1. (2%) EMAIL Communication (Required by week 2 for grade and after that when you desire. You will receive class announcement emails from me throughout the semester.) Each individual should write a note to me (K.Keifer-Boyd@ttu.edu) that might:

(1) Ask a question about something mentioned or that occurred in the class.

(2) React and reflect on what has occurred in class.

(3) React to a reading or Internet resource that relates or was assigned to the class.

(4) Connect the class's session to a current social or personal issue.

(5) Describe a concern related to the course or your degree program.

 

Continue to Use Email Communication in this Course to:

(1) Connect with others: professors, students, listservs

(2) Collaborate on projects.

(3) Send resources to others and receive them too.

(4) Ask questions, get feedback, or give comments & feedback

(5) Network with a global community

2. 10% Preparation for Each Class with Readings & Participatory Attendance: Read Postmodern Currents ch. 1 (pp. 1-38) due 9/5; ch. 2 & 3 (pp. 39-95) due 9/12; ch. 5 (pp. 154-211) due 9/19; Hayles rdg. due 9/26; Garoian & Guadelius rdg. & ch. 4 (pp. 96-153) due 10/3; ch. 6 (pp. 212-246) due 10/31; ch. 7 (pp. 247-285) due 11/14.. Be prepared to discuss the readings, refer to the readings, answer & ask questions about the reading.

3. 10% Artist Web site Critiques: Critique 3 artist Web sites. Turn in a print out of the home page (make sure the URL is on the printout) and a written description & critique of each of the 3 Web sites. Due 9/19.

In your critique consider:

Artists using contemporary technological means for their art practice can assume many stances in today's climate. On the one hand they can engage in a modernist art practice that assimilates technologically based work within the same conceptual framework as drawing, painting, and sculpture without using it as a means of cultural critique. It then becomes sublimated as a tool for art-making. On the other hand, they can fully engage electronic media in a practice which critically analyzes contemporary media-dominated cultural contributions using the very tools which power it. Whether they choose technology either as a medium or as a tool for their work, contemporary artists have access to concepts, themes, and methodologies for creating artworks which reflexively examine the process of representation itself. (Lovejoy, 1997, pp. 260-261)

Does the artist use the Web as the media of his or her art?

Is the art static, dynamic, or interactive?

Is the Web site linear or nonlinear?

Is there a central visual metaphor or concept that is evident in the choices of colors, typography, textures, layout, images, and navigation?

What view(s) of reality, knowledge, and values are embedded in the Web site?

See Student Essays about Interactive Websites for examples of artist Web site critiques and see links to Interactive Art

4. 10% Internet Self-Scultpure: How would cyberspace construct your identity by the info you give it?

Project Steps:

a. Select phrases, words, & ideas from looking into a metaphorical mirror during our first class.

b. List these concepts across the top of a page.
c. Begin your Internet self-sculpture by first doing the Internet Search Strategies (click and follow activities)

d. Then try different Search Engines. Type your words into Search Engines on the Internet.
e. List what you find under each heading--even that which does not fit you.
f. Print one item from each heading that conveys something about you. From these printouts create a self-sculpture. Or copy and paste what you gather from the Internet (using your self-descriptive keywords) into a collage. Assembly it in any way (see resources for "how to" help) into a visual self-sculpture.

g. Present your self-sculpture on 10/10.

THEORIZING INTERNET SELF-SCULPTURES: A technocultural project based in postmodern social theory that uses perpetual displacement in the creation of postmodern art.

Social constructivist view: Context is not given but produced (a key concept to understanding intertextuality, intervisuality, & intersubjectivity)

VISUALIZATION (exploration of subject/object)
(see self) Mirror (Derrida's double mirroring)
(desired self) Positionality (Derrida's grafting)
(others see self) Perpetual Displacement (perpetually contesting sites of meaning)

INTERNET SEARCH (exploration of inclusion/exclusion=Rhizomatic webbing)
Every position defined as much by what it includes as what it excludes.

SELF-SCULPTURE (exploration of deconstructing/constructing identity)
New placement/position/identity. Identity in perpetual process of construction--not a fixed entity.

5. 10% Video Practice Excercises: Video camera provided if needed. Refer to the demo and discussion on 9/20 concerning symbolic meanings of items selected. Due 10/3.

Practice the following processes with a Camcorder: Put the battery on, put a tape in, turn camera on, practice shot, then record shot, then view.
1.	Capture a "clean entrance and exit" shot.
2.	Do a full (almost 360 degree) pan shot.
3.	Do a full circle around an object/person/site with the camera on the rolling tripod.
4.	People Sequence: Do a full view, zoom in to first speaker, pan to second speaker, zoom out to a full view.
5.	Practice shots from below, above, and even.
6.	Practice three quarter shots to maintain depth.
7.	Practice "rule of thirds"
8.	Object Sequence -set up still life, tripod still shoots (don't move the camera between shots), move a few things and record, move some things and record-zoom in and then out to something else and stop recording, repeat this part of moving things and recording as many times as you are interested in seeing what it will look like as a sequence of objects moving. Objects animated take on sign, symbol, & metaphorical meanings of humanness. (Eraser, tape, electrical adapter -- How might these inanimate objects when animated represent life circumstances?)
Turn camcorder off, remove tape, remove battery and recharge battery for the next person to try exercises.

Things that Can Ruin Your Video:

1. Did not use tripod.

2. Did not use external mic.

3. Did not turn off flourescent lights or other buzzing appliances.

4. Did camera moves too quickly (what seems slow, i.e., pans, zooms, tilts--do slower unless the jerkiness is important to your message).

 

Things that Improve Your Video:

1. Write treatment and script first!

2. Stay focused to get concept across (no need to sell editing facilities).

3. Set up good lighting (watch out for backlight shadows unless you want that effect).

6. 5% Video Treatment & Script: Complete the information following the model below which is based on professional video treatment and script formats & contents. Due 10/17.

TREATMENT for VIDEO PRODUCTION
Producer: Date: Locations: Page ___ of ____	Proposed Title: Proposed Length: Proposed Shooting Date(s): Proposed Completion Date:
Production Statement: Describe action + concept in one or two sentences. State the title, length, what or who the video is about, why it;s important, and how it will be conveyed. Media catalogues of films are listings of production statements that may be helpful to look at for examples.
Communication Goals and Objectives: In no more than 5 sentences state your goal (i.e., your purpose)--what do you want to communicate? Include in this purpose statement: (a) What perspective are you going to take? (b) Who is the target audience(s)? (c) What do you want the audience members to get from your video? (d) Why is it important to communicate (what benefits, insights, etc.) will the audience receive? (e) How (what strategies) are you going to use to communicate this?
Description: This section is not a shot by shot list but it does describe in general the kind of action the audience will see. Be more specific on the opening and conclusion. Break the video down into basic sequences that will make up the program. Briefly describe transitions.
Outline/Format: This section is an outline of the kinds of visual shots, audio, and transition techniques you will use (see script "action tips," "shot descriptions," and "transitions." Break this into 5 parts: Opening (grabs attention, tone & mood set, hints of what is to come) Beginning (context set: who, what, when, where; a leading sequence tied to the content, goal, or concept of the video; something happens: a conflict encompasses both the events of the plot itself & the tension that creates interest) Middle (Action is sustained or built up. Possibly develop further intrique/complications. The event of the story occurs.) End (climax--resolution of the conflict(s) Conclusion (Relates to the opening and often leaves the viewer wanting more.)

Examples of Film Treatments:

Montage (quotation & fragmentation) (Eisenstein)

(montage film theory triad: innovation, reaction, reinnovate based on reaction--i.e., consolidation)

Rapid cuts or camera movement (Paik)
Layered texture (Lahire)
Fixed camera/long takes (Warhol)
Out of focus (Brakhage)
Serial, centered, or overlapped views
Fixed, destabilized or symbolic space
Single or Multiscreen projection
Grid or matrix (undefineable shape)

SHOOTING SCRIPT for VIDEO PRODUCTION
Producer: Date: Locations: Page ___ of ____	Title: Length: Shooting Date(s): Completion Date:
VIDEO	AUDIO
Visualize your video shot by shot: Describe in abbreviated form: (1) the composition, (2)camera angle, (3) lighting (natural daylight, spots, interior lamps, etc.), (4) camera movement (if any), (5) movement on part of subject (if any), and (6) duration.   Example: (1) L.S. Exterior. Yard in front of maple tree. Early autumn afternoon. Downward angle from roof. Two boys enter leaping playfully on screen right.   Action Tips:   1. Keep the activity unfolding. Change angle and image size. Use about 7 shots for a sequence--like entering a space and sitting down rather than a continous shot.   2. Try to capture the specific action most telling of the larger picture. Action can happen in each frame (subjects move), or by the camer movements (pans, zooms), or by the sequence of the shots that came before and after (cut-ins, cut-aways).   3. Long wide shots have the affect of slowing a program down. Going from a smaller image (wide/medium) shots to larger (close-ups) speeds up the pace. Cut-ins keeps action moving, it supports the action, and pace seems faster. Cut aways are in relation to the action. They extend action, and slow the tempo down creating suspense and heightening interest. Close-ups or zoom-ins should be of something relevant to the program. Action is most likely seen (in USA films) in the upper right side of screen. 4. Cut on the action not a still shot.   5. Avoid jump cuts by following the 180 degrees rule of thumb--that is imagine a line that cuts through the action and stay on one side of the line. If you need to cross the line take a front on or tail end shot as a transitional device. Changing image and angle by 30 degrees helps to avoid jump cuts too.   6. Don't confuse with too much information in a shot be clear about what you want the audience to see. Pace the detail. Video is an intimate, close-up medium. Shots in and of themselves say nothing--they are meaningful by what was before and what follows.	Corresponding to each shot describe what is on the audio tracks. There are two audio tracks so music, ambient sounds, and/or primary audio can fade in, out, up, or down. Be specific. Instead of "girl talks" write what she says. Or for ambient sounds write what it is of, or from (e.g., "footsteps coming closer"). Or describe title of music used, what section, or what it sounds like (e.g., rhythm, fast paced, lyrical). You can draw a vertical line to indicate that it continues through several shots.     Shot Descriptions: Pan (lt. to rt. or rt. to lt.) for horizontal Tilt up (for vertical) Tilt down Zoom in Zoom in Zoom M.S.(medium shot) to C.U.(close up) Fade out or fade in L.S. (long shot) W.S. (wide shot) C.U. (close up) M.C.U. (medium close up) X.C.U. (extra close-up) Upward angle (gives emphasis & strength) Downward angle or top shot Transitions: Exit left, enter right or exit botton, enter top Exit straight to camera--reenter straight on Focus/defocus or dissolve or fade out or in Swish pan same direction (pan fast-cut-pan fast) Zoom in on color surface/cut/zoom out on same color surface in a new location. Use cut aways (Person throws paper down outside, cut to person picking up paper in a new location). Sound can bridge visual cuts so the editing is more harmonious. Audio before video or video before audio.

7. 10% Video: 1-minute edited video. Due 11/7.

 

While the School of Art computer lab has 2 AVID Cinema stations for digital editing that you will learn how to use in Art 5366, you may opt to edit video at Region 17.

 

On Oct. 25 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. you may visit Region 17 (go west on 19th street and turn right just prior to the loop, on your left, 792-5468) to see the video editing services, lamination, slide copystand & other resources . These resources are intended for teachers or those preparing to teach.

 

At Region 17 contact Joe Johnston, 792-5468*ext. 860 to set up a time to edit video. Joe will help the first time (it takes him about 10 min. to teach you) and then charges $5 per hour to use the low-end digital video editing facilities. You can send PhotoShop images formatted as gif or jpeg to his email <jjohnston@esc17.net> as attachments prior to the editing session so they are ready to insert in your video. He has a music library of about 128 cuts of copyright free music to add to your video. Script narrative, music, sound effects, and visuals before working with Joe to edit your video.

 

Joe Johnston, 792-5468*ext. 860 will do the editing with and for you and will charge $35 per hour. He will use AVID ProTools to create a broadcast quality video. Bring raw footage on VHS tapes 2 days prior to the editing session and he'll digitize in advance of working with you. Come prepared with script.

8. 15% Presentation: Use the topical bibliography as a starting place to find research to develop your presentation. Due 11/7. Prepare a 15 min. presentation on:

 

Theorizing Your Room

(PowerPoint linear or DreamWeaver nonlinear presentation--insert video)

 

Guest Glenn Hill, Associate Prof. of Arch.

 

Evaluation Criteria: (met all criteria) = 15% (full credit):

Used time effectively and did not go over the time limit.
Used electronic &/or digital technology in presentation.
*Prepared with content, visuals, & process (Research and preparation obvious)
*Engaged learners
Sought evidence of student learning (i.e., an assessment strategy used)

*Instructional presentation evaluation criteria based in Information Processing Theory: (a) gain students attention, (b) activate student prior knowledge, (c) use advanced organizers & organize content information, (d) employ active learning, i.e., present information so it is acted upon or responded to by students in some way, (e) provide meaningfulness, (f) use visual imagery, and (g) allow for individual differences among students.

 

Ideas for integrating technology in your teaching presentation:

 

1. Create a PowerPoint linear presentation. Project creation combines skills of scanning slides or flatbed images, use of digital camera, use of PhotoShop, & PowerPoint. (Check out the 2 hour videos a the ATLC to teach yourself how to use PowerPoint and PhotoShop if needed.)

 

2. Create a WebQuest in DreamWeaver and have students use it (going to different Web sites you have preselected) and complete the task or ask students to use the WebQuest rubrics to evaluate the WebQuest.

 

3. Insert your video you have edited or an animation you have created presenting your research.

 

4. Describe an exemplar program using computers in visual education by showing some of the uses of technology in the program that could be integrated into the virtual house project. (See Web site hotlist for ideas.)

 

5. Create a active learning, nonlinear hands-on activity (using a program such as HyperStudio or DreamWeaver) to teach about the concepts in your room.

 

6. Present your exploration of the insights and consequences to individuals that occur when online users pretend to be a different gender or age in online chat situations. Or present your own psychological effects when entering a chat space (or analyze discourse) or engaging in an interactive art site or conversing with a chatterbot or interacting in a listserv or discussion board.

 

7. Other?--suggest something else than listed in 1-6.

9. 3% Peer Formative Critiques & Interpretations in-class of your room on 11/28.

10. 15% Collaborative Web House (your room): Formative critique of your room on 11/28 with final version Due 12/5.

"Interactivity offers important new avenues to cognition to take place, where works can begin to flow with the more psychological internal associations of the individual viewer's make-up and identity in mind" (Lovejoy, PM Currents, p. 167).

 

House Symbol: "Our structures are extensions of our world order and are viewed as living beings with life and death cycles" (Text by Tesse Naranjo, Santa Clara Pueblo in the Here, Now, & Always Exhibit at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe, July, 2001).

 

House Allegory: Household in Spanish cinema is an allegory of the nation's politics. In the words of filmmaker Manuel Gutiérrez Aragon) "a microscopic state . . . a summary of the tensions and structures' of the nation" (quoted by Hopewell, J. (1986). Out of the Past: Spanish Cinema After Franco, London, BFI, p. 194). John Hopewell perceives the Spaniard's home as "an arena in which spectacles of gender, nationality and sexuality are represented, in which both fully social and unconscious drives are played out." (Quoted in Smith, P. L. (1996). Vision machines: Cinema, literature and secuality in Spain and Cuba, 1983-1993, p. 33. New York: Verso.


House Analogy: "In the context of feminist research methodology, "ecology" suggests that feminist research is housed in various contexts. Most feminist researchers acknowledge that they are housed in particular academic disciplines and theories, and in criticism of the disciplines" (Reinharz, 1992, p. 241). Part of the house includes connections to feminist scholarship, the women's movement, their body, and personal relationships. "I came to see that what I had thought previously was separate items, was actually an ecological system of people, institutions, and ideas, connected to each other in complex ways" (Reinharz, S., 1992, Feminist methods in social research, p. 241. New York: Oxford).

In this semester (fall 2001) collaborative art venture you scan objects no smaller than a "James Watkins' vessel" to place into our interactive Web virtual house created by TTU Architecture Professor, Glenn Hill who will help us move ideas into the virtual house that will be added to and accessed globally with user directed views. The focus of the house will be to revisit questions raised by Judy Chicago's 1972 Womanhouse. Key questions are: (1) How are individuals inscripted in spaces? (2) What are their embodied experiences? Feminist research methodologies inform the house's rooms. Critical inquiry into the interdependence of the nature of reality (metaphysics), the nature of knowledge (epistemology) and the nature of value (axiology) will also inform the collaboratively created interactive Web house.

Three guests to the fall 2001 course (i.e., Glenn Hill, Oliver Herring, & Esther Parada) will provide inspiration and guidance. For inspiration on the video and performative aspect, German-born artist Oliver Herring (with exhibitions at NYC's Guggenheim Museum SoHo in 1997 and at Biennale di Firenze in Florence) will present about his video and performance art in class on Sept. 26, 2001 following a performance the weekend prior. Each student will create a 1-minute video to explore different concepts of time & reality and place this in their "room" in the house. Esther Parada will visit November 2, 2001. She is an artist whose work explores historical and contemporary relationships between visual representation and power, and the complexities of cultural hybridity. She has exhibited extensively in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Through digital interweaving of photographs and text, she creates images which challenge traditional landscape icons to re-vision an environment of cultural/horticultural diversity. A field trip to the Reese Virtual Reality theater with Esther Parada and Glenn Hill will enhance our exploration of illusion and multi-dimensionality. Esther Parada will inspire you to create meaningful landscapes with image and text that animate and uncover surface layers. Bring words, phrases and visual images which may express the multi-dimensionality of a personal landscape. Parada will demonstrate and discuss a number of strategies for digitally blending, juxtaposing, or sequencing these elements. These landscapes can become a part of your "room" in the virtual house. Additionally your self-sculpture may become part of your "room" in the virtual house. Besides accessible on the Internet, each student will burn their own CD-ROM containing the finished project.

Technology involved: camcorder, digital cameras, scanners, PhotoShop, AVID Cinema, 3D Studio, DreamWeaver, & CD-ROM creation. (Some students may also want to use MacroMedia Director, Adobe Premiere, & Graphic Converter or other software.)

Pedagogical approach: a postmodern multicultural orientation involving intertextuality, intervisuality, and intersubjectivity.

Nonlinear/interface design criteria:

1. Continuity between visuals, sound, and concept.
2. Users feel free to create their own interpretation.
3. User can easily navigate through the piece.
4. The project is visually and conceptually engaging.

11. 10% Final Essay on embedded ideologies in selected digital programs--due 12/12 6:30 p.m.

Use the textbook (i.e., Postmodern Currents), course handouts, your notes, and individual research for this course to write a final take-home essay exam. The essay is worth 10% of your course grade and is due 12/12/2001 at 6:30 p.m. Please place a copy of your essay in my mailbox or in the box by my office door or sent as email attachment.