General Description

“The Virtual Object” is an introduction to the theories and current practices in new media (digital) art. The class' approach to this subject will be hands-on production of new media art combined with discussion of its theory and socio-cultural context. This class will focus primarily on artwork that is natively digital rather than on technologies that remediate more traditional art practices.

Objectives and Goals of the Course

"New Media Artists are on the extreme edge of avant-garde art research. Not only do they explore the aesthetic potential of new technologies, but they lay the groundwork for a critical discourse on these media."
(From Grau, Oliver. "Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion." MIT Press: Cambridge, 2003)

The objective of this course is to introduce students to the practices, theories, and tools of new media art so that they may add to the cultural and contextual understanding of this the primary emergent media of our time. The cost of admission to this area of art research is the formidably steep learning curve of a methodology that is foreign to traditional art making. The goal of the course is to place the student at the leading edge of this discipline.

Class structure

Most class meetings will be split into two parts. The first half of class, the "lab section," will be held in the Main Library Information Arcade Classroom and will involve instruction in the tools and languages of new media art: HTML, Flash, Javascript, PHP, MySQL and AJAX. For the second half of the class period, the "discussion section," we will move across the street to the Intermedia area to review projects and to discuss current practices and theories of new media art. Please refer to the class schedule for a list of subjects that will be covered.

Assignments and Grading

Weekly assignments

There will generally be a weekly assignment that requires you to utilize the concepts and techniques that are covered in the lab section. Over the semester, you will develop an online portfolio of these assignments (a small web site of your work). The first week's assignment is to develop a basic front page for your online portfolio. In subsequent weeks, you will add your assignments to this online portfolio. The assignments are presented as general guidelines listing the required elements. Average students will complete the minimum to fulfill the requirements. Exceptional students will find a creative way to utilize the concept that the assignment covers.

Weekly assignments are graded on the following bases:

• demonstrated understanding of the concept covered in lab,
• inventive use of the concept (you can use the discussion examples as a springboard)

Final project

There will be a final project. For this project, you will develop a proposal for a commissionable "big idea" new media project. This proposal should be developed with the idea that it will be sent to a granting agency. We will use the Rhizome.org commissions and call for submissions as a guideline for developing this proposal.

The final project is graded on the following bases:

• demonstrated aggregation of concepts covered in class,
• creative extension into new conceptual areas,
• appropriate use of media and techniques to support the concept,
• fit and finish -- professionalism of the presentation.

Grades are equally weighted based on weekly assignments (50%), and the final project (50%). Plus and minus grades are used.

Intermedia Open House

Participation in the semester open house is required. You can submit one or more of your class projects. We will set up a "New Media Lounge" somewhere in the department to show this work. If you want to expand this presence in open house, I am open to discussing this. Graduate open house will be Friday 3/7. Undergraduate open house is Friday 4/18. Since we are a mixed graduate/undergraduate course, I suggest we participate in the graduate open house, but we can discuss this as a class and decide.

Attendance and Participation

Class attendance and participation are very important aspects of this class. Much of the material is cumulative, it builds upon the foundation of previous material covered. Additionally, the once-per-week meeting time means that missed classes represent the loss of a significant amount of material. Therefore, unexcused absences will incur the following grade penalties.

• 1 class - no penalty
• 2 classes - 1 letter grade
• 3 classes - 2 letter grades
• 4 classes - maximum grade of “D”
• 5 classes - automatic fail

Plagiarism

Copying and reusing code

Copying and reusing portions of code is an accepted practice in digital art. In order to do this successfully, you need to understand what the code does, and how it needs to be modified in order to be useful for you. Therefore, there is no prohibition against reusing code snippets from other sources in this class. Polite coding etiquette calls for you to attribute the code that you reuse to its source using comments.

Presenting others work as your own

Presenting the work of others as your own is plagiarism and will be handled according to standard departmental policies (see the SAAH Syllabus Addendum). If you have any questions about whether your work is crossing the fuzzy line between inspiration and theft, it is best to discuss it with me.

Collaboration

Collaboration is a primary model of new media art production, hence, it is accepted and encouraged in all work done for this class. If you choose to collaborate, try to work in a way that emphasizes the strengths and abilities of each member of the collaboration. The role that each member has played in the collaboration should be presented as part of the project or in comments within the code itself.

Censorship

There are very few limits placed on the content of your artwork. Exceptions to the policy of tolerance include, but may not be limited to: illegal activities, malicious code (worms, viruses, etc.) hate speech, and the abuse of animals. If you have any questions, please discuss it with me.

Syllabus Addendum

The School of Art and Art History (SAAH) has developed a syllabus addendum that includes important information regarding expectations, responsibilities, grievance resolution, sexual harassment, student resources, and many other things.