(amongst others): Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Tacita Dean, Anthony McCall, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Luis Barragan, Isaac Julien, Wong Kar-wai, Sophie Tottie, Krzysztok Wodiczko, Tara Donovan, Sarah Oppenheimer, Robert Wilson, The Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson, Maya Lin, Brian Tolle, and Gordon Matta-Clark.
Elective, Open to senior, graduate
(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 Jocelyne Prince
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 (in terms of both projection optics and projection surfaces), plays with reflection (such as the construction of anamorphic cylinders, zoetropes, and other optical devices), and in the fabrication of project specific lenses. Given the hands-on nature of the glass department, the actual making and/or subversion of traditional optics is possible. The class will encourage collaborative work between students of varying experience levels and will foster the incorporation and 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 7026 PHYSICAL COMPUTING
3 credits Paul Badger
Physical Computing is an introduction to low-level electronic technologies such as sensors, microcontrollers, display technologies and motors. We will review the basics of electricity and microcontrollers (one-chip computers). A wide range of sensors, and output technologies will be presented, and demonstrated so that students have a sense of currently available low-cost technologies that are available for artwork and their course work.
The hardware on which the course will be based is low-cost wireless microcontroller modules and a basic array of sensors and interface tech. The modules can be used to record data from the body wirelessly, or to harvest user information from a gallery installation. The modules can also be used to drive output systems, such as displays, sound, or motors. Students will also be expected to pursue technology that interests them including specialized sensors and output devices.
If there is class interest and time we can construct our own printed circuit boards, to show students how to "close the loop" between the roles of consumers and constructors of hardware based electronic systems.
Readings and discussions will interrogate some of the latest tech industry jargon such as the "Internet of Things" and the place that robots and automation might have in the future, as well as writings by artists working with technology.
Elective; graduate level
Open to junior, senior, fifth-year, space permitting. Fee: $200.00
(SPRING)
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, manipulate, mix and optimize audio and visual material for final production.
Analog and digital technologies will be explored tracing the use of sound and installation art as a sensory experience and connective instrument. We will review specific histories including the works of Maryanne Amacher, the
Baschet Brothers, Alvin Lucier, Bruce Nauman, Hans Jenny, Phil Kline as well as other modern day practitioners.
Elective; graduate level
Open to senior, fifth-year, space permitting. Permission of Instructor Required
Digital + Media Course Descriptions 2015 - 2016
DM 7035 VIRTUAL FORM: EXPERIMENTS IN
3D MODELING
3 credits Kenneth Brown/Sophia Sobers 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
(FALL)
DM 7100 D+M GRADUATE
STUDIO/SEMINAR I 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 Fee: $75.00
(FALL)
DM 7102 D+M GRADUATE
STUDIO/SEMINAR 2 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 the impact digital technologies and new media