COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course focuses on exploring algorithms and computation as mediums for aesthetic expressions. Through both individual and group projects, the course will allow students to experiment with and develop adaptive/interactive/reactive systems that explore how computation methodologies, sensors and actuation technologies can be applied for creative production.
Lectures will provide conceptual and some technical background to computational methodologies, as well as expose students to relevant historic and contemporary creative practices. Students will also be exposed to various technologies via workshops and demos, Processing (programming), Arduino (micro-controller), and various other sensor and actuation technologies.
The course will culminate in a final public demonstration of student’s projects.
COURSE ORGANIZATION:
This is a 3-credit (3 hours of instructor led time per week) studio course. The course will engage students through lectures, isolated exercises, and integrated projects. Exercises will be completed individually. The 3 integrated projects will be completed as teams.
Two of the projects will be carried out from a prescribed problem and task structure, while the last project, which might take up as much as half the semester, will be defined and programmed by the students themselves.
Exercises are used to prepare students and open up to primarily form-related discovery and skill building. The exercises are programmed to support the integrated projects and should primarily be focused on methodological and aesthetic explorations and training.
Exercises
Individually completed.
1 – IMAGE
2 – TEXT
3 – DATA
4 – PHYSICAL
5 – VIDEO
6 – SOUND
Projects:
Completed in groups.
Project 1 – ETHER
Project 2 – BODY
Project 3 - FINAL
Learning Objectives:
Upon satisfactory completion, student will be able to:
- Engage new media and computational methods for aesthetic production and deployment.
- Employ historical and contemporary contexts around computational methodologies and contemporary art to inform their own practice.
- Employ methods and concepts learned during this class to reflect on and critique computational art projects.
You are expected to:
- respond to project assignments in a personal, informed and meaningful way
- record, analyze and organize observations, experiences and insights relevant to your intentions, demonstrate an ability to reflect on your work and progress
- experiment with media, materials, techniques and processes
- develop ideas informed by contextual and other sources that demonstrate analytical and critical understanding
- investigate relevant contexts demonstrating independent thinking, analysis and evaluation
- explore the practice of other practitioners to inform your own work
- reflect on, review and refine your own work
- be creative, be constructively critical and communicate
- do whatever you do with rigor, integrity and commitment
- take creative risks
COURSE POLICIES:
Attendance:
Regular attendance and relevant participation in class activities are required. Attendance is taken at 1:30 PM. Missing class, arriving late to a class session OR an early departure, without permission, from class constitutes an absence. Absences and/or excessive lateness will result in a lower score on the Class Participation component of the grade.
Late assignments will not be accepted. Assignments submitted on time may be redone and resubmitted at any time during the semester. If students arrive late on a critique day, they cannot expect to have their work discussed.
Participation:
A critique is a critical analysis of works that students have developed. Critique discussions will include constructive comments on the relationships of ideas and intentions, historical and contemporary references, as well as the choice of materials and processes. Students are expected to objectively and articulately discuss their own work as well as the work of others.
Participation in class discussions and critiques is essential. It is not enough to merely be present in the class – students must be active participants in all conversations. If students choose not to contribute during discussions or are not prepared to work during in-class workdays, they will earn a failing grade for the day. No email or cell phone use during class. No eating during class presentations, discussions or lectures. All work generated for the class must be the student’s original work, made for a particular project.
Grading:
All projects will be evaluated on the basis of conceptual rigor, quality of process and product workmanship. Final evaluations are based on careful consideration of all work completed during the course of the semester. This includes developmental work such as research, written assignments, preliminary as well as finished systems/products.
In general, the quality of a grade is determined by; effort, a positive progression throughout the course, and the student’s ability to visually and verbally communicate ideas and concepts in a coherent and creative fashion.
Breakdown of grading:
4 to 6 Exercises
2 Small Projects (3 weeks each)
1 Large Project (5 weeks)
5% for Class Participation
20% for Exercises
15% for Project 1
15% for Project 2
45% for Final Project
Facility Stewardship and Safety:
Students are expected to clean up after themselves and properly store work in progress. Respecting the need for a clean and orderly studio is important. The studio coordinator is responsible for setting guidelines for a safe and secure facility. A collaborative relationship among students, faculty, and the student coordinator is essential to ensure a safe and secure facility.
Documenting and Exhibiting Work:
Documentation is an essential component of creative practice. Students must appropriately document the work completed in this course. Bringing creative work into public dialog can be an important component of the creative process.