EXPLORING NEW MEDIA

Spring Semester 2004

FYS 102 05P MWF 9:30 Ü 10:20 Mulberry Media Lab 4 credits

Exam Schedule B = Friday May 7, 9:00 Ü 11:00 a.m.

Professor Kathleen Pierson, piersonk@denison.edu, www.denison.edu/~piersonk

Office in Doane Dance Building Room 303, X6392, office hours Tues/Thurs 3:00-4:00 and other times by appointment

Required Course Materials:

For the hands-on projects, you will need blank miniDV tapes (digital video) and CD-Rs (digital audio). High-capacity portable USB file storage is also recommended, for example a Pen Drive. All of these materials are available from the Bookstore, as well as from local retailers or online.

There is no required hardcopy text for you to buy. All required readings will be available online via ERes (password = Mulberry, case-sensitive), and those listed with * are also on Reserve (as physical books) for you at the Circulation Desk in the Library. The required readings from physical books are drawn from:

*Bolter, David Jay, and Grusin, Richard. Remediation: Understanding New Media. MIT Press, 2000.

*Cook, Nicholas. Analysing Musical Multimedia. Oxford, 1998.

*Cope, David. New Directions in Music, 1st Edition. Wm. C. Brown, 1971 (for historical perspective).

*Cope, David. New Directions in Music, 7th Edition. Waveland Press, 2001.

*Gauntlett, David (ed.). web.studies. Oxford, 2000.

*Keyes, Jessica (ed.). The McGraw-Hill Multimedia Handbook. 1994 (for historical perspective).

*Lunenfeld, Peter. The Digital Dialectic, MIT Press, 1999. (Available in its entirety in Consort online).

*Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. MIT Press, 2001.

*Rush, Michael. New Media in Late 20th-Century Art. Thames and Hudson, 1999.

Strunk, W. Oliver. Source Readings in Music History. Norton, 1950 (for historical perspective).

(For programmers: Cope, David. The Algorithmic Composer. A-R Editions 2000. and Winkler, Todd. Composing Interactive Music. MIT Presss, 1998 are resource books)

There will be an ever-expanding set of websites we will all visit, for shared online experiences of new media works, and for readings of essays available only online. The URLs will be e-mailed to you week by week, so that you can link to them directly from e-mail, but I am also attaching a hard-copy listing...

Course Objectives and Course Rationale:

~ to gain both conceptual insights and practical skills in new media, using a three-fold approach (history/philosophy/concepts; personal experiences/responses; hands-on production of small-scale digital creative projects in website design, Flash, Final Cut Pro, Digital Performer, and MAX/MSP).

~ as a music course, to focus on music's place in new media history, and as an FYS, to continue building your research and writing skills, particularly as suggested by the phrase "Exploring New Media."

Art, and the way one consumes and experiences art - creation, manipulation, distribution - have all been deeply affected by technological developments. Theatre, cinema, dance, music, visual arts, photograpy, animation, creative writing, interdisciplinary multimedia works, and completely computer-contained works are all evolving as technology evolves. We will consider, briefly, where history offers insights into this phenomenon. We will study the thoughts and works of some of the foremost 20th-century predecessors of the current crop of new media artists. We will experience, together in class, the works of selected current artists online, and we will each explore more deeply those that interest us personally. We will work collaboratively, in pairs and small groups, to gain the hands-on skills to create original "miniatures" using five of the programs here in the Mulberry Lab. What, exactly, is "new" about new media? What are the cultural/philosophical/ethical/psychological implications for art, artists, and our "wired" culture in general? What do we gain, what do we lose, what's fun, what's frightening, what's satisfying about new media? We will explore these questions together.

Grading:

(A+98-100, A93-97, A-90-92, B+87-89, B83-86, B-80-82, C+77-79, C73-76, C-70-72, D+67-69, D63-66, D-60-62, F0-59)

Ongoing Activity and Commitment: Attendance, Preparation, Class Participation 20%*

Four Writing Assignments, 10 points each, 40%

Four Hands-on Assignments, 10 points each, 40%

*There are no big tests, but unannounced pop quizzes (with no "make-ups") will be given, to encourage keeping up with the readings. Pop quizzes impact "Ongoing Activity and Commitment" portion of grade.

Being present, being on time, and being actively engaged in class are all expected. YOU are responsible for finding out ALL that you missed if you are ever absent. Absences can only be excused if there are formal reasons (such as athletic event participation, documented illness, etc.) AND you show that you have a copy of the notes from the missed class AND you have completed any missed work. Unexcused absences or chronic lateness will impact the "Ongoing Activity and Commitment" portion of grade.

There will be a constant succession of Assignments. Consider creating and saving at least a rough version of each Assignment BEFORE the due date, so that if power goes out or the network goes down you will still have something to turn in. Not having anything at all to show at the due date will lower the assignment grade two points (out of the possible 10) for each day late. Start early! Save SOMEthing!

Academic Dishonesty: Do your own work, in individual assignments and quizzes. Contribute to the group, in group projects. Attribute any quotes and cite all sources in all your assignments. All cases of plagiarism or cheating will be sent directly to the Associate Provost and the Board of Academic Integrity. "New Media" raises particular questions of intellectual property and authorial claim, due to the cut-and-copy and collage approaches of some artists: you, as a student, need to adhere to a level of academic integrity which exceeds much of what you might find, out in the larger web-world. Do not risk having your own academic integrity questioned: acknowledge and cite all sources.

Students With Disabilities: If you desire accommodation based on the impact of a disability, let me know as soon as possible so that we can discuss your specific needs. I rely on the Office of Academic Support in 104 Doane to verify the need for reasonable accommodations based on documentation on file in their office. In addition to these formally documented needs, I encourage every student to be forthcoming about academic problems or concerns, so that I have the chance to help if I can, or to help find other help (from the Office of Academic Support etc.) if that seems appropriate.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

First Week:

Mon Jan 19

Additional Online Essays and Artists' Sites will be e-mailed to you soon, also due to have been visited by Wedn Jan 28.

Wedn Jan 21 What kinds of things are possible in this Lab? Looking together in class at numerous online examples of the kinds of works that can be made here in Mulberry Media Lab. Discussion, using Workgroups as discussion groups. Give Writing Assignment #1 due Wedn Jan 28: Write about what interests you most in the readings and experiences we have shared so far and in realms you choose to explore alone, emphasizing synthesis and relationships. Write roughly 3 Ü 6 pages, "responsive" rather than "research," but still do not quote without citation.

Fri Jan 23 Historical Precedents: Looking together in class at brief excerpts from the following videos:

M1500.M78 Monteverdi's "Return of Ulysses" composed in 1641, 3 min. (350-year-old multimedia, The Odyssey)

M1500.V48 Verdi's "Rigoletto" composed in 1851 (same time as Wagner reading), 3 min. from Act III (Windows!)

(my own video) Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" composed in 1913, opening 5 min. (as historically restaged by Joffrey Ballet)

PN1997.F29 The Disney "Rite of Spring" from original "Fantasia" released in 1940, opening 5 min.

GV1785.C34 Cage/Cunningham in the sixties and seventies. Two 2-min. excerpts.

ML410.G4J64 Cage's "I Have Nothing To Say And I'm Saying It" 4 min.

(borrowed from UAkron) The World of Alwin Nikolais, Program 1 brief excerpts from Mantis (from "Imago") 1963, and from Crucible 1985 (compare to Bill Viola image online)

Second Week:

Mon Jan 26 NO CLASS (Martin Luther King Jr Observation)

Wedn Jan 28 Writing Assignment #1 due. Reading Assignment #1 (and online sites) due to have been completed (quiz can be given on that material at any time from now on). First hands-on day: Flash and Dreamweaver. Give Hands-on Assignment #1 (separate page) due Wedn Feb 4.

Fri Jan 30 A last look at "technology and music" historically, and looking together in class at brief excerpts from the following videos of still-living artists:

ML390.S46 Laurie Anderson and Pauline Oliveros from"The Sensual Nature of Sound" 1993

PN1995.9E96K6 Philip Glass' "Koyaanisqatsi" 1983

QA76.9.E94B334 David Cope "Bach Lives At David Cope's House" 1990

Third Week:

Mon Feb 2 An in-class writing, and working with the concept of revision via "no-name, shuffle" exercise.

Wedn Feb 4 Looking at each others' Hands-on Assignment #1. Upload to website by next Wedn Feb 11.

Fri Feb 6 Second hands-on day: Final Cut Pro. Give Hands-on Assignment #2 (separate page), raw footage and sound due Wedn Feb 11, edit by Mon Feb 16, Quick Time on website by Wedn Feb 18.

Fourth Week:

Mon Feb 9 In-class discussion: Collage/copy/original, produce/edit/distribute, venue, adjudication, media-incidental vs. media-essential, etc. Give Reading Assignment #2 and Writing Assignment #2 both due Wedn Feb 25. Readings will be listed on separate page, with additional online essays e-mailed to you. Focus will be history and recent developments of computer per se and computer's relationship to multimedia and interactive digital arts.

Wedn Feb 11 Look at one another's websites. Third hands-on day: Working with your raw footage in Final Cut Pro.

Fri Feb 13 Looking together, again, at artists' websites. Encourage to contact local/available artists.

Fifth Week:

Mon Feb 16 (last day to drop) Looking at each others' Hands-on Assignment #2. Upload Quick Time to website by Wedn Feb 18.

Wedn Feb 18 (Hands-on Assignment #2 to be up on website by now). Guest Artist Sarah Drake, as example of this weekend's choreography with video performance in the Dance Department.

Fri Feb 20 A look at some documents and essays regarding computer history. Class discussion.

Sixth Week:

Mon Feb 23 G Fourth hands-on day: First look at Max/MSP. Give Hands-on Assignment #3 (separate page) due Wedn Mar 24.

Wedn Feb 25 Writing Assignment #2 due. Reading Assignment #2 (and online sites) due to have been completed (quiz can be given on that material at any time from now on). Give Reading Assignment #3 and Writing Assignment #3 both due Wedn Mar 10. Readings will be listed on separate page, with additional online essays e-mailed to you. Focus will be philosophical and analytical writings on new media. Fifth Hands-on day: First look at Digital Performer.

Fri Feb 27 (New Music Festival - something in response to that...)

Seventh Week:

Mon Mar 1 Looking again at works of Chris Dobrian, Kim Cascone, Amnon Wolman, Freight Elevator Quartet, and Thou Shalt Not, now that we have dabbled in Max/MSP and Dig Perf.

Wedn Mar 3 Explain about Presentations and start scheduling.

Fri Mar 5 (class will depend on where students are with hands-on assign #3)

Eighth Week:

Mon Mar 8 (class will depend on where students are with hands-on assign #3)

Wedn Mar 10 Writing Assignment #3 is due. Reading Assignment #3 (and online sites) due to have been completed (quiz can be given on that material at any time from now on).

Fri Mar 12 NO CLASS

MAR 13 through 21 is SPRING BREAK

Ninth Week, Mar 22-26 Hands-on Assignment #3 is due Wedn Mar 24, as an audio CD. Upload to website as mp3 by Fri Mar 26. Give Hands-on Assignment #4 AND Writing Assignment #4, both due ON THE WEBSITE at the Final Exam time, Friday May 7, 9 a.m.

Tenth Week, Mar 29-Apr 2 Presentations begin

Eleventh Week, Apr 5-9 Presentations continue and conclude.

Twelfth Week, Apr 12-16 T.B.A. as we see how the final assignments are going...

Thirteenth Week, Apr 19-23 T.B.A. as we see how the final assignments are going...

Fourteenth Week, Apr 26-30 T.B.A. as we see how the final assignments are going...

WE HAVE CLASS MON MAY 3, and we gather to show final works FRIDAY MAY 7 9 a.m.

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