Introduction to Time-Based and Digital Media

ART 214 at Saint Mary's College of Maryland with Fereshteh Toosi

25 April 2007

FINAL DATES

  • WEDNESDAY MAY 2: help session 1-4 pm
  • MONDAY MAY 7 by 5 pm: FINAL PROJECT DUE!
Your complete website must be uploaded and you must
1-send me the link
by email: ftoosi@smcm.edu
2-place a CD-R with all your files in my mailbox in the MH division office
This deadline is firm: broken links, incomplete sites, or no CD submission will not receive extensions, no matter what the technical catastrophe.

214 is the best


24 April 2007

grading rubric for the final project

In case you lose the copy I handed out in class:
http://www.smcm.edu/users/ftoosi/214blog/214_rubric.pdf

Don't forget the special help session 1-4 on WEDNESDAY MAY 2, in the ProLab.

23 April 2007

art SMP talks

eligible for your blogs, if you attend the entire event:

1st studio talk: Wednesday, April 25, 4-6 pm, Boyden Galley
2nd studio talk: Tuesday, May 1, 2-4 pm, Boyden Gallery
Art History talk: Tuesday, May 1, 10 am -12 pm, MH 151

16 April 2007

restructuring the internet?

news recommendation from Tom:
http://www.sgvtribune.com/business/ci_5675616

deconstructing websites: Mon/Tues 16/17 April

A site map reflects navigation and main content areas on a website. They are usually constructed to look like flowcharts and show how users will navigate from one section to another.

Your site will only have 4-8 pages, so the architecture will be shallow not deep.

According to the info provided in class, analyze one of the following sets of websites with your group. Draw a simple site map for the site's architecture and indicate whether it is hierarchical, linear, hub and spokes, or hypertext.

http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com
http://www.mouchette.org
http://www.larahoke.com

http://pooptopia.com
http://www.bethbee.com
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/nyunderground/docs/nymain.html

http://www.poltur.ro/index.html
http://www.busboysandpoets.com
http://www.remembersegregation.org

13 April 2007

last minute cultural events

April 5-7 and 12-14 at 8:00 p.m., April 7 and 15 at 2:00 p.m. - Bruce Davis Theater, Montgomery Hall - The Mandrake

*this costs $, as it's a benefit concert* Sat. April 14 - HSMC Visitor Center - concert by singer and songwriter David LaMotte. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Chesapeake Public Charter School. Tickets are $12 in advance, and $15 at the door. For more information, call 240-925-1888.

Sun. April 15, 1:00 - Good Water Store & Cafe, Lexington Park, MD - children's concert with David LaMotte and book signing with Carrie Patterson. LINK to the map.

Mon. April 16, 4:30 - Boyden Gallery - Artist Talk: David LaMotte, Musician
or I will also accept this event:
Mon., April 16, 4:30 pm - Cole Cinema - “Four Stages of Denial, or, My On-Again, Off-Again Affair with Feminism” Is Western Feminism Useful for Muslim Women and Men? Asma Barlas, Professor of Politics and Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Ithaca College, NY

Wed. April 18, 4:30 - Library 321 - Artist Talk: Shari Hersh, Mural Arts Corp Founder

Fri. April 20, 3:00 - Cole Cinema - Armand Cerbone, a Chicago-based psychologist, will speak on “Sex, Love, and Stigma in Same-Sex Relationships”

April 19-21, 8pm and April 22 at 2pm - DPC - Proof directed by Brian Sekinger. Email brsekinger@smcm.edu

April 19-22 Provisions Library, Washington DC (Dupont Circle) Multimediale Art Festival featuring FT's work, among other new media artists: http://www.multimedialedc.org

Visiting AnnMarie Sculpture Garden where art department studio assistant Lacey Volk is artist-in-residence is also eligible for your blog.

09 April 2007

No One Belongs Here More Than You

Websites can be simple and still wonderful. This linear site is a book promo by Miranda July, the artist who made the film You, Me, and Everyone We Know
http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

04 April 2007

Internet Art assignment

You will choose a PLACE with a web presence on-line. The subject could be a city, a tourist destination, a company, a natural site, a business, or a non-profit organization. How is the web site used to market and promote the physical/ideological site? How are the values and/or concrete attributes of the place represented on the web? Is it an accurate portrayal of the place? What is impossible to translate on-line? What kind of information is revealed and what is hidden?

Choose something that is relatively well-known. For example the National Mint would be a better choice than your local credit union. However, local places are ok, as long as they are known by your audience: the community here at the college and/or in Southern Maryland. Using the place's website as your starting point, you will create a response to the site. (The only site that's not allowed as a subject is the one for the college).

To create your response site: In Dreamweaver, you will create a 4-8 page website that reveals comical, unexpected or biased information about this place. Think about how the site will allow the viewer to access this information in a way that is visual and unique to a website, ie LINKING, ROLLOVERS, and the use of TEXT+IMAGE.

Do research to find interesting information and keep it simple.

SITES FROM LAST SEMESTER'S CLASS (the assignment was a little different, but the results are similar):
Adventures on Route 235 - Liz Lawrence
Biological Non-Fiction - Sean Glynn
Menchusita - Veronica Lopez
Wal-Smart - YaHaddy Njie
Exotic Vacations - Jess Porter

OTHER ARTIST SITES:
Mejor Vida Corporation
blackness for sale on e-bay
Dot Store
Rent-a-Negro
Cyborg Web Shop
Google Will Eat Itself
the first human male pregnancy
Preparing for Emergencies
Black People Love Us!

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE PROJECT:
M/Tu 9/10 April: TUTORIAL: THE BASICS + LINKING
MON: DW demo with FT
TUES: intro to net art

Wed/Thurs 11/12 April: TUTORIAL: TYPOGRAPHY + TABLES
-post a list of 5 website links for project ideas to your blog
WED: Melissa Dean
THURS: DW demo with FT

M/Tu 16/17 April: TUTORIAL: LAYOUT + CSS
-post a collection of images (collage them in photoshop) & a word association of at least 10 terms about your site's subject to your blog. Click here for an example of what your collage might look like, that I made about the subject of "video".
-in class: what is a site map? and more net art examples

W/Th 18/19 April:
-Post a hand-drawn site map, in color, to your blog. In your flow chart, indicate whether the architecture is linear, hierarchical, hub&spokes, or hypertext. Include arrows to indicate the direction of links. KEEP IT SIMPLE. These should be legible enough that you could hand them off to someone else and they would be able to make the site template (without content) for you. These sketches should show that you have taken into consideration the visual DESIGN of your site. Bring your sketches to class.
Check out these sites for more info on the principles of design:
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_of_design/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/elements_of_design/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_and_elements_of_design/

M/Tu 23/24 April: TUTORIAL: ROLLOVERS
instructor evaluations and in-class work day

W/Th 25/26 April: TUTORIAL: INSERTING MEDIA OBJECTS
LAST CLASS SESSION!
- ROUGH DRAFT of project due for feedback. This means at least 3 of your pages should be designed and uploaded for viewing on the WWW.

MONDAY MAY 7 by 5 pm: FINAL PROJECT DUE!
-Your complete website must be uploaded and you must send me a link to it by email as well as placing a CD-R with all your files in my mailbox. This deadline is firm: broken links, incomplete sites, or no CD submission will not receive extensions, no matter what the technical catasrophe.

03 April 2007

4-12 April schedule

W/Th 4/5 April: STERLING/MANDIBERG READING-POST TO BLOG
WED: intro to net art
THURS: Melissa Dean

M/Tu 9/10 April: TUTORIAL: THE BASICS + LINKING
MON: DW demo with FT
TUES: intro to net art

Tu/Wed 11/12 April: TUTORIAL: TYPOGRAPHY + TABLES
WED: Melissa Dean
THURS: DW demo with FT

Bruce Sterling in the news

For those of you who like a little more info, Bruce Sterling (author of the reading for homework) just gave a talk at a conference, with some interesting insights about the networked technology, such as:
Do i want to interact with my toothbrush? What's the toothbrush of the future? A toothbrush that advertises that if you upgrade it you'll get 20% more of the plaque removed. Nah! That's boring. How about the new Apple iBrush? It takes pictures of the holes in my teeth and sends the images online. Do we want toothbloggers?
This is not required, just an extra something if you're interested. The reading homework is below. Here's a link to a summary of the talk:
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/009443.php

02 April 2007

reading homework for 4-5 April

Please post your response by the start of class to be counted on time.

Read the article:
Short History of the Internet by Bruce Sterling
Then, check out this internet art site:
Real Costs by Michael Mandiberg
investigate it, and talk about how it uses the internet as an art medium. Explain why it uses it to best advantage, and why the piece could not be made in any other way.

Finally, answer this question:
HOW DOES THIS WORK FIT in the history of the internet that Sterling describes? What are the features of this art work that reflect the time in which it was made (2006)?

31 March 2007

chocolate Jesus


LINK: "A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid complaints from Catholics, including Cardinal Edward Egan... Artist Cosimo Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food. Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham".

30 March 2007

best of the surrealist games we played in class a few weeks ago

-Why do you live?
-Because my car needs an oil change.

-Why does every student wear jeans?
-Because your mother said so.

-Why are you gay?
-Because we couldn't afford to take you to Disney Land.

-Why is my ship sinking?
-Becuase it felt so cold in the rooms.

-Why don't you like coffee?
-Because the dog could smell cookies baking.

-Why do we have 10 fingers?
-Because I like you.

26 March 2007

Armenian genocide lecture and The Mandrake

More cultural events eligible for your blog

Prof Richard Hovannisian: Must We Still Remember? The Armenian Genocide as Prototype
Wednesday, March 28, Cole Cinema, 8pm
Richard Hovannisian is professor of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, California. Author of multiple books on the Armenian history and genocide, he has also recently served as consultant for the National Geographic Magazine on a feature article on Armenia. The talk will be accompanied by a short video selection.
===================================================
The Mandrake
by Niccolò Machiavelli
April 5-7 and 12-14 at 8:00 p.m.
April 7 and 15 at 2:00 p.m.
A robust, physical comedy in the style of the Italian commedia dell’arte.
For reservations, call the Theater Box Office at 240-895-4243 (ext. 4243) or e-mail boxoffice@smcm.edu.

23 March 2007

review times

WED 28 MAR
4:00 Alice
4:15 Winnie
4:30 Anne
4:45 Rachel
5:00 Shinae
5:15 Teresa

THURS 29 MAR
12:00 Marc
12:15 Mike
12:30 Merry
12:45 Carly

22 March 2007

schedule for the end days

W/Th 28/29 March
HW: Complete Lynda.com Dreamweaver TUTORIAL: INTERFACE + SITE CONTROL
(I will check to see that you've done this through Lynda.com by the start your class time, so don't delay!)
WED: critiques that were postponed from last week
THURS: story boards for animation in-class

M/Tu 2/3 April: BRING ALL YOUR MATERIALS FOR THE GROUP VIDEO
assemble the photo-roman in class!

W/Th 4/5 April: STERLING/MANDIBERG READING-POST TO BLOG
WED: intro to net art
THURS: Melissa Dean

M/Tu 9/10 April: TUTORIAL: THE BASICS + LINKING
MON: DW demo with FT
TUES: intro to net art

Tu/Wed 11/12 April: TUTORIAL: TYPOGRAPHY + TABLES
-post a list of 5 website links for project ideas to your blog

M/Tu 16/17 April: TUTORIAL: LAYOUT + CSS
-post a collection of images (collage them in photoshop) & a word association of at least 10 terms about your site's subject to your blog. Click HERE for an example of a collage I made about the subject of "video".
-in class: what is a site map?

W/Th 18/19 April:
-post a hand-drawn site map, in color, to your blog.
These should be legible enough that you could hand them off to someone else and they would be able to make the site template (without content) for you. These sketches should show that you have taken into consideration the visual DESIGN of your site. Bring your sketches to class.
Check out these sites for more info on the principles of design:
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_of_design/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/elements_of_design/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_and_elements_of_design/

M/Tu 23/24 April: TUTORIAL: ROLLOVERS
in-class work day

W/Th 25/26 April: TUTORIAL: INSERTING MEDIA OBJECTS
LAST CLASS SESSION!
- ROUGH DRAFT of project due for feedback. This means at least 3 of your pages should be designed and uploaded for viewing on the WWW.

MONDAY MAY 7 by 5 pm: FINAL PROJECT DUE!
-Your complete website must be uploaded and you must send me a link to it by email as well as placing a CD-R with all your files in my mailbox. This deadline is firm: broken links, incomplete sites, or no CD submission will not receive extensions, no matter what the technical catasrophe.

Yogi Bear storyboard

20 March 2007

Chris Ware - TAL animation

preview of a segment from Showtime's upcoming This American Life show, animated by Chris Ware:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271557392/bctid666401814

animation from body scans

See it here.

Accidental hard drive erasure cost Alaska $220,000

Moral of the story: Always back-up your work in at least 2 locations.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/20/lost.data.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

15 March 2007

PRINTING

Click on image to enlarge.

Link to the PRINT project description.
+ NEVER print .PSD files!
+ To use your own paper, you must load it in tray 1, the bypass tray (it's the one above) that folds out. If you don't know how, ask me or get the lab monitor to help you. Always make sure it is LASERJET paper.
+ Print each image to a separate piece of paper. Don't forget to choose orientation and paper size as well as the printer in the Print & Page Setup options boxes. You should print a proof to the B&W printer to check for mistakes before printing your final draft in color.

Directions:
1- Finish your image and save it as a .PSD
2- Go to Layers > Flatten Image (Omit this step if your file has text).
3- Go to File > Print with Preview
4- Click on checkbox "Show more Options". Pull-down menu should be set to "Output".
5- Choose "Encoding: ASCII" (not Binary)
6- Click PRINT.
7- Click "Save as PDF"
8- Save the PDF copy of your file to your project folder.
9- Open the PDF and print it in Preview using "Print with Preview".

March 19-28 schedule: weeks 9-10

MON Mar 19
PM class: cancelled so that you can attend this:
4:30 digital art lecture! MARK COOLEY in Library 321
Here's his website: http://www.flawedart.net. He also has work up now at Maryland Art Place.

TUES Mar 20
AM class: last work day for postcards. FT will meet with you individually to do mid-term assessments during class. We will only meet until 11:15.
12-1: I will give an artist talk in the Library 321 as candidate for the digital position.

WED/THURS Mar 21/22: POSTCARDS ARE DUE + STUDENT ART SHOW SUBMISSIONS TOO! Postcards must be printed BEFORE the start of class.
We will hang the postcards in the hallway upstairs for a Hall Walls show.
Cardstock will be available in the ProLab for you to print on... please use judiciously.
Don't forget that neatness counts when trimming your cards.

NB for WED PM class: Postcards are still due, but I have been asked to do a teaching demo for the faculty search committee and they will be visiting our class so we will have a special session.

MON Mar 26: Fereshteh in Chicago for lecture
PM class will meet with Andrew Kieper in Media Services, who will talk about his work and influences. Please go to Media Services on the 3rd floor of the library.

TUES Mar 27: Advising Day, no classes

WED/THURS Mar 28: intro to next project and tutorial/demo.

installation at thomas circle in DC

See more of these tape sculpture horses here: http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/traffic-go-round.html

mid-atlantic art recommendations

While on spring break, here are some exhibits you should check out!
Remember, going to a show off-campus is always eligible for your blog.

Installation art is all over the Hirschhorn Museum: Check out light works and collaboration between Pae White and Virgil Marti.

Jasper Johns prints and paintings are at the National Gallery in DC

31 first-year candidates in Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)'s, master of fine arts (M.F.A) programs are featured in a parallel series of group exhibitions in Bunting Center’s Pinkard Gallery (1401 Mount Royal Avenue), in Baltimore. Runs Friday, March 16 through Sunday, March 25, with an opening reception on Friday, March 16, 5–7 p.m., and open studios on Friday, March 16, 7–9 p.m.

In Words, curated by artist Lance Winn, will close March 21 at the University of DE Museum in Newark, DE.

The Contemporary in Baltimore has a show called CELL PHONE: Art and the Mobile Phone.

Speaking of cell phones, I have a piece featuring downloadable ringtones at Space 1026 in Philadelphia.