Interdisciplinary Arts 0149 - Digital Media, Making Art with Digital Tools

This course proceeds from the premise that the ideas behind a successful artwork should be intimately related to its media, conventions and platforms-and that those in turn shape which ideas we even think. We will investigate the underlying assumptions of digital media, through the process of making. Students will work with a wide variety of tools that allow for the creation and manipulation of various media, including bitmap and vector images, 2D animation, and sound. In each case, we will look at the history of the medium and the technologies we use to manipulate it (digital photographs and Adobe Photoshop, for example) and make work that explores and critiques their social and cultural context. Students will create a series of conceptually based digital artworks, culminating in a multimedia final project. Art making in general is largely a matter of critical thinking: thinking about one's work, the world in which it exists, and what one hopes to achieve with it. To quote conceptual artist, Sol Le Witt, "The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. " In this course, we will explore the machines that make the art-and our ideas.

Students should expect to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.