Course Description
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Web Design
is an introduction to technical, aesthetic, and critical skills
integral to the creation and interpretation of internet art. Through
the writings of artists, scientists, and theorists, and the work
of contemporary net artists, we will examine issues surrounding
internet culture: its history, evolution, and impact on art, society,
and the human condition. Central to this study will be the identification
of trends, issues, and key concepts critical to our understanding
of the emerging contemporary net culture. The course will also focus
on design strategies, tools and applications used in site production.
We will apply this technique to the creation of new forms that are
web-specific, as well as those that bridge virtual and physical
space. Students are expected to produce net projects, a home page/on-line
portfolio, independently research and critique net artworks, engage
in class discussion (including on-line), and maintain a web notebook
in which they will record and synthesize their reflections on net
issues. A final project will consist of a site that explores the
medium's potential as a vehicle for artistic and social transformation.
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| Week
1 : Introduction
(January 17) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Review of course
objectives, readings, assignments, and projects. Presentation of
the emerging genre of net art: works that exploit the political,
aesthetic, subversive, and poetic possibilities of the medium.
Search
Voyeur - The collective consciousness of the Net.
Light on the Net
- Collective, distributed sculpture.
The Shredder - Deconstruction
on the Net.
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| Assignment |
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Reading:
"Net
Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction," David Ross, Director,
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(on-line) |
| Week
3 : Information
Architecture (January 31) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Techniques
and aesthetic tools for the organization of Web-based content and
interface issues beyond the graphical. Hypermediated architectures
present a unique set of design problems and understanding of how to
communicate specific to the medium of the Web. As an example, we will
use my site, "Multimedia:
From Wagner to Virtual Reality," commissioned by Intel's
Artmuseum.net, as a case study. |
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| Lab |
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Layout in Dreamweaver:
tables, graphics, and hypertextual strategies.
Work on hypermediated
project.
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| Assignment |
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Begin
on-line portfolio project: sketch site map/architecture on paper,
work on page layouts, hierarchies, and interactivity. Complete hypermediated
project. |
| Week
4 : Telematic
Connections (February 7) |
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| Presentation
On-line |
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I
will be attending the opening of Telematic
Connections, which my installation work Mori,
and hypertext project Telematic
Manifesto are a part of. I will not be giving a lecture that day.
Chris and Andy will hold lab sessions. Use this time to work on "telematic
connections" assignment (see below). |
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| Lab |
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Web-specific
graphics and image production. Understanding the application of
compression standards such as jpeg and gif (Photoshop), optimizing
files for gif (ImageReady), incorporating graphics for Web authoring
and imagemapping. (Dreamweaver).
Complete hypermediated
project.
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| Assignment |
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Writing: I want
everyone to review the site for Telematic
Connections, write a short synopsis of what is intended by the
theme "telematic connections, as well as critiquing one piece
in depth, and email it to me.
Reading: "Introduction:
The Unique Phenomenon of a Distance", The Robot in the
Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet,
edited by Ken Goldberg
Begin work on
on-line portfolio in Dreamweaver.
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| Week
5 : Telepresence
(February 14) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Definition:
Telepresence is the extension of our physical and mental being into
a remote space by means of telecommunications technologies. Presentation
of the origins of telepresence in forms of virtual reality and the
further distribution of this concept via the web, through the work
of Paul Sermon
(Telematic Vision,
1993), Eduardo Kac (Teleporting
an Unknown State, 1994), Lynn Hershman (Tillie
the Telerobotic Doll, 1997), Ken
Goldberg (Telegarden,
1995), and Randall Packer and Ken Goldberg (Mori,
1999) all of whom are part of the Telematic Connections show. Take
a look at CornCam
and watch the corn grow or search for Webcams
all over the world. |
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| Lab |
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Typography and
cascading style sheets. (Dreamweaver)
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| Assignment |
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Complete
on-line portfolio. |
| Week
6 : Critique
(February 21) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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On-line
Portfolio critique. |
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| Lab |
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Animated/dynamic
graphics: gif animation in Photoshop and Imageready; rollovers in
Dreamweaver.
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| Assignment |
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Reading: "The
Net and the Art of Being Fictive," by Sheldon Renan
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| Week
7 : On-line
Narrativity (February 28) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Hypermedia
and networked technologies have created new opportunities for interactive
narrative, story-telling and non-sequential on-line experience involving
viewer participation. We will review forms of networked writing by
pioneering hyperfiction, including Olia Lialina's "My
Boyfriend Came Back From the War," Mark Amerika's "Grammatron,"
and Natalie Bookchin's The
Intruder. |
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| Lab |
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Dynamic media:
Slicing techniques in Imageready. Rollovers and animation. Image
mapping and hyperlinks.
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| Assignment |
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Begin
narrative project: Beyond the Landscape |
| Week
8 : On-line
Narrativity Continued (March 7) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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On
the Turbulence site, Distance
by Tina LaPorta by Tina Laporte, linear storytelling reflecting the
alienation and distance of telematics and on-line culture. Annette
Weintraub' s Crossroads,
Film genre and the icons of the Times Square/42nd Street landscape
converge in an exploration of the capacity of film to shape our sense
of place. Crossroads creates a layered narrative space in which familiar
elements of film and advertising culture are remixed in a series of
pseudo films that blend personal myth and public space. In preparation
of Mark Amerika's visit next week, we will look at another of his
works, Phone:E:me,
featured on-line at the Walker Art Center's Gallery 9, that he describes
as, "the random or arbitrary nature of the various elements at
the users' control is intentional so that they too can "conduct"
a "remix" to their own liking." Refresh,
by Diller + Scofidio explores the quotidian nature of the webcam,
transformed into fictional narrative. |
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| Lab |
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Work on narrative
projects.
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| Assignment |
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Continue
narrative projects. |
| Week
9 : On-line
Narrativity Continued (March 14) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Attend Mark
Amerika lecture, Monday, March 12 at 4:00 PM at the Mount Royal
Station Auditorium. Write a summary of the presentation for your
Web notebook.
In class we
will have a short discussion of the Amerika lecture followed by
individual sessions focusing on your narrative projects and sites.
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| Lab |
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Work on narrative
projects
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| Assignment |
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Complete narrative
projects.
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| Week
10 : Critique
(March 21) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Critique
of Narrative Project. I am basing your evaluation not only on your
work, but your ability to discuss your work with your colleagues.
It is my hope that this will encourage in-depth discussion on various
issues inherent in web design, as well as give you an opportunity
to formulate your ideas on your work, thought process, etc. |
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| Lab |
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Finish narrative
project.
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| Assignment |
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| Week
11 : Deconstructing
the User Interface (April 4) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Go over the
final project: Telematic Identities.
What is user
interface? We will review the work of Alan
Kay, creator of the graphical user interface, from my site on
the history of multimedia.
Net artists
are employing various strategies that undermine conventional approaches
to user interface design and interactivity. An introduction to European
artists, including Jodi and Alexei
Shulgin who are all associated with the on-line gallery Art.teleportacia,
have constructed and deconstructed new forms using the raw material
of html. Mark Napier is using customized browsers to undermine the
conventions of interface and interactivity in such works as The
Shredder.
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| Lab |
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Flash (programming
techniques, animation, etc.)
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| Assignment |
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Begin final
project
Summary of Alan
Kay's work with the graphical user interface for the Web notebook.
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| Week
12: Politics
and Subversion (April 11) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Presentation
of final project summaries: Telematic Identity.
The Web, as
a medium of mass commication, has been a vehicle for grass-roots
art/political action on a global scale. Chief among these artist/activists
are RTMARK, a loosely-knit
group from San Francisco who pitch their services as "Corporate
Counseling for the 21st Century," have created and exhibited
sites that have, for example, brought such companies as Etoy to
their knees for wielding power over vulnerable artists.
Other sites
to explore:
Hell.com
- "HELL.COM has been private since 1995 and has absolutely
nothing to do with theology, religion, cults, adult content, entertainment,
or art."
Mongrel
- Mongrel is a mixed bunch of people, machines and intelligences
working to celebrate the methods of London street culture. We make
socially engaged culture, which sometimes means making art, sometimes
software, sometimes setting up workshops, or helping other mongrels
to set things up.
We do this by
employing any and all technological advantage that we can lay our
hands on. Some of us have dedicated ourselves to learning technological
methods of engagement, which means we pride ourselves on our ability
to program, engineer and build our own software, while others of
us have dedicated ourselves to learning how to work with people.
Mongrel sets up strategic alliances to expand and contract. Sometimes
fifty mongrels work on a project, sometimes one.
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| Lab |
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Flash continued.
Work on final projects.
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| Assignment |
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Continue work
on final project.
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| Week
13 : Telematic
Architectures (April 18) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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The
Net has yielded new aesthetic opportunities for designing new architectural
structures and human interactions that are no longer constrained by
conventional notions of time and place. Just as the early pioneers,
such as Galloway and Rabinowitz discovered the "hole in space"
through telematic connections, the globally connected World Wide Web
has expanded the opportunity for extending the sensorial realm into
virtual space. We will look at the work of pioneering artist Myron
Krueger, whose responsive
environments such as Videoplace (1970) were among the first to
network human interaction in electronic space; Michael Naimark's "Aspen
Movie Map" from 1979, which allowed interaction with videodisc
mappings dubbed surrogate
travel; cyberpunk science fiction writer William Gibson, coinced
the word cyberspace
in 1984 in order to give literary definition to the hubs and routers
that transported data; self-proclaimed wizard Pavel Curtis took up
world building,
creating a new kind of social space on-line known as MUDs (Multi-User
Dungeons); trans-architect Marcos
Novak has constructed what he calls "liquid
architectures," habitable spaces in virtual
space. |
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| Lab |
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Advanced techniques
(TBA).
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| Assignment |
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Continue
final project. |
| Week
14 : Summary
(April 25) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Wrap-up
discussion of course and final projects. |
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| Lab |
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Work on final
projects.
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| Assignment |
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Complete
final project. |
| Week
15 : Final
Critique (May 2) |
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| Presentation/Discussion |
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Critique
of final projects. |
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Assignments and
Grading
Class Discussion
and Presentation (20%)
Each student is
required to participate in class discussion and present net projects
for Student
Topics sessions.
Web Notebook (10%)
A Web notebook is
maintained throughout the semester. The notebook will serve as a personal
journal containing position statements to readings, critique of artworks,
and summaries of class discussion, etc. The notebook is a multimedia
sketchbook, a place to develop your ideas, experiment with media technologies,
and record your observations. The notebook will be graded on the basis
of your ability to process and absorb key concepts introduced throughout
the course. The notebook needs to be kept up on a regular basis and
will be checked weekly throughout the course.
Required:
- Weekly critique
of readings and net artworks
- Incorporate relevant
images and links
- overall concept
+ design
Portfolio Project
(20%)
Each student will
create a homepage/portfolio that serves as a presentation of their work,
ideas and web-specific interests.
Required:
- home page with
well-conceived splash concept
- list of works with
images and descriptions
- biography and photo
- link to web notebook
- overall concept
+ design
- incorporate animation
(gif or flash)
2 Midterm Projects
(20%)
Two midterm projects
will focus on narrative and the use of dynamic media.
Final Project (25%)
A final project
will consist of a full developed website that focuses on the net as
a medium for aesthetic and social transformation. Students incorporate
topics presented throughout the course.
Miscellaneous
Materials
Work will be stored
on the class server. Zips will be needed to transport material home
and for backup.
Internet Access
Everyone is required
to have an e-mail account at MICA. You may also have an outside account,
but all projects must be done on the MICA server.
Server Account
Accounts will be
issued for students to use the class server. A password and user ID
will give you access to the server either from the lab, anywhere on
campus, or by dial-in from home or work.
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