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Information and Syllabus

Integrative Studio 1 - Fall '23

{ synced with New Media Now and Media Arts Practice I }




Professor: Robert Spahr, MFA
Contact: rspahr@siu.edu
Office: Comm 1056B
Office Hours:
R  01:00pm-04:00pm
F  01:00pm-04:00pm
& by appointment

Course: Integrative Studio I
Location: Northlight Studio (Comm 1251)
Time: F 09:00am-11:50am

Course Syllabus Location: http://www.robertspahr.com/studio1/
Course Information:
Spahr - CIN 341 Integrative Studio I - 001 - 65427
Needham - CIN 341 Integrative Studio I - 002 - 65754

Professor: Jay Needham, MFA
Contact: jayn@siu.edu
Office: Comm 1107
Office Hours:
W  01:00pm-05:00pm
R  10:00am-12:00pm
& by appointment

Course: Integrative Studio I
Location: Comm 0009A
Time: T R 09:35am-10:50am

Teaching Assistant: Ashish Kumar
Contact: ashish.lnu@siu.edu
Office: TBD
Office Hours: TBD

Teaching Assistant: Dorcas Brou
Contact: dorcass.brou@siu.edu
Office: COMM 0010E
Office Hours: R 1:30-2:30pm


Required Text:

* All required readings will be available online. *


Suggested Text:


Description:

School of Media Arts First-Year Curriculum
Your first year at the School of Media Arts is a time of exploration and discovery as you develop your creative process, critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills. The two semesters of foundation courses immerse you in the making of media arts, as well as media arts history and theory resulting in the development of your critical practice as you learn to better reflect on your studio work. All students in the School of Media Arts follow a first-year curriculum, which provides a rigorous and exciting course of study, exposing you to a range of art, design and media practices which will be the foundational support for your entire education and your creative life after graduation.

Integrative Studio 1
In this course we will explore the process of creativity as we look to dissolve the divide that often separates art from life. We will consider what we make, how we make it, and we will ask why? How do we generate and capture ideas? How can our research become part of this process? Through individual and collaborative group activities you will engage in a series of media projects that ask you to experiment, visualize, question, look, listen, play, fail, iterate, and reflect. This course is linked to other courses in the Foundations Curriculum: Media Arts Practice I and New Media Now. In particular, we've designed Thursdays in CIN 361: New Media Now to resonate directly with Fridays in CIN 341: Integrative Studio I.

Bridging Theory and Practice
CIN 341 Integrative Studio 1 is part of a unique sequence that is combined with CIN 361 New Media Now. These two courses bridge theory and practice as students complete projects which connects their studio practice and their scholarly research. Our shared goal is to integrate making, writing, and reflecting essential components of the creative process.


Objectives:

  • Develop an awareness of the creative process as it applies to the arts and everyday life.
  • Develop technical skills for creating and analyzing media arts and interactivity through the exploration of individual and collaborative group projects.
  • Increase knowledge relevant to integrate making, writing, and reflecting essential components of the creative process.

Syllabus:

# Syllabus is subject to change with notice. #

Aug 21-25 { all together in Northlight Studio, COMM 1251 }
INTRODUCTION WEEK

Marshmallow Challenge
Monday 8/21, 9:00am – 10:50am

Temporality and Space
Tuesday 8/22, 9:35am – 10:50am

Juxtaposition
Wednesday 8/23, 9:00am – 10:50am

Space and Installation
Thursday 8/24, 9:35am – 10:50am

Sound Walk
Reading and Discussion:
Shunryu Suzuki: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Friday 8/25, 9:00am – 11:50am


DRAWING / IMAGE / COLLAGE

Tue Aug 29 & Thu Aug 31 { new media now - see Dr Freibert's syllabus for full details }
What is a medium? What are media?

Fri Sep 01
STUDIO: DRAWING
Bring drawing supplies to class.

Reading/Video/Journal/Discussion:
Langston Hughes: Dream Deferred
Childish Gambino: This is America
Oliver Anthony: Rich Men North of Richmond
Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video), 04:05
Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North Of Richmond, 03:10

Web Resource:
Elements of Art & Principles of Organization (PDF)

Homework:
Create:
1) Create a self-portrait drawing using charcoal. 2) Create a digital self-portrait photograph using a cellphone camera. Your work should build upon your investigations this week and further explore the elements of art and the principles of organization.

Listen / View:
William Kentridge – ‘Art Must Defend the Uncertain', 06:09

Tue Sep 05 & Thu Sep 07
Mise-en-scène

Fri Sep 08
STUDIO: DRAWING
Bring drawing supplies to class.

Reading/Video/Journal/Discussion:
Sol Lewitt letter to Eva Hesse
Benedict Cumberbatch reads Sol LeWitt's letter to Eva Hesse, 06:09

Due:
1) self-portrait drawing using charcoal. 2) digital self-portrait photograph.
Please bring your drawing to class, and upload your digital photo to this oneDrive.

Homework:
Create a self-portrait drawing / photomontage using charcoal and appropriated photographs. Your work should build upon your investigations this week and further explore the elements of art and the principles of organization.

View:
Kubrick In Color, 04:22
Blue Velvet (1986) Opening Scene, 05:22
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - Trailer, 02:55
Do the Right Thing (1989) opening credits, 04:23

Tue Sep 12 & Thu Sep 14
Sound Aesthetics, Soundscapes

Fri Sep 15
STUDIO: WORKDAY

Due:
Self-portrait drawing / photomontage using charcoal and appropriated photographs.

Group One
COLLAGE and COLOR
Bring drawing supplies to class.
Northlight Studio, COMM 1251

Lecture Notes:
Introduction to Color (PDF)


Group Two
IMAGE, CAMERA, REPEAT
Bring your cellphone camera to class.
New Media Center, COMM 009A
This series of demonstrations, detours and workshops allow for opportunities to examine the ubiquity of camera-based images and to help students discover some of the elemental aspects of image making. Together, we'll learn about inventive and artistic practices for producing in-camera images that will deepen our understanding about the nature of light, how lenses work and what it's like to make meaningful media art utilizing and re-imagining our cell phone cameras.

Homework:
Create a self-portrait drawing / photomontage using appropriated photographs.

Tue Sep 19 & Thu Sep 21
Analog, Video Art

Fri Sep 22
STUDIO: WORKDAY

Due:
Self-portrait drawing / photomontage using charcoal and appropriated photographs.

Group Two
COLLAGE and COLOR
Bring drawing supplies to class.
Northlight Studio, COMM 1251

Lecture Notes:
Introduction to Color (PDF)


Group One
IMAGE, CAMERA, REPEAT
Bring your cellphone camera to class.
New Media Center, COMM 009A
This series of demonstrations, detours and workshops allow for opportunities to examine the ubiquity of camera-based images and to help students discover some of the elemental aspects of image making. Together, we'll learn about inventive and artistic practices for producing in-camera images that will deepen our understanding about the nature of light, how lenses work and what it's like to make meaningful media art utilizing and re-imagining our cell phone cameras.

Homework:
Self-portrait drawing using charcoal and/or oil pastel, photomontage, and collage. You should incorporate either images you made with Jay (printed on paper and pasted into the drawing) or appropriated photos from other sources such as printed magazines, newspapers, or books. Please consider carefully your use of color.

Tue Sep 26 & Thu Sep 28
Light, Shadow, Color + Exam 1

Fri Sep 29
STUDIO: WORKDAY
Bring drawing supplies to class.

Reading/Journal/Discussion:
William Carlos Williams: The Red Wheel Barrow

Due:
Self-portrait drawing using charcoal and/or oil pastel, photomontage, and collage. You should incorporate either images you made with Jay (printed on paper and pasted into the drawing) or appropriated photos from other sources such as printed magazines, newspapers, or books. Please consider carefully your use of color.

Homework:
Create a self-portrait drawing / photomontage that must be larger than 12"x17". The theme of this work should be "Who am I?"

Tue Oct 03 & Thu Oct 05
Proto-Cinema

Fri Oct 06
GROUP CRITIQUE

Due:
Self-portrait drawing / photomontage that is larger than 12"x17" with the theme "Who am I?"

Oct 09-13{ all together in Northlight Studio, COMM 1251 }
WORKSHOP ONE: PROTO-CINEMA

Monday 10/9, 9:00am – 10:50am
Tuesday 10/10, 9:35am – 10:50am
Wednesday 10/11, 9:00am – 10:50am
Thursday 10/12, 9:35am – 10:50am
Friday 10/13, 9:00am – 11:50am


NETWORKED ART / COLLAGE

Tue Oct 17 & Thu Oct 19
Screen, Frame, Panel

Fri Oct 20
STUDIO: THE INTERNET, & BASIC HTML
(Learning to Code like it's 1999)

Bring a laptop computer to class.

Tue Oct 24 & Thu Oct 26
Worldbuilding

Fri Oct 27
HTML & CSS
Bring a laptop computer to class.

Resources:
Lecture Notes: Internet, Web, and HTML
Lecture Notes: Images, and CSS

Due:
One page Net.Art collage.

Assign:
Hyper-Media Narrative

Homework:
Begin working on the first iteration of your Hyper-Media Narrative.

Tue Oct 31 & Thu Nov 02
Temporality and Duration

Fri Nov 03

Due:
First iteration of your Hyper-Media Narrative.

Group One
STUDIO: IMAGES,TYPOGRAPHY, & MULTIMEDIA
Bring a laptop computer to class.
Northlight Studio, COMM 1251

Readings:
Bill Gates: open letter to hobbyists
Richard Stallman: what is free software

Resources:
Lecture Notes: Images, Typography, and Multimedia


Group Two
VOICE, SOUND, COLLAGE
New Media Center, COMM 009A
This unit has been designed as a way to feature your voice as an instrument. We'll be speaking, reading and listening to voices with an ear towards hearing anew. In our demonstrations, detours and workshops we will interpret and perform texts, learn about methods for recording the voice and strategies for creating collage-based sound pieces using digital audio workstations.

Tue Nov 07 & Thu Nov 09
Installation, Tactility, Structure + Exam 2

Fri Nov 10

Group One
STUDIO: IMAGES,TYPOGRAPHY, & MULTIMEDIA
Bring a laptop computer to class.
Northlight Studio, COMM 1251

Resources:
Lecture Notes: Images, Typography, and Multimedia


Group Two
VOICE, SOUND, COLLAGE
New Media Center, COMM 009A
This unit has been designed as a way to feature your voice as an instrument. We'll be speaking, reading and listening to voices with an ear towards hearing anew. In our demonstrations, detours and workshops we will interpret and perform texts, learn about methods for recording the voice and strategies for creating collage-based sound pieces using digital audio workstations.

Tue Nov 14 & Thu Nov 16
Landscape

Fri Nov 17
STUDIO: WORKDAY - HYPER-MEDIA NARRATIVE

Resources:
Example code: Rollover Images using CSS

Saturday 11/18 through Sunday 11/26
THANKSGIVING BREAK

Tue Nov 28 & Thu Nov 30
Artificial Intelligence

Fri Dec 01
STUDIO: WORKDAY - HYPER-MEDIA NARRATIVE

Dec 04-07
WORKSHOP TWO: ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE or
What "proto" for the 21st century do we claim in 2023?

Monday 12/4, 9:00am – 10:50am
Tuesday 12/5, 9:35am – 10:50am
Wednesday 12/6, 9:00am – 10:50am
Thursday 12/7, 9:35am – 10:50am
All meetings begin at Northlight Studio, COMM 1251

Fri Dec 08
GROUP CRITIQUE

Due: Final iteration of your Hyper-Media Narrative
Details TBD. Bring a laptop computer to class.

Dec 11-15 { Cinema Studio, COMM 1116 }
FINALS WEEK - We will be meeting as one large group for portfolio presentations for the finals of all three foundations courses.

Portfolio Requirements
Mon 12/11 8:00am-10:00am
Fri 12/15 8:00am-10:00am
Fri 12/15 12:30pm-2:30pm



Drawing Supply List (required)

Please bring these supplies to every drawing class.

Newsprint drawing pad 18" x 24"
Pad of white drawing paper 18" x 24"
Kneaded eraser
Vine or willow charcoal
Compressed charcoal
Oil pastels (set of at least 8 colors, including white)
Small Journal/Notebook - 5"x8.25" or larger

Drawing Supply List (suggested)

Container for drawing materials (such as a small fishing tackle box)
Drawing board at least 18" x 24"
Large bulldog clips (at least 2) for holding paper to drawing board
India ink
Bamboo ink brush
Masking tape
Pink or gum eraser
Charcoal pencils - 6B, 2B, and HB
Graphite pencils - 6B, 2B, and HB
Hand pencil sharpener or small utility knife (such as an Olfa or X-Acto)

Networked Art Supply List (required)

Please bring a laptop to every networked art class.

A laptop computer running either Windows, Mac OS or Linux.


Evaluation:

The work in this course requires motivation, exploration, risk-taking, and most importantly, an openness to new ideas. The grading policy of this class is meant to encourage you to explore new ideas and take chances. Do not think in terms of "What must I do to receive an A grade", but think in terms of what you would like to learn.

Attendance: Attendance to all classes is expected. You are allowed up to ONE unexcused absences. Unexcused absence beyond this threshold may result in failing this course.

Assignments: All homework assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late projects will not be accepted.

Critique: Students will work closely with each other to develop their projects. This includes learning to speak clearly expressing oneself when respectfully discussing their own and others artwork.

Sketchbook / Journal: Students should also document their creative process and artistic development within the sketchbook / journal. Think of the sketchbook as a resource to contain your present ideas and hints of future directions to explore.

Grading:

A 95-100,   A- 92-95
Outstanding work.
Solution shows excellent depth of understanding and innovation. The solution has been fully developed in form and concept.

B+ 88-91,   B 85-87,   B- 82-84
Good work.
Solution exceeds all requirements and shows above average depth of understanding. Demonstrates more than adequate clarity of idea and execution.

C+ 78-81,   C 75-77,   C- 72-74
Average work.
Problem has been solved adequately, but the solution lacks depth of understanding, development and innovation.

D+ 68-71,   D 65-67,   D- 62-64
Poor work.
Solution is extremely weak and lacks understanding and innovation. Technical skills are weak.

F 61 or less
Unacceptable work.
Solution to the problem is unresolved and incomplete resulting in a failing grade.


Each Project will be graded on artistic, creative and intellectual merit.

  • 20% Originality of concept
  • 20% Delivery (execution of the concept)
  • 20% Documentation / Process
  • 20% Craft
  • 20% Critique & participation

Your final grade will be determined by the following:

  • 60% Assignments / Exercises
  • 30% Participation
  • 10% Sketchbook / Journal


COVID-19

We will follow the mandated COVID-19 guidelines established by the university. Should the conditions change and we need to work remotely, I will work on transitioning our class to a hybrid online format. Further information on the SIU policy on COVID-19: https://siu.edu/coronavirus/



SIU Syllabus Attachment

SIU Syllabus Attachment - Fall '23 - PDF