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:

  1. To understand how content and form is different from medium to medium, and making the most of this difference to enhance the possibilities of communication of ideas.
  2. To understand the basic history and theory relevant to an interdisciplinary practice in art and design that crossover to other fields of specialization.
  3. To acquire an advanced understanding of conceptual models that are essential for interdisciplinary production.
  4. To gain practical knowledge of diverse tools used to develop interdisciplinary and transmedia work that makes the most of the interrelation of image, music and text.
  5. To produce projects that communicate messages effectively, and are critically invested.

 

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.