FDM 194c:
21st-century Toolkit for the New Media Artist
Instructor: Margaretha Haughwout
Syllabus: Spring 2015
Basics:
Class: Tuesday & Thursday 4-6, Comm 117
http://beforebefore.net/194c/s15/
Office: Communications 110
Office Hours: 3-3:45p Tues (or by appt.)
Online Office Hours: TBA
Skype: mllebuffalo
Delicious:
http://www.delicious.com/margaretha/fdm194c
Email: margaretha dot anne dot haughwout at gmail dot com
Course Description
What should be in the toolkit for an artist working with new media? What do artists need to know, what skills do they need to have and what contexts are they working in? What is the 21st-century shaping up to be? With crises of global warming, gross inequality and an increasingly networked world, the stakes are high for the survival of humans and non human species alike. Good art identifies worthy problems and/ or tries to solve good problems often with a unique set of tools. In this class, we select from a range from readings to identify good problems and in order to consider a range of artistic approaches and solutions. Relationships that comprise the digital and urban commons are studied for their limits and for their promises of survival. We look at a range of new media, socially-engaged, and biological art projects, hacker spaces, mesh networks and freeway food forests. We scour the fringes of our cybernetic utopia to understand our past with a goal to survive in the future together. We will write, but we will also scheme. In final presentations, students present their 21st-c artist toolkits.
This Syllabus Is Subject To Change At Instructor's Discretion
Required Texts:
The following texts can be purchased at the Literary Guillotine in downtown Santa Cruz at 204 Locust Street:
Uncommon Grounds: New Media and Critical Practices in North Africa and the Middle East, edited by Anthony Downey
Form and Code: in Design, Art, and Architecture, by Casey Reas, Chandler McWilliams, LUST
Undermining: A Wild Ride through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West, by Lucy Lippard
Course Requirements:
- Attendance/Participation: 10%
- Weekly response papers: 35%
- Class presentations and facilitation: 10%
- A1, A2: 25%
- A3, final paper and presentation: 20%
A note on Attendance and Participation: During class we will be viewing and discussing an array of visual and textual material. It is absolutely essential that you attend all lectures. Attendance will be taken during class. Also, be sure to inform your TA in advance if you know you will be unable to attend lectures for medical reasons, due to religious holiday observance, etc. Students who anticipate being absent from class due to religious observance should inform their TA by email previous to their absence. If you are absent from class, you are responsible for contacting a classmate for the information you missed. Three unexcused absences from class can result in failure of the course.
A -- Excellent. Student exhibits exemplary conceptual and critical ability with assignments, exams and in class. Student demonstrates a close reading of the any required materials, and ability to successfully communicate ideas to others. All work is lucid and engaging.
B -- Good. Student completes assignments, and demonstrates a grasp of most of the main aspects of each lesson, but not all. Is able to communicate information and ideas well. In exams, critical analysis is present.
C -- Satisfactory. Student completes the assignment but may lack enthusiasm or drive to push the work into a detailed conceptual space. Student does not demonstrate knowledge of readings, lectures or other visual material. In exams, problems exist in student's work, or the work is underdeveloped.
D -- Unsatisfactory. Student does not complete the work as assigned. Substantial problems exist in student's work.
F -- Fail. Student does not submit work, or work is below unsatisfactory level.
Work is considered late if handed in or emailed after due date/time. 11:59pm is the default deadline time unless specified otherwise in the schedule. Late Assignments: Late work is not usually accepted. Under certain circumstances, if late work is accepted, a full letter grade is deducted for each day the assignment is late, including weekend days.
Save your work constantly! Assignments not completed because of lost work will not be excused.
Your final grade will be based upon the quality of your written assignments and presentation/s, as well as your participation and attendance. See Course Requirements above for a point breakdown.
Laptops are to be used in lecture only for the purpose of taking notes or
participating in websites and demos presented in class. Laptops used for other purposes will lead to the
banning of laptops in class for specific students.
Use of cell phones and laptops for other purposes besides note taking in class significantly detracts your attention from class. For this reason, your TA may mark you absent should you be using your cell phone in class.
Cheating, plagiarism or fabrication will be dealt with in accordance to the University's policy as outlined in the Student Handbook. You are expected to be familiar with the University policy on dishonesty and disruption of the academic process. If you use outside sources in your work, you must attribute them.
Submitting someone else's work as if it were your own will be dealt with
severely. It will result in automatic failure for the course and possible expulsion from school.
We do not accept handwritten work for any assignment.
Use only 10 or 12 point type in Georgia, Times, Verdana.
Use 1.25-inch or smaller margins on the left and right, 1-inch margins on the top
and bottom.
Your name should appear on each page of your text.
All writings should have your typed name, date of submission and "FDM 194c
S15" on them.
If you do not know how to make format adjustments on your computer, then please seek assistance at one of the computer labs, or from your TA.
Check with your TA for accepted text filetypes.
Students will be required to submit assignments electronically to your TA. Assignment file names should begin with the assignment number, an underscore and the student's last name, another underscore, and then their first name:
A1_lastname_firstname.filetype
Netiquette, Noun: 1. The social code of network communication. 2. The social and moral code of the internet based on the human condition and Golden Rule of Netiquette. 3. A philosophy of effective internet communication that utilizes common conventions and norms as a guide for rules and standards.
Please visit:
http://voices.yahoo.com/10-best-rules-netiquette-1952570.html for some tips on appropriate email practices. In your subject header, indicate your course, and a couple of words about your question/comment -- ie:
subject: FDM 194c assignment question
Allow for a 48 hour response time from the professor (if it is urgent, please put URGENT in the subject header for quicker response time)