UIC : AD307 - Info Aesthetics 1 → 2010

This studio course is a continued introduction to the field of Information Visualization, a way of revealing visual patterns of knowledge and social behavior, using computational techniques. Per day, Google Books digitizes about 27,000 books, users upload about 150,000 movie clips to YouTube, and 65 million pictures to Flickr. The massive amount of collected and processed data constitutes a framework for this course to investigate the database as cultural form, and to familiarize participants with the conceptual and technical skills to develop data visualizations. The two-, three-, and four-dimensional applications developed during this course are designed to excavate inherent properties of the data sets chosen by the individual student. Historical predecessors will also be illuminated. Class participants will create graphs, maps, and interactive (web) applications through data retrieval, storage, exchange, filtering, processing and visualization. Technologies used during the course include PHP, MySQL, and Processing. Fundamentals in XHTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and XML (Xtensible Markup Language) are required (Prerequisite: AD305 or concurrent registration in AD308). Throughout the course, students are asked to utilize the class blog to collect and share resources. A series of presentations, screenings, readings, and discussions will expose students to creative works in the realm of information visualization, and information arts. Each student will select a particular research topic and share their findings with the class during a in-class research report. Participants will also present their work during class critiques and interdisciplinary workshops to receive qualitative feedback from the instructor(s) and the class.

Evaluation

Assignments are invitations to invent and experiment. Creative and ambitious experiments will be evaluated high, while obvious and easily attained solutions are evaluated low. The complexity of the assignments will increase as the semester progresses. Students are required to document their design process in a personal sketchbook that includes all sketches developed throughout the semester, shared periodically with the professor. All project sketches for each project must be available during all class sessions. Active contribution during class is required. You are expected to be resourceful to your peer students and seek help when needed. All assignments must be completed to pass the course. Assignments are only considered as completed when they are available on the class website. Final projects must be uploaded to the School of Art and Design website. Late assignments will reduce the grade proportionally.

Grading (% of final grade):

10%: Exercise 1 – Processing OOP
10%: Exercise 2 – MySQL
10%: Exercise 3 – PHP/MySQL
10%: Exercise 4 – MySQL/Processing
10%: Research Report
10%: Reading Responses + Participation
40%: Final Project

Attendance is mandatory and required for a successful completion of the course. Two unexcused absences will result in a reduction of the final grade by ½ letter grade, three unexcused absences by 1 letter grade, and four or more unexcused absences will result in failing the course. Absences are only considered as excused if the professor is notified before the class meeting (accompanied by appropriate documentation). It is generally recommended to drop the course with more than four absences. Late arrivals are very disruptive for other participants. Being late to class three times will count as one unexcused absence. There will be a sign-up sheet for each meeting to determine class attendance; it is the participants’ responsibility sign up in this list. The sign-up sheet is the basis.

Materials
Sophomore undergraduate students entering are required to use – through purchase, lease or other means – a portable laptop computer, and software, to use in class and for the completion of course assignments. A DVL lab account is required and offers access to all lab computers, 700 MB storage space on the file server, as well as class ‘drop‘ and ‘pickup’ folders. File safety cannot be guaranteed so use USB jump drives or external hard-drives to back up your data. Loss or damage of data is not an acceptable explanation for late or missing assignments. Files saved on the desktop will not be available any more after logging out. PC compatible USB memory key sticks are a quick and easy way to transfer data without the use of a network.

Required Software
Processing 1.x, available online at http://processing.org/download/

Recommended Readings:

Fry, Ben (2007). Visualizing Data Exploring and Explaining Data with the Processing Environment. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly. http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514556/

Reas, Casey & Fry, Ben (2007) Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists. London and Cambridge: The MIT Press.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11251

Aldersey-Williams, Hugh & Hall, Peter & Sargent, Ted & Antonelli, Paola (Ed.) (2008). Design and the Elastic Mind. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.

Vesna, V. (Ed.) (2007). Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Abrams, Janet & Hall, Peter (2006). Else/Where: Mapping New Cartographies of Networks and Territories. Minneapolis: Univ Minnesota Design Institute.