Real-Time A/V introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of live audiovisual signal processing for experimental media art performance. Through readings, lectures, screenings, discussions, technical instruction, and visiting artists, students will learn how early experiments by video artists and toolmakers have developed, through the years, into contemporary praxis. Hardware-based, analog systems will be discussed and a variety of software will be introduced including Signal Culture Apps, Resolume Avenue, and Max/MSP/Jitter. Experimentation, improvisation, play, and chance operations will be encouraged as students develop the technical and conceptual aspects of their independently driven performance and single-channel video projects. We will also examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected communities of practitioners and created new avenues for web-based performance. The semester will culminate in a student-organized online exhibition of final projects.
Category Archives: f24
DM-UY 4913 Blinking Beeping Moving Sensing
This course is an introductory course on physical computing, with an emphasis on unusual and unique physical interactions. Students will use microcontrollers, lights, speakers, buttons, sensors, and actuators like motors to physicalize digital processes. Potential applications include art installations, games, and interface design among other fields.
DM-UY 4913 Design Through Myth and Storytelling
Human beings experience the world through story, and myths are one of the oldest forms of storytelling. Their lessons are essential for meaningful communication, social connection, and a sense of wonder. Explore myths and storytelling techniques both new and old as a way of thinking through design principles and process. Through lectures, hands-on activities, and individual as well as group projects, students will address topics such as idea generation, putting idea into form, the role of users and audiences, asking good questions, playtesting, iteration, and more.
Instructor : Aya Karpinska
DM-UY 4913 Analog Heaven
Analog Heaven is an experimental sound class that looks at the history, theory, and techniques behind using electricity to make sound. We will be working with technologies ranging from simple analog circuits to professional-quality synthesizers, as well as digital systems inspired by – or designed in contrast to – these circuits. Along the way we will talk about the ways in which these devices are used to make music across the globe. Students will make a lot of sounds as well as design simple physical circuits, microcontroller interfaces, and digital software using Max/MSP, as well as doing design research into historical music-making and recording technology. Some experience working with sound and knowledge of digital audio recording and editing is strongly recommended for this course.
DM-UY 4913 Digital Accessibility and Creative Applications
In this course students will learn fundamental concepts and skills of digital accessibility and apply them creatively and intuitively to their own creative projects. Accessibility will be centered as a requirement for creation, rather than as an afterthought. We will explore how implementing accessible modalities such as alt-text, tactile graphics, captioning, audio description, and touch objects can deepen students’ understanding of the chosen subject or theme while broadening the audience for their work. Students can focus on creating accessible interpretations of existing artwork in the public domain or their own original artwork in any medium, such as (but not limited to) AR/VR, gaming, photography, drawing/painting, textiles, sculpture or physical computing. Students will use Adobe Creative Suite for video and sound editing and for creating captions and audio descriptions. Digital fabrication tools such as 3D printing, laser cutting, embossing, microcapsule printing and digital embroidery can be used for creating tactile graphics and touch objects. Disabled artists and members of the disability arts community will be invited as guest lecturers and critics. We will survey artists working across access modalities and read texts on Disability Arts Activism, disability-centered art praxis, and creative access.
Instructor – Stefanie Koseff
DM-UY 4913 Virtual Reality Studio
This course will introduce students to VR as a creative medium, while also exploring the historical and theoretical discourse of virtual reality. Students will learn to connect these studies to contemporary trends and issues. Students will explore the cultural, psychological, and environmental impacts of VR and technology.
DM-UY 4913 Hands-on Design: Fabrication Studio
This course explores the relationship between fabrication tools and contemporary artistic practice. Lectures and hands-on activities are integrated with computer-aided design (CAD) software to create individual or group projects. The course will focus equally on conceptual and technical skills. We will cover the process of creating works using experimental modes of making from ideation to installation. Throughout the semester, students will explore various techniques such as research, design, prototyping and final fabrication. Guest lectures with working artists will help students see design with a critical eye and further the discourse of art + technology. Students will begin with a series of small technically driven projects giving them the opportunity to experiment with different fabrication tools and culminate with a group show that will display individual or collaborative artworks. Students should be comfortable with: + basic programming and data management + interest in physical computing and fabrication + a hands-on studio environment with weekly critique + researching tools independently + drawing content from personal interests and studies to create a body of work
DM-UY 4913 Bedroom Beatmaking
How do we make music with minimal resources and even minimal “musical” ability? What does “musical” ability even mean in a world filled with sampling, remixes, and generative techniques? In this class, we will explore music production in the Ableton Live software. We will not be focused on playing or recording instruments, but rather on how we can use sampling and assistive tools to create music without the need for virtuosic ability, expensive hardware, or fancy studios. How far can we get with just a laptop (and maybe a half decent pair of headphones)? To supplement our practice, we will also be tracing a lineage of music that has centered around sampling (Hip-hop, Jungle, IDM, Dubstep etc.) and explore the pioneers who have informed the techniques we use today (Lee “Scratch” Perry, J Dilla, The Avalanches, DJ Screw). As we move into the modern day, we will explore the giants of contemporary sound design (Arca, SOPHIE, Four Tet, Oneohtrix Point Never) and see how older sub-genres have come back to life as they have mutated and changed over the past 20 years (in the guise of people like Skrillex, Pinkpantheress, and Bandmanrill). This history will be explored through materials that students will listen to, read, and watch. To a lesser degree, we may cover field recording techniques, analog audio formats, and musical hardware. Students need not have musical training or prior experience with digital audio workstations.
DM-UY 4913 Virtual Enhancements
Virtual Enhancements: How to Make Digital Things Look Good. Advanced topics in 3D rendering with node-based render engines, post-processing, and visual effects are covered as students hone the final steps of the design process with a focus on polish and visual fidelity. Software covered includes Cinema 4D, Redshift, Unreal Engine 5, After Effects, Houdini and others.
DM-UY 4913 Unity for Games
In this class, students will receive an intensive tutorial of the Unity game engine, be exposed to the different aspects of the game development process, and gain a basic understanding of the principles of game design. Heavy emphasis will be placed on understanding Unity’s place in the game development pipeline and mastering its unique world-building and scripting capabilities. This is a project-based class where students will get the opportunity to use what they have learned in lectures to develop their own 2D or 3D games. Students will work individually and in groups, and by the end of this course will have completed at least one full game.
Instructor : Seth Scott