Biography
Cole is a PhD candidate focused on figuring out just why it is that art seems so essential to what makes humans human—and why art maybe making humans human matters. His objects of study typically present themselves as historiographic limit cases to the discipline of art history—things that straddle, whether intentionally or not, the amorphous boundary between art and non-art.
His dissertation—tentatively titled “Art’s Thoroughly Modern(ist) Origins; or, Why Have There Been No Great Australopithecus Artists?”—explores a handful of particularly potent moments from the last three centuries of scholarly investigation into the origins of art. At present, the collection of candidate objects for the world’s oldest artworks is studied almost exclusively by individuals outside art history departments. Isn’t that kinda strange? Cole thinks so! How did this come to pass? Stay tuned!
Cole received his BA from UChicago and his MA from Williams College.