Using the affordances of the Hyde Park Art Center's media facade ' such as the closely accessible high-resolution displays in a public setting, the particular spatial configuration across the catwalk in the main gallery, the projection cycle throughout the exhibition-seminar participants will develop a series of works that creatively investigate the perceptual boundaries between the digital and the physical space. Focusing on computationally generated images and animations, this collaboration between HPAC and UIC will culminate in the public exhibition of software-based artwork at the art center from March 20 until May 7, 2011. The title 'Super-signs', used in semiotics to describe the combination of multiple signs to form a complex sign, refers in this context to the different elements (affordances) that mediate the creative challenge of alternative view-points (both literally and conceptually), combined into a work of art.
This course offers a rare and exciting opportunity for New Media Art graduate students to work with state of the art public projection technology and high-resolution display systems. Leading up to the exhibition, participants will develop and test their works at the UIC's Electronic Visualization Laboratory CyberCommons classroom facility. The course is organized around a series of conceptual units, including readings, discussions, and screenings. Topics include the semiotics of urban screens, site-specificity, community, interactivity, 'screenology', and public art.
Context
In April 2006 the Chicago's Hyde Park Art Center has re-opened to the public after a major restoration, transformed into a modern art center that includes gallery spaces, classrooms, artists' studios, and an art resource community center. The signature space in the architectural design is an 80 foot long, 10 foot wide glass fa'ade and catwalk on the second floor above the main gallery space. Equipped with roll-down screens and 10 projectors, it becomes a digital projection fa'ade visible from both the street and the gallery that can host digital media, live performances, or hybrid projects.
Activities
The course is organized around a series of conceptual units, including readings, discussions, screenings, and guest lectures. Topics include site-specificity, community, public art, 'screenology', interactivity, and the semiotics of urban screens. In response to weekly readings, participants will write a series of posts on the class website. A visit to the HPAC will introduce students to previous works and the technical setup. Attention will be given to the process of creating computational work for the 7680x1024 px resolution screen, comprised of ten 10,000 Lumens projectors. You can find more information in the facade manual, available online at http://www.hydeparkart.org/Facade%20Production%20Manual.pdf
Evaluation + Attendance
Work will be evaluated based on its originality, conceptual depth, the integration of artistic goals, and the inclusion of site-specific and formal aspects of the HPAC. Text presentations and written reading responses are evaluated based on how participants describe the main concepts in adequate detail, connect the text to other class readings and to a broader context, and present supporting materials (i.e. text, images, video clips, and films). Active contribution during class and attendance is required. All assignments must be completed to pass the course. Late assignments will reduce the grade proportionally. Two unexcused absences (without notification of the instructor before the class meeting) will reduce of the final grade by 1 letter grade; Additional unexcused absences will drop the final grade by an additional letter grade. It is generally recommended to drop the course with more than three absences. The numeric breakdown for the final grade is as follows:
15% Text Presentation/Discussion
15% Reading Responses submitted through Class Blog
30% Final Paper (Project Review Essay OR Thesis Intro Chapter + Abstract)
40% HPAC Fa'ade Project
Required Readings:
First Monday
Special Issue #4: Urban Screens: Discovering the potential of outdoor screens for urban society.
Available online: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/issue/view/217
Recommended Readings:
Huhtamo, Erkki (2004). Elements of Screenology: Toward an Archaeology of the Screen. ICONICS: International Studies of the Modern Image, 7, 31-82.
McCarthy, Anna (2001). Terminal Thoughts on Art, Activism, and Video for Public Places. Ambient Television (pp. 225-254). Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Sturken, Marita & Cartwright, Lisa (2001). The Mass Media and the Public Sphere. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (pp. 151-185). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kaye, Nick (2000). Site-specific Art. London and New York: Routledge.
Rokeby, David (1995). Transforming Mirrors. In S. Penny (Ed.), Critical Issues in Electronic Media. New York, NY: State University of New York Press. Available online: Jun. 1995. 21 Aug. 2007.
Huhtamo, Erkki (1995). Seeking Deeper Contact: Interactive Art as Metacommentary. Convergence, 1(2), 81-104.
Kwon, Miwon (2004). One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. Cambridge, London: The MIT Press.
Kester, Grant (1995). Aesthetic evangelists: Conversion and empowerment in contemporary community art. Afterimage, 22(6), 5-12.
Foster, Hal (1996). The Artist as Ethnographer. In H. Foster (Ed.), The Return of the Real: Art and Theory at the End of the Century (pp. 171-204). Cambridge, London: The MIT Press.
Warner, Michael (2005). Publics and Counterpublics. In M. Warner (Ed.), Publics and Counterpublics (pp. 65-124). New York, NY: Zone Books.
Bulivant, Lucy (2005). 4dspace: Interactive Architecture. London, UK: Wiley-Academy.
Bullivant, Lucy (2006). Responsive Environments. London, UK: V&A Publications.
Weibel, Peter, & Jansen, Gregor (2005). Light Art from Artificial Light. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz.
McCarthy, Anna (2001). Shaping Public and Private with TV Screens. Ambient Television (pp. 117-154). Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Further Readings:
Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film / by Jeffrey Shaw and Peter Weibel
Creative Time: The Book: 33 Years of Public Art in New York / by Pasternak, Anne, Peltason, Ruth A., Lippard, Lucy
Public Art (Designing the World's Best Series) / by Roots, Garrison
Culture in Action: A Public Art Program of Sculpture Chicago / by Jacob, Mary Jane, Olson, Eva M., Brenson, Michael
Private / Public: Art and Social Discourse: Art and Social Discourse / by Madill, Shirley J. R.
Open 6: Art, Public Space and Safety / by de Cauter, Lieven, Lutticken, Sven, Levin, Thomas Y.
Open 8: (In)Visibility: Beyond the Visible in Contemporary Art, Culture, and the Public Domain / by Melis, Liesbeth, Sijdel, Jorinde, Van Grunsven, Jan
Ag4 - Media Facades (Daab Architecture & Design) / by Daab
Cultural Democracy: The Arts, Community, and the Public Purpose / by Graves, James Bau
Art, Space and the City: Public Art and Urban Futures / by Miles, Malcolm
Public Art: Space / by Gooding, Mel
The Language of New Media (Leonardo Books) / by Lev Manovich (Author)
The Vatican to Vegas: The History of Special Effects /by Norman M. Klein (Author)
Information Arts / by Stephen Wilson
Electronic Culture / Edited by Timothy Druckrey
Re views : artists and public space / edited by Ruth Charity.
Public art, public controversy : the tilted arc on trial / edited by Sherrill Jordan.
Public art by the book / edited by Barbara Goldstein. Location: Daley
Bogart, Michele Helene, 1952- Politics of urban beauty : New York & its Art Commission / Michele H. Bogart.
Art and the public sphere / edited by W.J.T. Mitchell.
Architecture : art / Philip Jodidio.
Plop : recent projects of the Public Art Fund / Susan K. Freedman ... [et al.].
Arcade : artists and place-making / edited by Rhona Warwick.
Light Fantastic: The Art and Design of Stage Lighting / by Max Keller
Dempsey, Amy, 1963- Destination art / Amy Dempsey.
Virtualities: Television, Media Art, and Cyberculture (Theories of Contemporary Culture) / by Margaret Morse (Author)
Urban art Chicago : a guide to community murals, mosaics, and sculptures / Olivia Gude and Jeff Huebner.
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