Art & Technology / Sound Practices
Art & Technology / Sound Practices
Art and Technology / Sound Practices (AT/SP) is a place to explore artistic production with technology, sound, or their unlimited hybrid forms through focused study and interdisciplinary exploration. It integrates two visionary SAIC departments: the Department of Art & Technology Studies and the Sound Department, each with more than 50 years of radical artistic and pedagogic exploration.
AT/SP offers a large, diverse, and ever-changing range of courses in the following areas:
- Creative coding & AI
- Sonic arts
- Immersive media
- Bio art
- Light
- Electronics, kinetics, and robotics
- The history and theory of these forms
Exploratory topics include: Poetic systems, olfactory art, and retro tech.
AT/SP integrates skills-based learning with conceptual investigation and critical interrogation to prepare students to be creative and productive cultural citizens.
Final Undergraduate Application Deadline: April 15
Submit your application and portfolio by April 15 to be considered for admission and merit scholarship.
File Your FAFSA
In order to be eligible for need-based aid such as SAIC, state and federal grants, loans and work study you need to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at fafsa.gov.
An Interdisciplinary Experience in Art, Tech, & Sound
Art and Technology / Sound Practices is a rigorous, interdisciplinary department where artistic, technological, and sonic experimentation intersect. Our innovative curriculum fosters generative dialogues across disciplines, encouraging collaborations that lead to groundbreaking artistic and research practices.
Faculty in AT/SP cultivate collaboration across departmental practices through hybrid courses like Virtual Sound and through annual local and international exhibitions and festivals such as Art on the Mart, Ars Electronica, and Waveforms.
This commitment to interdisciplinary exchange extends to team-taught and cross-disciplinary courses between AT/SP and other departments. These departments include Fashion Design, Designed Objects, Writing, Photography, FVNMA, Visual and Critical Studies, Liberal Arts, and Art History. Recent and upcoming course offerings include:
- Astrobiology and Speculative Futurism
- Electronic Textiles and the Body
- Futurecraft: Speculative Worlds & Narrative Game Design
- Language Games: Dialoguing with AI, Sound & Image
- Graduate Seminar: Exhibition in Venice
Learn more about AT/SP opportunities and programs for undergraduate and graduate students.
Student Work
Daniel Chiang and Jessica Paulin, Art on the Mart
Eryn Tempest, Waveforms
Syd Ross and D Wibowo, Waveforms
Ben Glass, Ars Electronica
Liang He, Ars Electronica
Patrick Glennon, Ars Electronica
Sam Anthem, Ars Electronica
Snow Chen and Banruo Chen, Art on the Mart
Yuwen Huang, Ars Electronica
Students have a variety of opportunities to exhibit their work both on and off campus, in the Chicago art world, and beyond. See recent examples above of student work from Art on the Mart, Ars Electronica, Waveforms, and more.
Curriculum
Each semester, AT/SP offers more than 30 courses and seminars open to undergraduate and graduate students. Courses provide in-depth instruction on a wide range of technologies, approaches, concepts, and production strategies. A small sample of recent course offerings includes Interactive Art and Creative Coding, Analog Sound Studio, Artificial Intelligence, Feminist Sonic Memory Practice, and Experimental Game Lab. The department’s emphasis on generative experimentation and highly visible public showings nurtures impactful and sustainable artistic practices. Our contemporary curriculum cultivates social, conceptual, critical, and technical skills that prepare students for careers as artists, academics, and cultural innovators working across disciplines and fields.
Faculty
The AT/SP faculty bring a depth of knowledge and a commitment to respectful and inclusive learning to their teaching. They create learning environments that combine rigorous research, playful experimentation, open dialogue, collaborative engagement, and individual mentoring.
The faculty come from a rich and diverse range of backgrounds and intellectual positions. They draw on their extensive experience with many technologies, concepts, histories, and theories to build meaningful courses for their students.
Facilities & Resources
The Department of Art and Technology / Sound Practices gives students access to cutting-edge labs and studios housing a wide range of technologies and recording equipment. Facilities and resources include:
• Black Box studio for virtual reality, augmented reality, and games
• Labs for bio art, electronics & kinetics, neon, digital fabrication, and more
• Retro lab for media archaeology
• Analog and digital recording studios
• Vintage and contemporary analog synthesizers and signal processors
• Multi-channel sound studio and whisper room
• 3D printers, desktop milling machines, and a digital embroidery machine
• Advanced software and user interfaces, and more
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Contact Us
Associate Professor and Department Chair
Judd Morrissey jmorrissey@saic.edu
Assistant Professor and Art & Technology Graduate Coordinator
Kristin McWharter kmcwharter@saic.edu
Professor and Sound Graduate Coordinator
Lou Mallozzi lmallozzi@saic.edu
Senior Administrative Director
Jeff Armstrong jarmstrong@saic.edu
Administrative Director
Alison Konicek akonic@saic.edu
Administrative Assistant
Logan Hoffman-Smith lhoffm1@artic.edu
Assistant Director of Art & Technology Facilities
Anna Yu ayu@saic.edu
Sound Facilities Manager
Misha Khokhlov mkhokhlov@saic.edu