This course will explore the interrelationships of high and popular art in the 20th century. Through a variety of approaches, we will discuss formal and sociopolitical ramifications of the reciprocal relationship of popular and fine arts, and examine the relationships of different aspects of popular production - crafts, comics, films, music, performances - and high art in the work of Kandinsky and the Blue Rider group; the Soviet avant-garde and the futurists; the Mexican muralists; the "English" independent group; pop artists; ironic postmodernists and the MTV generation. Readings will include manifestos, such as Eisenstein's "A Montage of Popular Attractions," Clement Greenberg's "Avant-Garde and Kitsch," Italian futurist manifestos, as well as various comics and humor publications.