Penn State University
– School of Visual Arts
Fall 2015
Art 415 Integrating Media:
Convergence in Practice
Professor: Eduardo Navas
(ean13@psu.edu)
Mondays & Wednesdays
2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Office Hours: Mondays and
Wednesdays, 12 PM – 1 PM, 209 Arts Cottage
Course Description (as
defined by Penn State School of Visual Arts)
A
studio course concentrating on the integration of new media technologies in
contemporary art practice.
Emphasis of Class:
This
class takes an interdisciplinary approach to the production of art and media design. Its
conceptual platform is the act of
remixing as initially understood in music, which is increasingly influential
across media in terms of remix culture. Students will learn the basic
principles of remix with a hands-on approach in order to develop independently
driven projects. Students will be instructed on how to present their ideas in
diverse media, and in effect evaluate how the combination and recombination of
content and form play a crucial role in how ideas/concepts/messages may be
perceived as derivative or new.
The
starting point of class, in terms of hands-on production, will consist of
mixing and remixing music with different software. Students will then apply
their initial knowledge and methodology to image/time-based media and
text-driven projects of their own, while also making the most of skills they
developed in previous classes. Students will learn the history of remix in music
and sound in relation to visual culture. Selected texts will be assigned
throughout the term to enhance conceptual and practical knowledge.
The
class consists of three major projects, each building on the skills, history
and theory students will learn throughout the term. The class is designed to
enable students to acquire a methodology that will eventually help them develop
an ambitious vision of their own practice, and complement the eventual
production of a thesis and/or portfolio in their respective discipline.
Class Structure
Class
sections for the most part will be divided as follows: Monday will be a lab-day
for work and research. On Wednesday, class will consist of discussions and
lectures on material being researched for projects one and two, which are
discussed below. Students will be enhancing their technical skills according to
the type of project they decide to develop. Students will meet with the
instructor individually as needed. The students will turn in a total of three
projects.
Project
1: Emphasis on Music
Project
2: Emphasis on Image and Text
Project
3: Emphasis on Image, Music and Text
Details
on each project will be announced at least two weeks prior to the due date.
Learning Outcomes:
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 student¹s 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 campus¹s 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 Books
(This
book is available at the bookstore, it is also on reserve at the library, so
you don¹t need to buy it):
Navas, Eduardo. et. al. The
Routledge Companion to Remix Studies. New York: Routledge, 2015.
(This book is available
as ebook through the Penn State Library)
Navas, Eduardo. Remix Theory: The Aesthetics of Sampling.
New York/Wien² Springer 2012
http://link.springer.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-3-7091-1263-2
(Sections of this book
will be provided as PDF):
Sterne, Jonathan. The Sound Studies Reader. New York:
Routledge, 2012.
Requirements
Please
note that final grades are dependent upon consistent performance in all course
requirements.
Grading
Total 100%
Grade Scale
Attendance
Semester Schedule
Note
that the class includes a series of short exercises, which are considered part
of the overall production towards major projects. These exercises are designed
to complement the successful completion of your projects. Lectures on history
and theory will shift according to the students¹ needs to gain practical
knowledge from week to week
Week 1:
Monday, August 24, 2015
Introduction
to Class | Lecture on Interdisciplinary Practice, the relation of image music
and text | Weekly Assignment
released due on September 2 released online | Read ³The Work of Art in the Age
of Mechanical Reproduction² by
Walter Benjamin (PDF)
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Lecture
on music as an art form | Overview of sound editing for weekly assignment | Begin discussion of Benjamin¹s ³The
Work of ArtŠ² | Read: ³Culture and Remix² by Eduardo Navas, The Routledge Companion to Remix Studies,
pp. 116 – 132.
Week 2:
Monday, August 31, 2015
Lab
day
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Critique
of first weekly assignment | Lecture on music and its relation to image and
text | Discussion of ³Culture and
Remix² | Weekly Assignment released | Read ³Good Artists Copy; Great Artist
Steal: Reflections on Cut-Copy-Paste Culture,² The Routledge Companion to Remix Studies, pp. 54 - 67
Week 3:
Monday, September 7, 2015
Labor Day, no class
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Weekly
Assignment Due | New Weekly Assignment
released | Lecture on analysis of image, music, text | Discuss Sonvilla
Weiss¹s ³Good Artists CopyŠ² | McLeod, Kembrew, ³An Oral History of Sampling,² The Routledge Companion to Remix Studies,
pp. 83 – 95 | Techniques on music and media production | Lab time
Week 4:
Monday, September 14, 2015
Lab
day | Work on weekly assignment and First major Project
Wednesday, September 17,
2015
Weekly
Assignment Critiqued | Lecture on image, music, text | Discuss McLeod, ³An Oral
HistoryŠ² | Read Falconer, Rachel, ³The New Polymath (Remixing Knowledge),² pp.
397 – 408
Week 5:
Monday, September 21, 2015
Lab
day
Wednesday, September 23,
2015
Due: First Major Project, Emphasis
on Music (25%) Class critique | Weekly
Assignment released due on September 30 | Discuss Falconer, ³The New PolymathŠ² | Read Eduardo
Navas ³Remix[ing] Sampling² in Remix
Theory (ebook):
Make
sure you are logged on to your PSU library account: http://link.springer.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-3-7091-1263-2
|
Lecture and lab time to work on weekly assignment
Week 6:
Monday, September 28, 2015
Lab
Time | Work on weekly project | Second Major Project Released due on October 19
Wednesday, September 30,
2015
Weekly
assignment critiqued | Discuss Navas, ³Remix[ing] Sampling² | Read Eduardo
Navas ³Remix[ing] Music² in Remix Theory (ebook): Make sure you are logged on to your PSU
library account: http://link.springer.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-3-7091-1263-2
| Lecture on image, music, text | Weekly Project Released due on October 7
Week 7:
Monday, October 5, 2015
Lab
day work on weekly assignment
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Critique
Weekly Project | Lecture on image, music, text | Lab Time | Discuss Navas,
³Remix[ing] Music² | Read Eduardo Navas ³Remix[ing] Theory² in Remix Theory (ebook): Make sure you are logged on to your
PSU library account: http://link.springer.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-3-7091-1263-2
| Weekly Project Released
Week 8:
Monday, October 11, 2015
Lab
day | work on weekly assignment and second major project
Wednesday, October 13, 2015
Weekly
Project critiqued | Discuss Navas, ³Remix[ing] Theory² | John Mowitt,
³The Sound of Music in the Era of Its Electronic Reproducibility,² in The Sound Studies Reader, pp. 213-224
(PDF)
Week 9:
Monday, October 19, 2015
Lab
day work on second major project
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Due Second Major Project 2:
Emphasis on Image and Text 30% In class critique | Discuss Mowitt,
³The Sound of MusicŠ² | Read Jacquest
Attali, ³Noise: The Political Economy of Music,² in The Sound Studies Reader, pp. 29-39 (PDF) | Weekly Project Released
due on October 28 | Lab Time
Week 10:
Monday, October 26, 2015
Lab
Time work on weekly project
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Weekly
Project critiqued | Discuss Attali, ³Noise² | Read Nicola Dusi, ³Remixing Movies and
Trailers Before and After the Digital Age,² The
Routledge Companion to Remix Studies, pp. 154 - 165 | Lecture on image,
music, text | Weekly Assignment released due on November 4 | Third and Final
Major Assignment released
Week 11:
Monday, November 2, 2015
Lab
day work on weekly project
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Weekly
assignment critiqued | Discuss Dusi, ³Remixing Movies and TrailersŠ² | Read Eduardo Navas ³Remix[ing] Art² in Remix Theory (ebook): Make sure you are logged on to your
PSU library account: http://link.springer.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-3-7091-1263-2
| Lecture on image, music, text | Weekly assignment released due on November 11
Week 12:
Monday, November 9, 2015
Lab
day to work on weekly assignment
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Lecture
on image, music text | Weekly Assignment released due on Monday November 17 |
Weekly Assignment critiqued | Discuss Navas ³Remix[ing] Art²
Week 13:
Monday, November 16, 2015
Lab
day to work on weekly assignment
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Weekly
Assignment released due on December
2 | Lab Time | Weekly assignment critiqued | Discuss Eshun, ³Operating SystemŠ²
| Catch up on readings discussions and postings on Angel Forums
Week 14:
Monday, November 23 2015
Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Thanksgiving
Week 15:
Monday, November 30, 2015
Lab
day to work on weekly assignment
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Weekly
Assignment Critiqued | Show preliminary ideas of third and final | Prepare for
Third Major Project | Prepare for second Major Project
Week 16:
Monday, December 7, 2015
Finalize
details for final project | Lab Time
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Due: Project 3 Advanced
Project: Image, Music and Text | Make necessary changes to turn in final project
Week 17: December 16, 2015
Due: Revision of Final
Project.