA-003.30

Art Education: study subject kkp (Bachelor): Degree Completion (kkp): IT: Bachelor Seminar (Academic or Subject-Didactic), SEw (kkp) 034/2026UBA-010.30

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UEW-003.10

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UEW-003.30

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Degree Completion (kkp): IT: Bachelor Seminar (Academic or Subject-Didactic), SEw (kkp) 034/2026UEW-010.30

Art Education: study subject dex (Bachelor): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UBA-003.10

Art Education: study subject dex (Bachelor): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UBA-003.30

Art Education: study subject dex (Bachelor): Degree Completion (dex): IT: Bachelor Seminar (Academic or Subject-Didactic), SEw (dex) 037/2026UBA-010.30

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UEW-003.10

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UEW-003.30

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Degree Completion (dex): IT: Bachelor Seminar (Academic or Subject-Didactic), SEw (dex) 037/2026UEW-010.30

Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/2016UBA-003.80

Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: IT: Bachelorseminar Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/2016UBA-003.85

Art Education: subject kkp (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 067/2016UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Seminar aus dem Bereich Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften 067/2018UEW-003.25

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/2018UEW-003.80

Art Education: subject tex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 071/2016UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject dae (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 072/2016UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/2017UBA-003.80

Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: IT: Bachelorseminar Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/2017UBA-003.85

Art Education: subject dex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 074/2017UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Seminar aus dem Bereich Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften 074/2018UEW-003.25

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/2018UEW-003.80

Transformation Studies. Art x Science (Bachelor): Focus! Transformation Areas: Business and Economic Transformation 162/2025UBA-040.30

Transformation Studies. Art x Science (Bachelor): Focus! Transformation Areas: Media Transformation 162/2025UBA-040.50

TransArts - Transdisciplinary Arts (Bachelor): Theoretical foundations: Theoretical foundations 180/2025UBA-003.01

Expanded Museum Studies (Master): Electives: Art & Knowledge Transfer 537/2021UMA-080.26

Stage Design (2. Section): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 542/2022U00-207.05

Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie und Geschichte : Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 566/2019U00-208.14

Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie, Geschichte: Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 567/2019U00-208.14

Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 2: Art and Knowledge Transfer 568/2021UMA-006.19

Design: Specialisation in Design and Narrative Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Fundamentals: Humanities 576/2024U00-203.02

Design: Specialisation in Communication Design (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 577/2025U00-203.02

Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Media Theory,Art&Knowledge Transfer,Th. of Architecture,Th. and Hist. of Design 605/2019U00-202.02

Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Free Electives out of Scientific and Research Practice 605/2019U00-202.80

Design: Specialisation in Applied Photography and Time-based Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 626/2021U00-203.02

Co-registration: possible

Attending individual courses: possible