Nimrod Astarhan

The web browser is a blank canvas, through code we can conjure up any kind of preexisting and not yet invented screen based media. It is also an art studio, equipped with tools for making hypertext, interactive video, 2D and 3D animation, electronic music, sound sampling and synthesis, mixed reality (AR/VR), artificial intelligence and so much more. The browser is also a place to share our work, collaborate with others and explore all manner of interesting cultural activity. In this course we will produce Artware (software art) for any kind of Internet connected device (mobile phones, laptops, VR headsets, Raspberry Pi, IoT, etc) by learning to code in the Internet's de facto programming language: JavaScript. We will be examining (through screenings, readings and interaction) the work of artists, designers and developers who both celebrate and criticize the promises and perils of our digital age. We will chat with alumni working professionally as Internet artists and creative technologists, through virtual visits as well as physical trips to local creative development agencies like IDEO and Digital Kitchen. The first part of the semester will be spent working on individual experiments as we learn the basics of Internet programming. Students will then conceive and pitch project concepts to each other, before spending the later part of the semester collaborating on open-source artware leveraging the same tools (git, GitHub) and processes (Agile, Scrum) used by professionals. We will learn how to properly document and present software projects online as well as how to maintain a professional creative code portfolio. We will also learn to use libraries/APIs (for virtual reality, artificial intelligence, hypermedia, etc) pertaining to the specific type of project we choose to work on.