RTF 331R unique #
An ACTLab New Media Course
TAKING IT TO THE STREET:
PERFORMANCE AND POLITICS / THE POLITICS OF PERFORMANCE
Mon 3-6 pm in the ACTLab (cmb 4.110)
Allucquére Rosanne Stone, Instructor, phone 695-6732 email sandy@actlab.us
Joseph Lopez and Brandon Wiley, Teaching Assistants, phone numbers and email
tba
|
|
Course
description: This course is about the theory, history, and practice
– mostly practice -- of performance as sociopolitical
intervention. This will include performance in an urban context; site-specific
and street theater; puppetry; environmental theater;
culture jamming, including radio, television, billboards, and recording;
and digital interventions.
Over
the semester we will do an average of four projects, plus one final project
at the end of the semester, which will take the place of a final exam.
|
Our
Founder |
Stuff
you’ll need:
A
cushion or pillow to sit on. Setup exercises always include floor
time, and the actlab floor is concrete. You’ll find that sitting directly
on it for more than a minute or so will be increasingly uncomfortable. Get a
small cushion. Between classes you can store it in the Death Star, across the
hall from the actlab.
Various
construction materials – papier maché, construction
board, paint, cloth, glue, sticks, x-acto knives, scissors, paint. We’ll
discuss these in more detail in class.
Stuff
we’ll provide:
Video
and audio equipment. On reserve for you in the production checkout
area. We’ll discuss the whens and wheres of these later.
Readings:
Reader
1 will be available at the copy shop across from our building
during the third week. You are required to purchase the reader. No other readings
are required, but we will post a list of suggested additional readings which
you may read at your option.
Also, remember your best resource is always your own curiosity, and Google or
Dogpile or AltaVista are your best tools. Experiment with keywords and see what
happens. When you find something interesting, share it, either in person or
via the class mailing list, street@actlab.us.
Reader
2 we will write ourselves over the semester. Each of you contributes
to this reader by keeping an online journal in either text or blog form. The
tenor and form of your journal is that you are writing to an imagined future
class on the same topic as this one, sharing your thoughts and experiences over
the semester with those hypothetical students, and offering suggestions to help
them along. At the end of the semester we will cull the journals, and the most
useful parts will go into an actual future reader, as well as becoming part
of the class website.
Documentation
requirement:
During the
semester each of you will produce an individual web site documenting your work.
Your site will include images (still and video), sound, and text, as appropriate.
Your site will have a professional “look”, i.e., an index page with
just your name and links to a performance is not acceptable – you will
have to think about aesthetics of web design, ease of use, narrative flow, and
human interface issues. We’ll help you acquire this knowledge, but we
can’t design your site for you, since it’s part of your grade.
Documenting
each intervention by means of video and sound is of critical importance, and
is an integral part of our classwork, since in the case of street work the conditions
for legal, political, and aesthetic viability are fast, short interventions
below the radar of potential counter-intervention.
Mailing
list:
Outside of
class time we keep in touch via the class mailing list, street@actlab.us.
Use it to swap ideas, ask questions, get and give alerts of schedule changes,
share weird urls, and whatever else you can think of. Most of you have already
been subscribed to the list, but we didn't have email addresses for a few. Be
sure to give us your email address the first day of class.
Equipment:
The ACTLab equipment (in cmb 4.110) is there for you to use, play with, and
experiment with. Don't waste the opportunity to stretch your creative skills
in the digital domain. We have computers, DJ turntables, a mixer, a quadraphonic
sound system, and other stuff. We also have some gear that we've never used
yet, and we invite you to play with it and see what you can make it do.
Guillermo
Gomez-Pena in Temple of Secrets
|
Form
of the class:
In general, each class starts with setup exercises. These include seated
work, floor work, and improv to music. Techniques are heuristic and aleatory
(i.e., for the most part we invent them), and I invite and expect you to
contribute your own. Occasionally I’ll ask you to lead the exercises.
Exercises are meant to loosen us up physically and creatively, and are important
for the rest of class time.Following setups, we’ll talk about ideas
we’ve gotten from the readings, our ownexperiences on the street,
in class, at home, on the web, from dreams, and so forth, and how they might
connect with classwork. During this time we may sketch, paint, make physical
models such as masks, puppets, scenery, props, costumes, miniature sites
of potential interventions (to plan entrance and exit strategies), and so
forth.
We may take field trips to check out potential sites. We’ll stage
performance exercises, helping each other to become loose and quick-witted
and to think on our feet. During the last part of class, we’ll do
journal and web site work. On actual designated performance days, we’ll
go do it. |
Grading:
Attendance at class and participation in classwork 20%
Specific interventions over the semester (excluding final one) 25%
Final intervention 30%
Documentation 25%
Total 100%
The
Fine Print:
This syllabus is V.1.1, dated 18 August 2005. It may be updated as necessary.
Regarding
Scholastic Dishonesty: The University defines academic dishonesty as
cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records,
and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process.
Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false
or misleading information to receive a postponement or an extension on a test,
quiz, or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment
for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting
this syllabus, you have agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them.
Scholastic dishonesty damages both the student's learning experience and readiness
for the future demands of a work-career. Students who violate University rules
on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the
possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For
more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial
services Web site at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/dos/sjs/.
About
services for students with disabilities: The University of Texas at
Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified
students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the
Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.
About
the Undergraduate Writing Center: The Undergraduate Writing Center,
located in the FAC 211, phone 471-6222, offers individualized assistance to
students who want to improve their writing skills. There is no charge, and students
may come in on a drop-in or appointment basis.
Advisory:
This class may contain explicit descriptions of, or may advocate simulations
of, one or more of the following: Nudity, satanism, suicide, sodomy, incest,
bestiality, sadomasochism, adultery, murder, morbid violence, paedophilia,
bad grammar, deviate sexual conduct in a violent context, the use of illegal
drugs or alcohol, or offensive behavior. But then again, it may not. Should
your sensibilities be offended at any time, you are free to leave the
classroom without penalty provided that you notify either the instructor
or teaching assistant when you do so. Fragile: Do not bend, fold, spindle
or mutilate. May be hazardous to your health. Not recommended for children.
Do not purchase if seal has been tampered with. Not responsible for direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect,
error or failure to perform. May be too intense for some viewers. Batteries
not included. For recreational use. An equal opportunity employer. Some
settling of contents may occur during shipping. Use only as directed.
No other warranty expressed or implied. No postage necessary if mailed
in the United States. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Slightly
higher in California. Keep away from fire or flame. Any rebroadcast, reproduction,
or other use of this game without the express written consent of Major
League Baseball is prohibited. Please keep your hands and arms inside
the car while ride is in motion. Any resemblance to real persons, living
or dead, is purely coincidental. Contestants have been briefed before
the show. Do not write below this line.
|
Sandy
Stone in Next Sex |