Topics in Convergent Media: Vision (Krukowski)

Instruments of Vision

INSTRUMENTS OF VISION

[Topics in Convergent Media: Vision [RTF 331S, Unique #07330 Instructor: Dr. Samantha Krukowski samantha@rasa.net TA: Ana Boa-Ventura boaventu@hotmail.com Fall Semester, 2000 Mondays, 3-6P Additional class times TBA CMB Studio 4B

Course Location

€ CMB Studio 4B is, and will continue to be, in various stages of renovation for the next few years. These stages may or may not deter us in our investigations, and if they do, we will respond with inventiveness. Equipment should be up and running for this semester by October 1, if not sooner.

Course Format

€ Individual classes will be about making and thinking. Some classes will be project oriented, others will be discussions of ideas and readings or of other material brought to the class by us or by you. Additional class times will be scheduled throughout the semester in order to accommodate the growth and interests of the class.

€ All students in this course should plan to attend all lectures and presentations of the First Annual Convergent Media Lecture Series, to be held at 5pm on various Thursdays (mostly) in CMB Studio 4B throughout the year. See attached preliminary schedule.

€ All students should subscribe to the ACTLab discussion list. Participating in this listserve allows you to communicate with and hear from a large number of interesting people from various backgrounds. Subscribe by sending a message to discuss@actlab.us. In the text box, write the word ³subscribe² and nothing else‹no signatures, no extra doodas.

Course Notes

€ You must be self-motivated to succeed in this course. Classwork is cumulative, and those of you who are unable to set your own goals and pace may have trouble participating and producing work. I am not here to spoon feed you. I am here to help you as you develop ideas, interests and questions. Creating a work between the physical world and the machinic world requires a lot of time in the labs outside of class. You should expect to spend at least ten hours of lab time each week in addition to class time. Lab facilities are limited. This necessitates cooperative scheduling. You may need to use resources in several locations, and finding the right equipment at the right time will require considerable initiative on your part. Do not take this course if you are unwilling to work hard, collaborate with others, or if you simply need three units to graduate. You are likely to fail.

€ Questions you have and develop may be resolved by practice or by other types of inquiry--theoretical, philosophical, scientific, poetic, etc. There should be times during the semester that you get stuck. You should develop the tools to unstick yourself. If you don¹t know what to make, go look at what other people have made. If you don¹t know what to say, go read something or watch something or listen to someone interesting. If you are still stuck, in all probability you are not making enough stuff to get yourself moving toward a question you can answer through practice or thought. A motto for the course: Make, make, make. If you come to me disoriented, I will first ask you what you are making and ask to see evidence of your efforts and research in the direction of your inquiries.

€ Your ability to collaborate will play an important part in how I evaluate your contribution to the class. Genuine collaboration is difficult and can succeed only when all members of any group participate fully and resolve problems as they arise.

€ Make up classes are not possible. Repeated absences or tardiness will have a negative effect on your learning and will greatly affect your final grade.

€ Your technical ability will increase in proportion to your effort. Hack and be resourceful. There are many, many online tutorials and resources for various programs. Learn as much as you can about everything that comes your way, but focus on those technologies that interest you, and seek their subtleties on your own time.

€ You must have electronic mail. Much class communication takes place electronically. If you don't already have one, you should obtain an Individual Funded (IF) account from the Computation Center. Log on at least once a day to check for class news and messages. It isn't necessary to come to the lab to log on; you can do it from any UT terminal or from home with a modem. You are responsible for all information posted to the class web site. "I didn't read that" is not an acceptable excuse for missing something. Throughout the semester, feel free to send us ideas, site addresses, information, notices, or anything else that relates to the class so that we may distribute what you've found to the class as a whole. Send the e-mail address you wish to use for class to Ana Boa-Ventura at boaventu@hotmail.com by September 12.

Readings

€ There are no required texts. Instead, there will be readings assigned on a weekly basis that reflect the ways in which the course develops during the semester. Two copies of these readings will be placed in a folder at Longhorn Copies marked Krukowski. They will be available to you a week before they are to be discussed in class. You should be prepared to discuss these readings on Mondays; readings for the week to follow will be available to you on Tuesday mornings. It is your responsibility to xerox these readings and return the original copies to the folder. DO NOT keep the originals‹this inconveniences your fellow students and diminishes the energy of the course. You will be individually responsible for each set of readings. I strongly advise you to spend time struggling with them, even if they seem beyond your reach. If you are having problems with a particular week's readings, contact a classmate or three and meet to discuss the material. I grade your understanding of the readings (and your sensitivity to the issues raised by them) during class discussion, so it is to your advantage to read carefully and participate. Additional classes may be scheduled to discuss particular articles or ideas.

Grading

Grading is based on your participation in the course and the quality of your smaller projects and final project.

€ Active class participation 25%

€ Smaller projects and documentation 25%

€ Final project proposal, presentation and web-ready version 50%

I do not take attendance for two reasons: one, I don¹t care to be your babysitter, two, it¹s obvious who is participating and who is not. In order to receive a grade for this course, there are four requirements beyond the above. First, you must attend class (you will be dropped after 3 absences). Second, you must complete all of your projects with dedication and perseverence. Third, you must present your final project in a public setting (we will discuss options) and document it in a web-ready version that you hand in to me. Fourth, and last, you must submit via e-mail (to samantha@rasa.net) a self-critique and an indication of the grade you think you should receive on the last class day. As in any creative class, grading criteria are necessarily subjective. You may not agree with my personal evaluation, but decisions are final and no post-grading negotiation will be permitted. I rarely give incompletes, by the way.

Exercise 1

Research an Instrument of Vision. Prepare a summary of the following: a) History b) Intended function c) Reception d) Current function (or possibilities for current function) e) Configurations f) Mechanics g) Visual examples €Instrument types €Imaging output h) Associated phrases and ideas i) Bibliography.

Exercise 2

Use an Instrument of Vision. Choose or make an instrument of vision. Identify or create something on which to focus it. Using the instrument, produce ten representations that rigorously problematize and portray the ways in which it frames, clarifies, distorts and/or obscures that upon which it is focused. Keep in mind that the word ³representation² is purposefully vague with regard to material, scale, dimension, and physicality. Because you are using one tool, and from its use deriving a series of representations, the relationship between these representations and the rational and theoretical progression from one to the next should be carefully considered and demonstrated. Keep in mind, too, that the representations are parts of a whole and that the work you produce should point to both (parts and whole, that is). Ask yourself, as you are working, whether the representations are more like body parts or building materials, like cells or seeds, like camera shots or dream states. The way in which you understand them will help you determine and construct their container or vehicle. Vocabulary pairs for your consideration: Proximity/Distance Clear/Obscure Unfiltered/Distorted Difference/Similarity Singularity/Repetition Identity/Communion Void/Condition Internal/External Light/Darkness Time/Moment Sequence/Rhythm Number/Algorithm Interior/Exterior

Exercise 3

Between Studio 4B and the control room of Studio 4B there are three windows. These windows offer a site for an intervention that reflects on the portals as instruments of vision. You might consider the following when developing and constructing your project: -The original and current functions of the two rooms and of the windows -The nature of a window -Representations of windows, types of windows, windows and metaphors, psychoanalytic or other readings of windows (ie "a window to your soul") -The relationship between authority and vision/perspective, the import of the word "control" and its relationship to seeing -Architectural/architectonic references: a helm, a guard tower, an aerie, a treehouse, a cavernŠ -Space, division, equality, partition, units (single, dyad, triad) -The idea of framing -Seeing in/seeing out

Final Project

€ Some theme, idea or question is bound to strike you between the eyes at some point during our travels. Your Final Project is to be a description of your research into this theme, idea or question. Your project must represent a rigorous investigation and should include three parts : 1) Research. 2) Practice (the process by which you think about how you make something of your research--sketches, preliminary writing, media investigations, stylistic forays.) 3) Product. These three parts should all be well represented when you hand in your Final Project at the end of the term. Both Independent and Team projects are permitted. Groups are almost always preferable for projects of significant scale and technological maneuvering.

€ Project proposals are due electronically on October 1 (to samantha@rasa.net) for both group and individual projects, and should include the following: A summary of your intentions, the nature of your research and a list of 20 sources, necessary practice and preliminary work, the physical/virtual scope of the final project.

€ Presentation is a large part of your participation in the course. From time to time you will discuss your project's progress with the class. I will be reviewing your individual progress over the course of the semester by observing your skills and creative choices as you work. There will be a peer and faculty review of your final projects at the end of the semester. Scheduling and location will be worked out in class and via e-mail. The nature of the public exhibition of your projects will be determined during the semester, but you are required to attend the end of semester events that take place, be they reviews, installations, performances, demonstrations, or the like.

€ Photographic documentation of your smaller projects is required. A web-ready version of your Final Project is due at the end of the semester. We will not be able to give you a grade without these in hand.

A Suggestion

€ Buy a large unlined sketchbook of at least 100 pages at the beginning of the course. Use it to record your journey in the class for the duration of the semester. This kind of book is a valuable physical record of your interaction with the more ineffable virtual domain, and a good place to develop ideas for your final project.

UNIVERSITY SPEAK

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 dishonest 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.