The Studio Experience [Multimedia Module] Sp08-3

Discussion: Introduction to key concepts and paradigms in multimedia art, including the reading: Birth of a New Medium, from the Overture, Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, edited by Randall Packer & Ken Jordan

Lab: Creation of a blog on blogger.com
See this example of a blog entry and the basics of formatting.

First blog entry (in class): Digital multimedia has introduced new paradigms to the creation and experience of art that depart from traditional artistic media (drawing, painting, etc.), while there are also aesthetic considerations that haven't changed. Formulate a question on this topic and give a brief response. In your opinion, how does the computer introduce new opportunities for artistic expression? We will use your questions as the basis of discussion.

Discussion of blog questions on the nature of digital media and the resulting paradigm shift in artistic expression.

Project: The Situational Tour of the Iraq War Demonstrations

The Situational Tour involves the exploration of an aesthetic awareness of the world around us. Through the use of digital cameras and photoblogs, we engage a situation, an environment, exploring and documenting it from a cultural, social, and symbolic point of view. Throughout this process we develop a unique narrative that is constructed from the unexpected occurrences as they unfold during our encounter with the environment.

For the Situational Tour project, we will collectively document as a class the March 19th demonstrations on the 5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq. In the course of our investigation, we will consider how the events challenge and explore the following keywords: ritual, ideology, security, and authority. How do the activists use techniques of performance, costume, symbology, slogans in the context of the keywords to address their concerns? Consider the target of their protest and the way they strategically construct their actions.

Each student will choose an event, according to your schedule. (We will not hold class on Wednesday.) Study the location and activity through on-line information (see class 2), and then attend the event to photograph and write about it. The photographs and texts will then be placed on your blogs so that together (10 - 12 final images), the class will have produced a collective, artistic documentation that critiques the power and effectiveness of civil disobedience and its construction and tactics. Consider the importance of demonstration in the nation's capital, how does the ability of the individual to express political and social concerns take on heightened meaning in Washington, DC?

2nd Blog entry (in class): After we review the list of events on March 19th, select an event/location from the March 19th schedule (see Class 2), and embed a Map of the location. (Linking to a Google map to document a location for your Situational Tour project.) Describe briefly how the event will engage the four keywords: ritual, ideology, security, authority from the on-line information. (This latter part of the assignment can be completed after class.)

Project timeline: (1) Monday, March 17, choose a location, locate it on Google Map in satellite view, embed the map, and describe the environment briefly in relation to the four keywords. (2) Wednesday, March 19, photograph the location (3) Monday, March 24, bring your photographs to class and be prepared to transfer your images to work on your Situational Tour. (3) Wednesday, March 26, completed project ready for class critique.

Continue reading "Class 1: Overview of Multimedia (Computer as Medium)" »

5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq

View Larger Map

For complete information about the March 19th events, visit the following Website.

Below is a list of events taking place on Wednesday, March 19th. You will choose one of them to document. We will not meet in class on Wednesday. Select an event at any time during the day and plan to spend at least one hour on site taking photographs. I have provided links to you can research your event. Some of the times might be fluid so check the site before you travel to your destination. For those interested in attending the candlelight vigil at Lafayette Park, which takes place during class time, I will be there filming.

7:30 AM - Public Assembly at McPherson Square (15th and K St.) with information about the day and how to plug-in.

8:00 AM - The War Resisters League will blockade the IRS main entrance at 1111 Constitution Ave. (at 12th Street), NW, and across from the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Once at the entrance, they will sit down to prevent the IRS from opening as usual, while others will hold signs and banners, pass out flyers, talk with passersby, and generally call attention to the cost of the war and the collective responsibility to stop funding it. For more information about the event.

Exact time?? - During the morning, No War No Warming will set up a new "Green Zone" – an area dedicated to clean energy – on the doorstep of the American Petroleum Institute (API), 13TH & L ST NW, which represents all the major oil companies. API gives immense amounts of money to congress, influencing how they vote on war, energy, climate and oil subsidies. No War No Warming demands a "Separation of Oil & State" to ensure that "Congress represents us, not Big Oil!" For more information about the event.

11:00 AM - Afternoon Action Briefing, Meet at McPherson Square, 15th & K St NW, Washington, DC, Student Peach Action Network (SPAN) students are taking action to show their opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. For more information.

Time?? - March of the Dead with Activist Response Team (A.R.T.) and other activists who join will imagine what would happen if the dead, civilian and military, return to enter Washington to seek justice for the crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan because of U.S. foreign policy. They will begin their march from Arlington Cemetery at dawn in death masks, all in black, some wearing the name of someone killed, others with statistics measuring the scale of the tragedy, we will proceed through the city in small groups riding the metro, walking the streets and haunting the periphery of the other actions. We will then converge at a given time all-together to make the long march for justice with stops at the State Department, Justice Department and Supreme Court culminating with acts of civil resistance. We want to make this a very powerful presence so we are encouraging large numbers of people to join us. Contact: arrestbush@gmail.com if you are interested in participating in this action. For more information about the march.

12:00 PM - Franklin Park (14th & K Streets NW), Join Students for a Democratic Society, drop beats (not bombs) and take back the streets for peace. The dancing will start at Franklin Park and continue throughout the K St area, visiting the offices of war profiteers along the way. Wear your most outrageous party clothes and be loud!

12:30 pm - Die In at the CAT office on K St. at 1445 K St. Demonstrate your opposition to U.S. foreign policy in Gaza and highlight the connections between the occupations of Iraq & Palestine. Organized by the Coalition for Justice & Accountability. Email oelmasri@gmail.com to get involved in this action.

1:30 pm End Torture - Gather in Lafayette Park to Drive the War Criminals from Office! Join World Can't Wait in acts of civil resistance. in an action against torture. Join with people in a sea of orange jumpsuits in solidarity with and representing those that are being tortured in Guantanamo Bay Prison, Abu Ghraib, Bagram in Afghanistan, and CIA “black sites” around the globe. A demonstration showing that waterboarding is torture is planned directly in front of the residence of the biggest war criminal in history. For more info, go to worldcantwait.org.

5:00 PM - Reflecting Pool on the West side of the Capitol, march with pots and pans in a cacophony of resistance to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. Here they will make it clear that the country holds them accountable for the death, destruction and lies and that they will continue to take action and intervene in their business until the call for peace is honored and all of our troops come home. Email dc@5yearstoomany.org for more info.

5:30pm - Critical Mass- "Kick the Oil Addiction that Fuels the War." They will meet in Dupont Circle and leave around 6pm. They will ride around the city focusing on specific areas that support the war as well as riding by other actions to show their solidarity. Come with costumes or signs about no oil.

7:00 PM - Iraq War 5th anniversary vigil, Lafayette Park, H St NW & Jackson PL NW. According to their information: "The war in Iraq has gone on for nearly five years. The unbearable costs at home and abroad keep mounting. It's clear that Americans are ready for a real change in direction. On March 19th, tens of thousands of people across the country will gather to observe the fifth anniversary of the war with candlelight vigils. We'll commemorate the sacrifices too many families have made, and the billions of dollars wasted in Iraq that could have been better invested at home. Join us at a candlelight vigil. Honor the sacrifice. Change our priorities. Bring the troops home." For more information on the event.

Discussion: An overview of authoring in the Blogger environment, ideas regarding the design and formatting of projects.

Techniques for photo re-touching, sizing, and formatting in Preview (we do not have Photoshop in this classroom).

Lab: Work on Situational Tours project

Assignment (due Wednesday, March 26): Critique of Situational Tours project

Continue reading "Class 3: The Situational Tours" »

Critique of the Situational Tours projects.

For the critique (10 minutes maximum), be prepared to walk us through your situational tour, discuss the narrative and how you approached the assignment. Most importantly, be prepared to discuss how the project incorporate the keyword(s) (security, authority, ritual, ideological). How did the project change your view or perception of the location you chose, do you see it differently now? How so? I also expect the class to ask questions and offer commentary on one another's work.

How does technology mediate the artist experience?
250 word short hyperessay
posted on blog (entry #3)

We have discussed essential paradigms in digital art, from telematics to immersive experience. We have also discussed how art is used to express political civil disobedience. Finally, we have put into practice the use of digital media in the construction of narrative form.

This assignment is an opportunity for you to synthesize the theoretical concepts and practical skills you have learn in this module. As you have transitioned from painting to digital media, how has technology affected the creative process? By mediate we are concerned with how art functions as a medium through which you view and construct the world around you. Painting is one way to view the world and develop your own perspective, while digital media is another medium with its own capabilities and issues. As you conducted your situational tours, your camera became your window on to the environment and the political actions you documented. The on-line blog then became the “canvas” where you constructed your narrative. How has technology impacted this process, how has it affected your experience of making art?

The hyperessay assignment is due Tuesday, March 18. Please contact me with questions: x2773, rpacker@zakros.com, or 216 Katzen.

I will give each student a final grade for the module based on your postings: (1) Question/response to readings; (2) situational tour location with link to Goggle map, including how the location relates to the keywords (ritual, ideology, security, authority), (3) situational tour photo-text narrative, (4) hyperessay.