Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction

Information and Syllabus

Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction

Required Text
Description
Syllabus
Project #1
Project #2
Project #3
Evaluation
Web Resources

Instructor: Robert Spahr
Contact: rob@robertspahr.com AIM: rospahr
Office Hours: TBA

Course Syllabus Location: http://www.robertspahr.com/aadr/

Required Text:

Wardrip-Fruin, Noah & Montfort, Nick. The New Media Reader. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Benjamin, Walter (Author) Illuminations: Essays and Reflections. Schocken

Description:

This course provides an introduction to critical studies regarding art making in the age of digital reproduction. Students will learn to analyze the political, philosophical, and cultural forces affecting the techniques and technologies of digital media. Using Walter Benjamin's essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", as well as historically significant texts from the last sixty years, students will examine the issues that have helped define digital art. We will question assumptions related to authorship, reproduction, context and temporality. Lectures and demonstrations will complement the readings by introducing students to a wide range of issues useful for the study and presentation of digital art. Throughout the term students will work on projects to explore, analyze and participate in the possiblities of being art makers in the age of digital reproduction. By the end of the class students will be both critical observers of and participants in digital art making.

Syllabus:

Week 01
Intro to Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction, Intro to Photoshop basics.
Reading Assigned: "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, by Walter Benjamin"

Week 02
Open Studio Session. Work on First Project.
Discussion "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, by Walter Benjamin"

Week 03
Open Studio Session. Work on First Project. and individual conferences
Reading Assigned: NMR: pg 3-11 "Inventing the Medium", pg 13-25 "New Media from Borges to HTML"

Week 04
Open Studio Session. Work on First Project.
Discussion of "Inventing the Medium" & "New Media from Borges to HTML"

Week 05
Critique of First Project.

Week 06
Open Studio Session. Work on Second Project, and individual conferences.

Week 07
Open Studio Session. Work on Second Project.
Reading Assigned: NMR: pg 133-145 "A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate", pg 35-47 "As We May Think"

Week 08
Open Studio Session. Work on Second Project.
Discussion of "A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate", & "As We May Think"

Week 09
Open Studio Session. Work on Second Project and individual conferences.
Reading Assigned: NMR: pg 625-641 "The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems", pg 89-91 " The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin"

Week 10
Critique of Second Project.

Week 11
Open Studio Session. Work on Third Project, and individual conferences.
Discussion of "The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems", & " The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin"

Week 12
Open Studio Session. Work on Third Project.
Reading Assigned: NMR: pg 339-352 "From Theatre of the Oppressed", pg 433-439 "Put-That-There".

Week 13
Open Studio Session. Work on Third Project.
Discussion of "From Theatre of the Oppressed", & "Put-That-There"

Week 14
Open Studio Session. Work on Third Project.

Week 15
Critique of Third Project.

Project 1: Metamorphosis: Generative & Regenerative

metamorphosis

A transformation, as by magic or sorcery.
A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.
Biology. A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog.
Pathology. A usually degenerative change in the structure of a particular body tissue.

Think about the word "metamorphosis", and consider many of it's possible interpretations. A transformation from one state to another. Is this a gradual change? A violent change? Is it a revolution, or an evolution? A conversion, a distortion, a reshaping, a rebirth, or a death? Think about these possible meanings as you gather some images to be scanned, you might also appropriate already exisiting images, or use digital photos you have taken yourself. You may want to print the image and paint on it. Or Xerox the images many times until it has changed, and then scan and rework the image in an image editing program.

I want you to select several images as your source, and create a digital image using the word "metamorphosis." as your starting point. Working quickly, experiment and take chances. You will then generate/regenerate one new image each week using the previous weeks image as your source. At the critique of the first project, you should have at least 3 regenerative images. The images will be critiqued in a digital format, either on a computer monitor, or projected. All work must also be burned to a CD. Also include in a folder labeled "Sources" all documentation, sketches, source images etc. This CD will be due at the critique.

Project 2: Indeterminism: Control & Chance

Images of Control and Chance
I want you to experiment and develop different methodologies of using chance to generate images. Think about the places in the process that you allow chance to dictate formal aspects of the image. Consider carefully at what point in the process you impose control. Possible areas for exploration would be the random generation of source materials, random generation of materials, size, context of the final work. Some questions to consider: What does the use of chance do to the concept of author? How does the context of the final art object/process change when chance is openly embraced? Is there really such a thing as chance in art making? Or is it just a matter of degrees of control? If you are the final arbitrator of the parameters of your random methodology, can you really escape responsibility for the artistic qualities of the image? The images will be critiqued in a digital format, either on a computer monitor, or projected. All work must also be burned to a CD. Also include in a folder labeled "Sources" all documentation, sketches, source images etc. This CD will be due at the critique.

Project 3: Procedural Art Processes: Recipes of Design

Recipes of Design
Create a rule-based system for the generation of an art image. Consider the implications of enforcing control and/or using chance within the procedural processes. Generate more than one image from the same procedural process. How does the source images or text affect the final image created? Is there ways to control the information going in, that then directly affects the images coming out? Remember the computer programmers saying "garbage in equals garbage out" in relation to the quality of information entering the systems and it's direct relationship of the quality coming out. Do you think this saying has validity within an art making process?. For the final critique, I want one procedural process, written on paper, clearly expressed in a way that another person could follow your "recipe" and generate an image based on your rules. You will be graded on the creativity and clarity of your rules, as well as the artistic qualities of the images it creates. The images will be critiqued in a digital format, either on a computer monitor, or projected. All work must also be burned to a CD. Also include in a folder labeled "Sources" all documentation, sketches, source images etc. This CD will be due at the critique.

Evaluation:

Your final grade will be determined by the digital images you create, as well as their support materials, your attendance and participation in reading discussions and critiques.

Artwork will be graded on artistic, creative and intellectual merit.

Grades will be based on the following: