Penn State University – School of Visual Arts

Spring 2019

ART 106 Interdisciplinary Digital Studio, Seminar II

Professor: Eduardo Navas (ean13@psu.edu)

Fri 1:25 – 3:20 PM

Office hours: Wed and Fri 11AM to 12:00 PM, 206 Art Cottage

 

 

Course Description

One sentence description:
A&A 106 Interdisciplinary Digital Studio (IDS) Seminar II (3) will consist of 3 modules that will introduce students to emerging technologies that are applicable to interdisciplinary electronic design study.

General Description:
A&A 106 Interdisciplinary Digital Studio (IDS) Seminar II (3) is the second foundational course that consists of three modules during which students will be introduced to further studies and methods in digital design process and applications that are necessary for IDS design research and creative production. What students learn in the two preliminary courses during the first of year in the IDS major will have direct application in digital design problems that will be introduced in the beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses in the IDS Program. Content of the three modules will include two and three-dimensional modeling, animation; sound, and game design concepts and processes according to each studentŐs interests and creative needs. Each module will be complemented with lectures by Visiting Professors from the IDS program who will share what they teach as well as discuss their own creative production.

Class Focus

Art 106 consists of extensive creative exploration between image, sound, and text. The course begins with text, to then move on to sound, and image. The fourth step is to combine the three media elements into a project. This entire process takes four weeks.

The next step will be for students to develop in-depth hands techniques to produce digital images to be combined with sound and text. This stage will enable the students to develop their drawing skills or modeling skills based on their inclinations as artists or designers. This process will take about four weeks.

Students will then take what is learned in the first two stages to develop a preliminary project on a medium of their choice. The medium will be chosen by each student based on a software learned in Art 105. The third project will be considered a tentative investigation that explores basic ideas students propose to explore. This stage will take about four weeks.  And the fourth and final project is a more advanced version of the third project, which should also take about four weeks. Students will be able to develop a finished final assignment that should be of portfolio quality. Throughout the semester students will submit weekly assignments designed as stepping-stones for the realization of all three major projects.

 

Class Structure

Class will consist of weekly lectures followed up with lab time. Students will be introduced to concepts and history that are essential to their engagement with contemporary digital art and media design production. The class sessions will consist of two parts for most meetings. The first part will consist of a lecture and the second of lab time. The exception to this will be when there is a major project critique, which will take the entire class time, or when a visiting professor gives a lecture on a subject of their choice.

 

 

Learning Outcomes:

  1. To understand how form and content are combined to communicate a message.
  2. To understand the history and theory that is relevant to the history of digital art.
  3. To acquire a basic understanding of conceptual models important in visual culture and especially digital art.
  4. To gain knowledge of the diverse production in digital art and their relation to art history.
  5. To produce effective critical analysis.

 

A Note on Plagiarism

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. A student who commits plagiarism will be reported to the office of the visual arts. The studentŐs behavior will be taken very seriously and dealt with according to the guidelines provided by Penn State University – School of Visual Arts. To avoid plagiarism, please cite your sources when appropriate.

 

Academic Integrity Statement

University Policies and Rules Guidelines states that academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University's Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students' dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts. Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.

 

Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to acts such as cheating on exams or assignments; plagiarizing the words or ideas of another; fabricating information or citations; facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others; claiming authorship of work done by another person; submitting work completed in previous classes; and/or submitting the same work to multiple classes in which a student is enrolled simultaneously.

 

Accessibility Statement

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Office for Disability Services (ODS) Web site provides contact information for every Penn State campus: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/dcl. For further information, please visit the Office for Disability Services Web site: http://equity.psu.edu/ods.

 

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campusŐs disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

 

Safety Information

Students in the School of Visual Arts may find themselves working in the shop or in their studios or classrooms using a variety of power and hand held equipment, which may cause injury. Students should use the shop only after having received an orientation in the use of such equipment and when supervised by faculty or shop personnel. Should any injuries occur, in the shop, studios, or classrooms in the School of Visual Arts please report them to Matt Olson, Shop Supervisor, Room 108-A Visual Arts Building, Phone: 814-865-3962, email: mjo5165@psu.edu.

 

Required Readings

Assigned as needed (See weekly class schedule below)

No purchase required.

 

Recommended:

Digital Art by Christiane Paul

New Media Art by Mark Tribe & Reena Jana

Available online at https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/display/MarkTribe/New+Media+Art

 

 

Course Requirements

Please note that final grades are dependent upon consistent performance in all course

requirements.

 

Grading

 

Total 100%

 

Grade Scale

Letter grade assignments are as follows:

 

Attendance

 

Semester Schedule

Check Angel for readings aside from the assigned books as noted in the schedule below.  Also make sure to purchase the required books when they become available at the university bookstore.  There may be more readings in additions to the basic ones below. Check Syllabus link on Angel for updated reading materials.

 

Week 1:

Friday, January 11, 2019

Introduction to class | First Weekly Assignment on Text

 

Week 2:

Friday, January 18, 2019

Discuss first Weekly Assignment on Text | Introduce Weekly Assignment on Sound

 

Week 3:

Friday, January 25, 2019

Discuss Weekly Assignment on Sound | Introduce Weekly Assignment on Image

 

Week 4:

Friday, February 1, 2019

Discuss Weekly Assignment on Image | Introduce Major Assignment 1 on image, sound and text.

 

Week 5:

Friday, February 8, 2019

In class critique of Major assignment on image and sound | Introduce premises for Major Assignment 2 | Weekly exercise due on February 15 | Lectures on drawing images and/or modeling environments

 

Week 6:

Friday, February 15, 2019

Critique of weekly assignment | Work on weekly assignment due on February 22

 

Week 7:

Friday, February 22, 2019

Weekly assignment critiqued | Work on weekly assignment due on March 1| Prepare to work on Major Project 2 due on March 15

 

Week 8:

Friday, March 1, 2019

Weekly assignment critiqued | Work on Major Project 2 due on March 15

 

Week 9:

March 4  - 8, 2019

Spring Break

 

Week 10:

Friday, March 15, 2019

Critique of Major Project 2 Introduce premises for Major Project 3 | Students evaluate how what they explored in major projects 1 and 2 can be expanded and/or incorporated in  more advanced projects | Work on weekly assignment due on March 22

 

Week 11:

Friday, March 22, 2019
Critique of weekly assignment | Work on weekly assignment due on March 29

 

Week 12:

Friday, March 29, 2019

Critique of Major Project 3 | Introduction of Major Project 4 | Work on weekly assignment due on April 5

 

Week 13:

Friday, April 5, 2019

Critique of weekly assignment | Work on weekly assignment due on April 14

 

Week 14:

Friday, April 12, 2019

Lab day work on weekly assignment towards Major Project 4

 

Week 15:

Friday, April 19, 2019

Lab day share progress on project | work on Major Project 4

 

Week 16

Friday, April 26, 2018

Final critique of Major Project 4

 

Week 17:

Friday, May 3, 2018

Revision of Project