assignments
assignment 1: (due Sept. 29)
Students will design a daily practice informed by both the tools and concepts
covered in class. This process can be defined broadly to include, for example,
photographing a specific object typology, saving the images from a keyword
search, or removing a color from a landscape shot every day. The assignment
is intended to emphasize digital media as a research device, challenge students
to adapt digital tools to their own artistic interests, and to work with
the process they develop frequently enough to become fascicle with it. For
the first assignment, students should prepare a list of instructions used
to execute their piece as well as a one to two week log of examples. Trials
and errors are important in this process. As you follow your own instructions
do you make modifications to them? Could someone else follow your instructions?
Would they get different results? During successive weeks, students will
show their growing archive of material as well as their evolving instructions
to the rest of the class. In addition, as each student makes discoveries
about the nuances of their toolset, they will be encouraged to share their
insights with their fellow students. In class we will have a weekly “rush”
of the first assignment where students show their work as a quick slide
show in Flash. Through these exercises students will also begin to develop
techniques for sorting and annotating their work to better understand the
potentials of the keyword search and metadata in their artistic practice.
assignment 2: (due Oct. 27)
Students will choose a platform/site for developing a project. Examples
could include a web site, handheld device, public billboard, etc. They will
research this platform/site, understanding how and where it is used, who
uses it, and how they would like to intervene within it. Students may use
the strategies they developed in the first assignments to continue their
investigation or develop alternatives. For their critique, students will
present their findings, as a Flash slide show that can be loaded onto the
class web site. Again, students will be encouraged to share their research
on specific platforms with each other so that they may benefit from the
insights each of them are gaining to their chosen medium.
assignment 3: (proposal due Nov. 10, final project due
Dec. 15)
The final assignment is intended to combine each students development of
a daily practice with their research on platforms/sites for realizing their
projects. First they will propose a project that incorporates their work
on earlier assignments, combining an approach to both process and platform.
Second, they will develop their proposed projects incorporating the tools
and concepts they have learned in class. The final class of the semester
will be used for a final review, including invited guests. Each student
will create a final presentation of their project.
paper (due dec. 8)
Each student will be required to write about the work of an artist, artist
group, or theme that is relevant to their final project. The paper should
describe the work in depth, offering the class a clear understanding of
the student's interests. The paper should be a page to page and a half
and include visual materials or links if relevant. (Post to the class blog).
class discussion of reading
Each student will be asked to lead the discussion of assigned reading for
several classes. In advance of the class session, students are required
to post several questions to the class blog and be prepared to lead the
discussion in class.
rush
On selected days (see syllabus) students will be required to make
a quick (2-3 minute) presentation of their work for the class to see using
Flash, iPhoto, or Quicktime. When assigned, each student is expected to
load their work on a designated hard drive or the class web site in advance
of class.