Homework 4

1) Create at least 1 drawing and 1 painting on either one or two of those devices: a computer, a tablet, and/or a smartphone; using a keyboard, your fingers, or a stylus. Put some time into this and see how far you can get to make this a creative outlet. 

2) In order to investigate the creative abilities of new media and new media technologies, we will work on a number of actions throughout the semester. Action #1 was to bring a piece of technology into the classroom. Action #2 is to document something. This something can be a creative process, an installation, an artistic practice, or an art object; try to stay with something that’s related to the arts. The documentation can be done in whichever way as long as you use a piece of technology, be it a camera, a recorder, or whatever comes to your mind. By asking you to document it, I want us to focus on the difference between creative practice and documentation. Bring your results to the next class or just add them to your blog.

For next Wednesday: please bring a digital camera with you since we will be starting to do a photographic assignment.

Suggestion

Here is an interesting event, tomorrow night, 9/27, at 7pm, a the new museum.
Hope one of you guys gets to go and can report, since I have class...

Panel Discussion: “What’s Wrong with Technological Art?”

In 1969, Robert Smithson wrote to György Kepes, “Technology promises a new kind of art, yet its very program excludes the artist from his own art. The optimism of technical progress results in political despair…. If technology is to have any chance at all, it must become more self-critical. If one wants teamwork he should join the army. A panel called ‘What’s Wrong with Technological Art’ might help.” Responding to Smithson’s call over forty years later, noted scholars, critics, and artists will discuss problems (and possibilities) of art and technology in response to “Ghosts in the Machine.”

Peggy Ahwesh is an artist who works in the fields of experimental film and video. Using a range of approaches, her work elaborates on the aesthetics of 1960s and ’70s American avant-garde film with an investigation of cultural identity and the role of the subject. She is Professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College.

Heather Corcoran is Executive Director of Rhizome, a leading organization dedicated to promoting and contextualizing art engaged with technology. Previously, she served as Deputy Director of Film and Video Umbrella in London and as Curator at FACT, the UK’s leading center for new media. Corcoran holds a BFA from Ryerson University in Toronto and an MBA from Imperial College, London.

Judith Rodenbeck is an art historian currently researching the intersections between second-order cybernetics and advanced artistic practices since 1945. Author of Radical Prototypes: Allan Kaprow and the Invention of Happenings (MIT Press, 2011), she teaches modern and contemporary art at Sarah Lawrence College.

Gloria Sutton is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art History and New Media in the Art and Design Department at Northeastern University. Her research focuses on the role of film, video, and digital media within visual art’s production, exhibition, and critical reception. These concerns are the subject of her first book, The Experience Machine: Stan VanDerBeek’s “Movie-Drome” and Expanded Cinema Practices (under contract with MIT Press).

Information copied from:

http://www.newmuseum.org/calendar/view/panel-discussion-what-s-wrong-with-technological-art

Example for ipad drawing

Time lapse movie an ipod touch painting by Seikou Yamaoka.

These are iphone paintings. The two upper one are from Amanda Kavanagh of NYC, who goes by Velvetina on her Flickr site, the lower one from Patricio Villarroel on http://iphonepaintings.com/

Two drawings, the upper from Luis Mendo, untitled scetch; the other one by Jorge Colombo, a portrait of Philip Glass. Check out the article in the New Yorker.

Theo Jansen

Hey everybody! I thought you might like to check out this artist, Theo Jansen. He also has a TED Talk titled "My Creations, a New Form of Life." Has anyone seen this? He creates kinetic sculptures that move along the beach and generate their energy/movement through natural elements. Do you think this type of work could qualify as new media? What is our definition of new media?

Homework 3

1) Go to http://eetiquette.com and pick three select quotes to re-post on your blog. 2) Write a blog entry about the piece of technology which you brought into class and share your reflections/notes from the class. Create a lesson plan for a group of students of your choice. Try to focus this lesson plan on how you could use this tool creatively in an art class. Think from an artistic point of view, not from a technological one. If this seems difficult, describe the difficulties. 3) Strictly Classroom: Following our discussion about the place of new media in an art class, contribute to our wikispace; choose from the 3 pages those which reflect your viewpoint most accurately and add your statements and thoughts. Link: http://newmedianewforms2012fall.pbworks.com/. As these statements develop and evolve, don't be afraid to make edits, to summarize similar arguments etc. 4) Keep your blog as a place where you reflect on your classroom experiences and your work in between. Think about what direction you would like to take our explorations; or go deeper into where we are headed. 5) Here are 3 articles from the times I meant to share with you. Enjoy reading them, they fit so nicely into what we are doing. Article 1: Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction. The constant stream of stimuli offered by new technology poses a profound new challenge to focusing and learning. http://nyti.ms/dbybm3. Article 2: OP-ED COLUMNIST: Silence Is Golden. In an age of computer-generated images, green screens and 3-D glasses, sometimes silence speaks loudest. http://nyti.ms/rTJSNy. Article 3: OPINION: The Joy of Quiet. Trying to escape the constant stream of too much information. http://nyti.ms/u7fIA5.

Homework 2

Homework:  1) Give an account about how you implement technology in your daily practice (blog, 2-3 paragraphs). 2) While having been with your computer/digital device for a while, decide to leave it and turn it off. Find artful ways to exit the online world. Monitor closely your Turn-on/Switch-off experiences and make them be the beginning of a creative experiment. Document your experience on your blog and bring the visual representation of what comes out of this into next class so we can share the outcomes. 3) Research a media art teacher and describe how s/he uses technology/media in his/her art class. 4) Bring a piece of technology into our next class; choose with care. 

Homework 1

Homework: 1) Create an individual blog. 2) Create a post that introduces you and your educational background. Add a few sentences about your experience-level with new media. 3) Post your self-portrait in the sidebar of your own blog. 4) Research a media artist. Write a blog entry about how he/she uses media to create art. Observe carefully and be specific. 5) Research a gallery/museum that focuses on new media and describe their program, the types of media that they employ, and some of their artists. 6) If you decide to keep your blog private, which is recommended, yet not necessary, invite the instructor (using vlogart at gmail dot com) to become a reader of your blog. 7) Add the URL of your blog in the link-list of the class blog (http://newmedianewforms2012fall.blogspot.com). 8) I will sporadically add readings to your homework.

Some general notes: 1) Your blog will serve as your visual journal throughout the semester. You will use it as an archive, as a repository for homework, and as your very own visual journal. Make entries related to our topic along the way; anything that you seem meaningful, be it sketches, drafts, writing, images, videos, links, etc. 2) If you have difficulties with any of these steps, let me know; I am glad to help you and to make myself available either before, during, or after class. Also, please let me know, if you would like my feedback on specific assignments; this is important, so you don't just wait for me to approach you.