DM 4520 INSTALLATION/SIGHT & SOUND
3 credits John Adimando
Installation Sight & Sound is a studio course where students may create installations, performances, or site-specific works that incorporate screenprinting techniques as a primary
medium. Students are encouraged to create experiences that transform the gallery setting or exist outside it. The course is open to students of every disciple and allows for cross-media experimentation. Print will be used and viewed as a drawing and sculptural tool that can be combined with your other
Digital + Media 2014-2015
technical/digital knowledge and experience. Students will be challenged to explore and invent new ways of utilizing Printmaking in their work, and will be encouraged to transform and reutilize space through interdisciplinary experimentation, and to begin to think about surfaces other than walls for the display of work. In the first half of the semester, students will conduct research, experiment with a variety of screenprinting techniques, offer short presentations of past work, and collaborate on midterm projects. In the second half of the semester, students will form final project proposals, and then work collaboratively or individually on a self-directed final.
Major elective
Also offered as PRINT-4520.
Registration by Printmaking department; course is not available via web registration.
Permission of Instructor Required Fee: $300.00
(SPRING)
DM 7001 INTERACTIVE TEXT-INTERACTIVE SOUND AND IMAGE EMPHASIS
3 credits Rafael Attias
This course introduces the student to narrative and non- narrative experimentation with language in digital space, presented as fine art practice. Creation of elaborate imagery and animations with digital tools such as Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Flash and Final Cut as well as the basics of audio production, recording, arranging and sequencing with programs like Pro Tools and Ableton Live and other basic analog recording techniques. The course balances conceptual concerns related to content and structuring methodologies with artistic expression. Specific aesthetic histories are explored tracing the use of text in artistic practice including Concrete Poetry, the texts of Kurt Schwitters, Russian Constructivist posters, Fluxus poetic works, The Dada and Surrealist Word/Image, Magritte, Jenny Holtzer, Ed Ruscha, Barbara Kruger as well as other contemporary practitioners.
Elective, Open to senior, graduate
Also offered as GRAPH 7001. Register in the course for which credit is desired.
Permission of Instructor Required
(FALL)
DM 7009 EXPERIMENTS IN OPTICS
3 credits Stefanie Pender
This class will serve as an interface between the new technologies of digital media, and the old technologies of optics. New digital technologies will be given alternative possibilities with the addition of specific projection apparatus
dialogue between students of the two differing areas of expertise.
Elective, Open to senior, fifth-year, graduate
Also offered as GLASS 7009. Register in the course for which credit is desired
Permission of Instructor Required Fee: $250.00
(SPRING)
DM 7021 INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE PROGRAMMING
3 credits Evelyn Eastmond/Lauren McCarthy
This course will teach basic programming concepts with a focus on processing and web-based applications. Beyond basic cross-language technical skills, the course will also ground software practices in a critical context to examine how and why contemporary artists choose to use software, how software written by artists gets used and disseminated via the web, and how software practices intersect with traditions of performance art and public art. Students will create case studies of software-based art projects to gain greater understanding of the social, political and technological forces at work in software development. The course will explore variables, functions, data structures, loops, conditionals, web architectures -- and various approaches to the software development process -- iterative design, debugging, unit testing, usability. Students will collaboratively experiment with different programming languages such as ActionScript, PHP and Processing along with XML and mySQL data sources to develop web-based software projects.
No prior programming experience is necessary.
Elective; graduate level
Open to senior, fifth-year, space permitting. Permission of Instructor Required
(FALL)
DM 7028 SOUNDMARKS: SOUND DESIGN FOR VISUAL MEDIA
3 credits Rafael Attias
This class will cover the fundamentals of digital audio composition, production, recording, arranging and sequencing, as well as the implementation of video, and reactive/ interactive visualization. The class will consist of one semester-long project as well as a series of short-term assignments. Students will explore how to manipulate physical space with the creation of installation environments that will appeal to the viewer's entire sensory experience.
Using digital studio tools like ProTools, Ableton Live and other audio programs as well as motion graphic software such as Final Cut and Flash, students will learn how to capture,
Digital + Media 2014-2015
Elective; graduate level
Open to senior, fifth-year, space permitting. Permission of Instructor Required
(FALL)
DM 7035 VIRTUAL FORM: EXPERIMENTS IN 3D MODELING
3 credits Sophia Sobers/Ilona Gaynor
This class explores the impact of computer based 3d modeling, with special attention to the history of illusionistic representation on the one hand, and generative and algorithmic approaches to form on the other.
How have special effects, video games, architectural renderings, or simulations such as Google Earth changed the way we engage space, or are they simply a continuation of perspectival illusions created in the Renaissance? How can artists and designers use or hack these digital mediums in their own work? How do algorithmic approaches to form differ from mimetic or illusionistic approaches to form?
The course will look at various 3d modeling techniques as well as different methods of outputting or presenting 3D models, including rendering images, creating animations, or using fabrication techniques such as lasercutters and rp machines to produce physical models. The main goal of the course is to help students develop a working methodology for integrating 3d modeling into their own practice. The course will not focus on any single software, but will examine a wide range of media and computer software that can be used or hacked by students, from Google Earth, to video game engines, and from xtranormal.com to Maya and 3ds Max, from simple tools to scripting and programming 3d form. The course is open to both beginners and students with experience in 3D modeling
Elective; graduate level
Open to senior, fifth-year, space permitting. Permission of Instructor Required
(SPRING)
DM 7100 D+M GRADUATE STUDIO/SEMINAR I
6 credits Shona Kitchen/tba
This course supports the exploration of theoretical, social, material, technical and contextual research and concerns in new media arts practice during the first year of the first year of the D + M MFA program. It is a combined studio and seminar forum for Digital + Media first-year students. Participants become familiar with a vocabulary of multiple practices within digital media and, through a rigorous, hands-on approach, develop a thorough understanding of computational media as it applies to her/his individual creative practice. Students are introduced to a core set of methodologies and technologies from basic electronics and programming to interaction design to installation, and are encouraged to break comfort zones and practice through experimentation. Students conceptualize and discuss their studio-based work and their ongoing practice. Readings in critical cultural theory, media art theory, philosophy, semiotics and other areas further ground the conceptual approach of students in the Digital + Media department. The course is a mix of individual meetings,
a required lecture and workshop series and group critiques. Some guest lecturers and visiting critics may also become involved with this class in terms of critical/research aspects. With a focus on studio experimentation and production, students will conceptualize and discuss their works-in- progress while beginning to work with new materials and systems in combination with a broad range media. Each student will practice articulating their ongoing studio art process and work, and will contribute to the dialogue concerning the research and work of their classmates.
Graduate major requirement; Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
Open to first-year graduate Fee: $75.00
(FALL)
DM 7102 D+M GRADUATE STUDIO/SEMINAR II
6 credits Kelly Dobson/Shona Kitchen
This course supports the exploration of theoretical, social, material, technical and contextual research and concerns in new media arts practice during the first year of the first year of the D + M MFA program. It is a combined studio and seminar forum for Digital + Media first-year students. Participants become familiar with a vocabulary of multiple practices within digital media and, through a rigorous, hands-on approach, develop a thorough understanding of computational media as it applies to her/his individual creative practice. Students are introduced to a core set of methodologies and technologies from basic electronics and programming to interaction design to installation, and are encouraged to break comfort zones and practice through experimentation. Students conceptualize and discuss their studio-based work and their ongoing practice. Readings in critical cultural theory, media art theory, philosophy, semiotics and other areas further ground the conceptual approach of students in the Digital + Media department. The course is a mix of individual meetings, a required lecture and workshop series and group critiques. Some guest lecturers and visiting critics may also become involved with this class in terms of critical/research aspects. With a focus on studio experimentation and production, students will conceptualize and discuss their works-in- progress while beginning to work with new materials and systems in combination with a broad range media. Each student will practice articulating their ongoing studio art process and work, and will contribute to the dialogue concerning the research and work of their classmates.
Graduate major requirement; Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
Open to first-year graduate
(SPRING)
DM 7103 DIGITAL MEDIA PERSPECTIVES: HISTORY OF MEDIA ART
3 credits George Fifield
In this historical survey, we analyze the aesthetic conventions, narratives, and formats of works in new media. We examine
Digital + Media 2014-2015
the impact digital technologies and new media have had on existing media, as well as the ways in which new media function as a unique system of communication. While investigating the aesthetic conventions, economic conditions and infrastructures that affect the production of new media, we address the social and political contexts in which new media are disseminated, interpreted and privileged. We make connections across decades by focusing on the recurring themes of language, futurism, simulation, hyper-reality, transnationality and information.
Graduate major requirement; Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
Open to first-year graduate
(FALL)
DM 7108 D+M GRAD STUDIO/SEM 3
6 credits Shona Kitchen/tba
This course supports the exploration of theoretical, social, material, technical and contextual research and concerns in new media arts practice during the third semester of the D + M MFA program. It is a combined studio and seminar forum for Digital + Media second-year students. Students conceptualize and discuss their studio-based work and their ongoing practice as they begin the thesis process. Working artist bibliographies are developed - both projects and texts. Readings in critical cultural theory, media art theory, philosophy, semiotics and other areas further support the contextualization and grounding of the innovative practical and conceptual approaches of students in the Digital + Media department. The course is a mix of individual meetings, an optional lecture and workshop series and group critiques. Guest lecturers and visiting critics may also become involved with this class in terms of critical/research aspects. Each student will practice articulating their art process and work towards thesis, and will contribute to the dialogue concerning the research and work of their classmates.
Graduate Major requirement: Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
(credit change from 3 to 6 pending approval at press time)
(FALL)
DM 7152 RESEARCH PROJECT
3 credits Shona Kitchen/Kelly Dobson/tba
This class takes the form of a series of group meetings to explore work related to student selected research projects. Each student may work on his/her own project, or work with the instructor and students to facilitate a particular research venture as part of a team. Students develop proposals for
Please contact the instructor with any questions and for more details.
Open to graduate students and upper level undergraduates from both Architecture and Design and Fine Arts Divisions. Permission of Instructor Required
(FALL/SPRING)
DM 7197 DIGITAL MEDIA THESIS PREP
3 credits Naomi Fry
In "On Permission to Write", essayist Cynthia Ozick distinguishes between the "good-citizen writer" and the "shaman-writer" The first, she says, writes dutifully; the second, "obsessively", "torrentially", and most crucially, with self-given permission. For artists and designers who have, by and large, favored visual over written expression, obsession and torrent probably come more naturally in the studio than on the page. This course seeks to bring that same uninhibited, exploratory, and illuminating sensibility to the thesis, to suggest that writing is not a duty, but rather can be integral to studio practice. We will look at writing about one's work -- its art-historical, theoretical, and personal sources; its form and process; its motivation; its interpretation -- as a kind of translation from form to language (one that can be as individual and authentic as our chosen materials). The course will include writing exercises designed to help us think more deeply and coherently about our work and ideas, as well as discussion of assigned readings. The readings are exclusively written by artists and designers: criticism, manifestos, journal writings, and artist interviews - a selection intended to suggest that in permitting themselves to write, artists and designers establish artistic agency, lineage, and history itself through that writing.
Graduate Major requirement; Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
Open to second-year graduates
(FALL)
DM 7198 DIG MEDIA GRAD WRITTEN THESIS
3 credits Naomi Fry
This seminar includes intensive group writing sessions. Individual meetings also will be conducted to support each student in assembling a comprehensive written thesis. Centrally our task together is to understand and evaluate actual studio work and to communicate this clearly and effectively within a comprehensive document. To accomplish this we will address: thesis rationale, development of concepts, source material, context relevant philosophical, aesthetic and theoretical issues as well as working process. Structure, layout, documentation, and the mechanics of formatting will
Digital + Media 2014-2015
DM 7199 THESIS PROJECT
6 credits Kelly Dobson/Shona Kitchen
This course supports the practical, conceptual, theoretical and historical development of the M.F.A. thesis (exhibition and written document). Students are required to work independently and in individual consultation with their thesis committee to develop and finalize the thesis exhibition and written document for presentation at the end of the year. The exhibition and written thesis should articulate one's personal studio art / design practice in an historically and theoretically informed context. Formal group critiques are required at the midterm and end of the semester. A major final critique with visiting critics is held in the context of the final MFA Exhibition. The accompanying written thesis is expected to be of publishable quality and is also placed within the public sphere through electronic publication and filing with the RISD Library.
Final submissions for this course include the presentation of a final exhibition, submission of the final written thesis, and timely completion of work for preliminary deadlines throughout the semester (draft theses, exhibition plans and press materials). Please see Digital + Media Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please refer to the Digital + Media Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the RISD D+M MFA.
Graduate major requirement; Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
Open to second-year graduate
This class is 6 credits in the Spring, enrolled with the Thesis Chair.
Permission of Instructor Required
(SPRING)
DM 7538 DIGITAL + MEDIA THEORY
3 credits Thomas Zummer
As critical phenomenology, the aim of this course is to influence two acts, how to see and how to critique digital media, as extension of unresolved conceptual and aesthetic problems and as catapult for entirely original practice and possibility. The approach is the 'theoretical crit' that students write each week in response to readings, methods, problems, and works closely explored. As in contemporary art, new media's objects and theories are becoming increasingly
interdependent. Thus, rather than using theory to evaluate artwork, we examine both work and theory, coming to contemporary, formal, critical, and instrumental voice through which to respond to assumptions and aspirations of each.
Graduate major requirement; Digital + Media majors only Registration by Digital + Media department, course not available via web registration
Open to first-year graduate students
(SPRING)
Independent Study
DM 8900 INDEPENDENT STUDY - MAJOR
3 credits tba
The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses.
Permission of instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.
Permission of Instructor Required
(FALL/WINTER/SPRING) DM 8960 PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP 3 credits tba PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP (SUMMER/FALL/WINTER/SPRING) DM 8965 COLLABORATIVE STUDY 3 credits tba
A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of indepedndent study.
Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered. (FALL/WINTER/SPRING)