Undergraduate Overview
Art & Technology / Sound Practices Undergraduate Overview
The Department of Art & Technology / Sound Practices offers a wide variety of courses in the technological and sonic arts. It is a place to build skills, learn concepts, and ask questions through rigorous coursework with expert faculty who will support and challenge your investigations.
Each semester, AT/SP offers more than thirty undergraduate courses to choose from, covering topics that include creative coding, experimental sound production, virtual and augmented reality, game design, electronics and kinetics, software and hardware interface design, hacking and circuit bending, live sound and media performance, text interfacing with technology and sound, bio art, olfactory art, sound and media installation, light projection, acoustic ecology, sound for cinema, and many more.
Customize Your Education
Undergraduate students can plot their own pathway through the AT/SP curriculum in consultation with faculty and academic advisers. Introductory courses serve as a foundation for the wide range of upper-level studio courses focusing on skills, concepts, and topics relevant to an immersive and diverse education in the technological and sonic arts. This encourages an interdisciplinary approach that addresses the individual student's interests and at the same time encourages their explorations into unfamiliar territories with unlimited creative possibilities.
Admissions Requirements and Curriculum
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To apply to SAIC, you will need to fill out an application and submit your transcripts, artist's statement, and letters of recommendation. And most importantly, we require a portfolio of your best and most recent work—work that will give us a sense of you, your interests, and your willingness to explore, experiment, and think beyond technical art, design, and writing skills.
To apply, please submit the following items:
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Portfolio
Submit 10–15 pieces of your best and most recent work. We will review your portfolio and application materials for merit scholarship once you have been admitted to SAIC.
When compiling a portfolio, you may concentrate your work in a single discipline or show work in a breadth of media. The portfolio may include drawings, prints, photographs, paintings, film, video, audio recordings, sculpture, ceramics, fashion designs, graphic design, furniture, objects, architectural designs, websites, video games, sketchbooks, scripts, storyboards, screenplays, zines, or any combination of the above.
Learn more about applying to SAIC's Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio, or view our portfolio preparation guide for more information.
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Studio 72 - CP 1010 Core Studio Practice I (3)
- CP 1011 Core Studio Practice II (3)
- CP 1020 Research Studio I (3)
- CP 1022 Research Studio II (3)
- SOPHSEM 2900 (3)
- PROFPRAC 3900 (3)
- CAPSTONE 4900 (3)
- Studio Electives (51)
Art History 18 - ARTHI 1001 World Cultures/Civilizations: Pre-History—19th Century Art and Architecture (3)
- Art History Elective at 1000 Level (3)
- Art History Electives (12)
Liberal Arts 30 - ENGLISH 1001 First Year Seminar I (3)
- ENGLISH 1005 First Year Seminar II (3)
- Natural Science (6)
- Social Science (6)
- Humanities (6)
- Liberal Arts Electives (6)
General Electives 6 Studio, Art History, Liberal Arts, AAP, or EIS Total Credit Hours 126 * BFA students must complete at least 6 credit hours in a class designated as "off campus study." These credits can also fulfill any of the requirements listed above and be from any of the divisions (Art History, Studio, Liberal Arts, or General Electives).
BFA With Distinction—SAIC Scholars Program
The SAIC Scholars program is a learning community of BFA students pursuing rigorous study in both their academic coursework and their studio pathways. There are two opportunities for interested students to apply to the SAIC Scholars Program: at the time of admission to the School, and after they have completed 30 credits of study at SAIC. Students pursuing the latter option are required to formally submit an application to the Undergraduate Division. Once admitted to the SAIC Scholars Program, students are required to successfully complete a minimum of six designated scholars courses. Students who complete the program will graduate with distinction.
BFA in Studio with Thesis Option (Liberal Arts or Visual Critical Studies)
BFA students may complete a nine-credit, research-based academic thesis as part of their studies within the 126 credits for the BFA in Studio degree. BFA with Thesis course sequences are offered over 3 semesters through the departments of Liberal Arts or Visual and Critical Studies (VCS). Students who are interested in one of the thesis options should follow the steps outlined below in the beginning of the junior year.
Requirements for the BFA: Studio Art with Liberal Arts Thesis
Step One: Students are required to meet with the Chair of the Liberal Arts department in the beginning of their junior year.
Step Two: With the Department Chair's approval, the student enrolls in the following courses beginning in the spring term of their junior year:
SOCSCI or HUMANITY 3900 Academic Research and Writing (3 credits)
LIBARTS 4800 Undergraduate Thesis: Research/Writing I (3 credits)
CAPSTONE 4900 Liberal Arts Undergraduate Thesis: Research/Writing II (3 credits)Step Three: The completed thesis must be approved by both the Thesis II instructor and the Chair of Liberal Arts. Students must make a formal presentation and participate in the Undergraduate Thesis Symposium in their senior year.
Requirements for the BFA: Studio Art with Visual and Critical Studies (VCS) Thesis
Step One: Students are required to meet with the Visual and Critical Studies Undergraduate Coordinator in or by the beginning of their junior year.
Step Two: With the VCS Coordinator's approval, the student enrolls in the first of the three-course sequence beginning in the spring term of their junior year:
- VCS 3010 Tutorial in Visual & Critical Studies (3 credits)
- VCS 4800 Undergraduate Thesis Seminar: Research & Writing I (3 credits)
- CAPSTONE 4900 VCS Undergraduate Thesis Seminar: Research & Writing II (3 credits)
Step Three: Completion of thesis must be approved by both the Thesis II instructor and the VCS Undergraduate Coordinator. Students must make a formal presentation and participate in the Undergraduate VCS Thesis Symposium in their senior year.
Total credits required for minimum residency 66 Minimum Studio credit
Course Listing
| Title | Catalog | Instructor | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Sound Practices | 2001 (001) | Eshovo Momoh | Mon/Wed
6:45 PM - 9:15 PM In Person |
Description
This course will introduce students to basic techniques of working with sound as an artistic material. As a prerequisite for many of the department?s upper level offerings, the class is designed to familiarize the student with both the technology and the historical and aesthetic background relevant to our facilities and courses, to the field of ?sound art? and experimental music in general, and to the application of sound in other disciplines (video, film, performance, installations, etc.) Equipment covered will include microphones, mixers, analog and digital audio recorders, signal processors and analog synthesizers. Hard-disk based recording and editing (ProTools) is introduced, but the focus is on more traditional analog studio technology. The physics of sound will be a recurring subject.
Examples of music and sound art, created using similar technology to that in our studios, will be played or performed and discussed in class. The listening list will vary according to the instructors? preferences. Readings are similarly set according to the instructors? syllabus: some sections employ more or less reading than others, contact specific instructors for details. Students are expected to use studio time to complete weekly assignments, which are designed to hone technical skills and, in most cases, foster artistic innovation. Some of these projects can incorporate outside resources (such as the student?s own computers and recordings), but the emphasis is on mastering the studio. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Introduction to Sound Practices | 2001 (002) | Whitney D. Johnson | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course will introduce students to basic techniques of working with sound as an artistic material. As a prerequisite for many of the department?s upper level offerings, the class is designed to familiarize the student with both the technology and the historical and aesthetic background relevant to our facilities and courses, to the field of ?sound art? and experimental music in general, and to the application of sound in other disciplines (video, film, performance, installations, etc.) Equipment covered will include microphones, mixers, analog and digital audio recorders, signal processors and analog synthesizers. Hard-disk based recording and editing (ProTools) is introduced, but the focus is on more traditional analog studio technology. The physics of sound will be a recurring subject.
Examples of music and sound art, created using similar technology to that in our studios, will be played or performed and discussed in class. The listening list will vary according to the instructors? preferences. Readings are similarly set according to the instructors? syllabus: some sections employ more or less reading than others, contact specific instructors for details. Students are expected to use studio time to complete weekly assignments, which are designed to hone technical skills and, in most cases, foster artistic innovation. Some of these projects can incorporate outside resources (such as the student?s own computers and recordings), but the emphasis is on mastering the studio. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Introduction to Sound Practices | 2001 (003) | James Paul Wetzel | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course will introduce students to basic techniques of working with sound as an artistic material. As a prerequisite for many of the department?s upper level offerings, the class is designed to familiarize the student with both the technology and the historical and aesthetic background relevant to our facilities and courses, to the field of ?sound art? and experimental music in general, and to the application of sound in other disciplines (video, film, performance, installations, etc.) Equipment covered will include microphones, mixers, analog and digital audio recorders, signal processors and analog synthesizers. Hard-disk based recording and editing (ProTools) is introduced, but the focus is on more traditional analog studio technology. The physics of sound will be a recurring subject.
Examples of music and sound art, created using similar technology to that in our studios, will be played or performed and discussed in class. The listening list will vary according to the instructors? preferences. Readings are similarly set according to the instructors? syllabus: some sections employ more or less reading than others, contact specific instructors for details. Students are expected to use studio time to complete weekly assignments, which are designed to hone technical skills and, in most cases, foster artistic innovation. Some of these projects can incorporate outside resources (such as the student?s own computers and recordings), but the emphasis is on mastering the studio. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Mechanisms, Movement & Meaning | 2010 (001) | Dan Miller | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Consider how object based movement creates both meaning and tone, and how movement functions much like non-verbal communication. We'll attempt to approach the technical matters of controlling motion from the aesthetic perspective of an animator or a dancer. The course introduces basic techniques for creating moving parts appropriate for a broad range of creative and material practices. Technical matters covered through exercises include motors, speed control, fabrication of moving parts and simple circuits for motor control. Self-determined projects will demonstrate mastery of skills and concepts.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Art and Technology Practices | 2101 (001) | Dan Miller, Garrett Johnson | Thurs, Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This team-taught, introductory course provides a foundation for most additional coursework in the Art and Technology Studies department. Students are given a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, and hands-on experiences they will need to engage the potentials of new technologies in art making. Every other week, a lecture and discussion group exposes students to concepts of electronic media, perception, inter-media composition, emerging venues, and other issues important to artists working with technologically based media. Students will attend a morning & afternoon section each day to gain hands-on experience with a variety of forms and techniques central to technologically-based art making.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Art and Technology Practices | 2101 (001) | Dan Miller, Garrett Johnson | Thurs, Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This team-taught, introductory course provides a foundation for most additional coursework in the Art and Technology Studies department. Students are given a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, and hands-on experiences they will need to engage the potentials of new technologies in art making. Every other week, a lecture and discussion group exposes students to concepts of electronic media, perception, inter-media composition, emerging venues, and other issues important to artists working with technologically based media. Students will attend a morning & afternoon section each day to gain hands-on experience with a variety of forms and techniques central to technologically-based art making.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Sophomore Seminar: Interdisciplinary | 2900 (016) | Lee Blalock | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers strategies for students to explore, reflect upon, and connect common themes and interests in the development of an emerging creative practice that will serve as the basis of their ongoing studies at SAIC and beyond. Students will examine historical and contemporary influences and contextualize their work in relation to the diverse art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary each semester. Presentations by visiting artists and guest speakers will provide the opportunity for students to hear unique perspectives on sustaining a creative practice. One-on-one meetings with faculty will provide students with individualized mentorship throughout the semester. During interdisciplinary critiques, students will explore a variety of formats and tools to analyze work and provide peer feedback. The class mid-term project asks students to imagine a plan for their creative life and devise a self-directed course of study for their time at school. The course concludes with an assignment asking students to develop and document a project or body of work demonstrating how the interplay of ideas, technical skills, and formal concerns evolve through iteration, experimentation and revision.
Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll. PrerequisitesPrerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Digital Audio Production | 3003 (001) | Allie n Steve Mullen | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is offered for those students interested in developing skills in the creation and application of digital audio. Using Apple's Logic software, students interested in exploring sound or music are introduced to audio manipulation techniques that allow them to create soundtracks, to record and produce songs or dance tracks, realize abstract sound pieces or manipulate sound for installations.
Techniques of sound manipulation are introduced, including audio recording and editing, looping, and sound destruction. MIDI, drum programming, the use of software synthesis and basic music and composition techniques are addressed according to the needs of individual students. The class is structured to encourage the interaction of students with a wide range of technical ability in audio from beginners to advanced artists in the early stages of a professional practice. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Digital Music: Concepts, Structures, Materials | 3005 (001) | William Harper | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course introduces students to the fundamental materials of music composition, the structures used to shape these materials, and techniques and strategies students can use to create fully formed pieces of music. Referencing traditional and experimental practices from many cultures and histories, we examine the basic musical elements of rhythm, meter, tonal organization, harmony, and timbre. These are applied in a digital studio environment via sampling, sound synthesis, looping, and live recording using Apple's Logic digital audio workstation.
Musical works by artists from diverse backgrounds and identities are analyzed to understand how these materials and concepts are used to sculpt emotional expressions, narrative forms, abstract constructions, or conceptual statements. Students work with these references, elements, and materials to make their own work in genres of their own choice. No style of music is off limits. Course work will vary but typically includes participation in weekly experiments and the presentation of self-devised projects at midterm and the end of the semester. Students work with the materials, structures, and techniques introduced to make their own work in genres of their own choice. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Acoustic Ecology and Phonography | 3006 (001) | Eric Leonardson | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is founded on exploring and understanding the richness and diversity of our sound environment: the sounds that are present, how they constantly change in time, their impact socially and individually, and how they can be attentively recorded and creatively deployed. Research conducted through recording will serve as a basis for discussion of acoustic ecology: an interdisciplinary concern with the social, scientific, and aesthetic interrelationships between individuals and their environment mediated by sound. Students will gain technical and critical skills and an understanding of the reciprocity of listening and sound-making, leading to increasing the potential for effective public engagement and social practice, and engaging with human perception and technology in human and non-human eco-systems.
Coursework is supplemented by examining works by artists and writers including Steven Feld, R. Murray Schafer, Annea Lockwood, Pauline Oliveros, Chris Watson, Hildegard Westerkamp, Luz Maria Sanchez, Amanda Gutierrez, Leah Barclay, Christopher DeLaurenti, Jonathan Sterne, Francisco Lopez, Norman Long, Viv Corringham, Christina Kubisch, Andra McCartney, Jean-François Augoyard, Henri Torgue, Andrea Polli, Manuel Rocha Irtube and others. Assigned projects include but are not limited to field recording, soundwalking, mapping, habitat monitoring and restoration, learning and cognition, communications, and soundscape composition. These lead to independent individual or collaborative projects. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Analog Electronics | 3007 (001) | Brett Ian Balogh | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Even though we live in a primarily analog world, most of our experience of modernity is digital. We will examine the similarities and differences of these two worlds through the lens of electronics, focusing on the role of analog systems in art-making. The course provides a hands-on exploration of analog sound and video circuit elements and systems as well as a survey of relevant artists, artworks and practices. Students will be able to make a variety of works, including performance, interactive objects and environments, still images, audiovisual instruments, audio pieces, and video, to name a few.
Course activities will be supported by the purchase of a kit of resources to facilitate hands-on exploration. Each student will research a topic of interest and will respond to it through the lens of their own practice in the creation of a final project. No prior skills in electronics or art and technology studies are required; however, curiosity and a willingness to learn are a must. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Olfactory Art | 3009 (001) | Tedd Neenan | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Students will investigate scent as an expressive medium. They will have access to the ATS Perfume Organ and specialized lab equipment. Course content includes basic aromatic blending, hydro-distillation extraction techniques and how to impregnate scent into various media. At least TWO works of Olfactory Art are to be completed. The last one is considered the FINAL and should be an opus ready for gallery/performance/experiential application.Students should leave this class with the ability to thoughtfully engage Olfactory Work as practitioners, researchers and thinkers within personal, historical, theoretical and conceptual contexts.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Sound and Image | 3011 (001) | James Paul Wetzel | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course focuses on the relationship of sound to moving image, and introduces post-production techniques and strategies that address this relationship as a compositional imperative. Thorough instruction is given on digital audio post-production techniques for moving image, including recording, sound file imports, soundtrack composition and assembly, sound design, and mixing in stereo and surround-sound. This is supplemented by presentations on acoustics and auditory perception. Assigned readings in theories and strategies of sound-image relationships inform studio instruction. Assigned projects focus on gaining post-production skills, and students produce independent projects of their own that integrate sound and moving image.
Artists include Chantal Dumas, Walter Verdin, Deborah Stratman, Lucrecia Martel, Martin Scorcese, Abigail Child, Frederic Moffet, Gyorgi Palvi, Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Hill, and others. Writings in theory include texts by Michel Chion, Rick Altman, and others. The student?s independent image-and-sound work is foregrounded and supported; supplemental assigned projects include sound sequence composition and ADR recording and mixing. PrerequisitesSOUND 2001 or FVNM 2004 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Sound Now: Improvisation | 3012 (001) | Damon Locks | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
The focus of this class will be on improvisation within and without traditions and in relationship and juxtaposition to genre and structure. There are many manifestations across cultures of freedom and transformation through improvisation. We will look at improvisational sound, music and performance and their potentials and outcomes -- from moments of imaginative exploration inside the form, to the search for freedom, discovery and re-contextualization. We will dig into the need for improvisation, its effect on the audience, and its power to provoke cultural change. Can improvisation be a practice as a whole, an approach to all forms?
Improvisation in performance and practice takes us to new places that are of the moment and a way forward, as exemplified in the work of the provocative Egyptian vocalist Umm Kalsoum who broke gender norms; Sun Ra¿s sonic storytelling and myth building based on Black American cultural signifiers; the genre-bending deconstructive electronic manipulations of Mixmaster Mike. The students¿ individual and collective explorations of improvisation in their own practice will be fueled by discussions, recordings, performance documentation and texts by artists, practitioners, and writers, including Rob Mazurek, Tomeka Reid & Nicole Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Sun Ra, Umm Kalsoum, Kid Koala & Mixmaster Mike, and more. Students engage in a variety of in-class approaches to individual and collective improvisation. These include exercises on exploring and expanding one's instrument of choice, close-listening and responsive-listening projects aimed at increased attention to collaborators in the moment, and projects in which cross-cultural and historical approaches to improvisation are analyzed and mobilized towards individual interpretation. These are amplified by meetings with visiting artists who share their experiences of improvisation in a wide range of contexts. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Women Artists in Cyberspace | 3018 (001) | Judy Malloy |
TBD - TBD All Online |
Description
With a concentration on creative practice in online environments, students will focus on the work of women, from the early days of computing, to the late 20th century, to the 21st century. In addition to lectures, readings, and traversals, practicum segments will guide student creation of online works that explore and expand on the role of women in cyberspace. Beginning with the work of women software engineers, such as black mathematician Katherine Johnson, and engineer and transgender activist Lynn Conway -- and with a project-oriented focus -- the course will look at the cyberspace-based work of women artist innovators, including ECHONYC founder, Stacy Horn; Cave Automatic Virtual Environment developer Carolina Cruz-Neira; and Ping Fu and Colleen Bushell's role in graphical interface design for Mosaic. At its core, the course will focus on the works of women cyberartists, including Joan Jonas, Sherrie Rabinowitz, Nancy Paterson, Brenda Laurel, Pamela Z, Char Davies, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Shu Lea Cheang, Tamiko Thiel, Carla Gannis, and Micha Cardenas. Students will create women-centered virtual art works, including graphic narratives and electronic manuscripts, and/or archives, online essays, or criticism.
Note that because Women Artists in Cyberspace is an asynchronous class, attendance on a specific day or time is not required. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Analog Synthesis | 3019 (001) | Austen Brown | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course considers the building blocks of modular analog synthesis-
oscillators, amplifiers, and filters, using vintage and modern analog equipment. The course also considers various frequency and amplitude modulation techniques, including ring modulation and frequency shifting. These techniques are contextualized in a brief survey of the history of `classical' analog synthesis music, both European and American, with some analysis of classical studio technique in the work of composers such as Stockhausen, Berio, Koenig, Subotnik, Oliveros, Babbit, etc. Weekly compositional projects emphasize particular technical and aesthetic problems. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Electronic Textiles and the Body | 3026 (001) | Anke Loh, Christine Anne Shallenberg | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Through lectures, readings and demos this studio class will focus on the use of e-textiles in art, design and fashion, with a focus on user-centered design, fashion applications, and embodied, tactile and sensory e-textiles with the potential for therapeutic, stimulating and engaging applications. Topics will include different types of sensing systems for stretchable/flexible/soft textiles with compatible sensors and electronics, as well as the opportunities and challenges of e-textiles in the areas of fashion and interior design. The class will cover reliability, sustainability and future trends. Professional practice field trips within the Chicago region will cover developing ventures in technology, art or wearables.
Students will be introduced to techniques for building electronic components using non-traditional and soft materials and programming for Arduino to integrate sensors into expressive forms, expand their understanding of wearable technology history through readings and artists working at the intersection of technology and the body and improve their ability to synthesize ideas and to see a project through from research to final presentation and to consider the best form of presentation. Readings, lectures and screenings will vary. Example of suggested readings: Haptics by Lynette Jones, 2018 Smart Textiles: fundamentals, design, and interaction by Stefan Schneegass (University of Stuttgart) and Oliver Amft (University of Passau), 2017 Crafting Wearables: blending technology with fashion by Sibel Deren Guler, et al., 2016 Wearing Embodied Emotions: a practice based design research on wearable technology by Secil Ugur, 2013 Course work includes weekly reading responses, a mid-term, and a final project. Students can expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester. Departmental consent required: junior level and up preferred. Please send brief paragraph why you wish to take this course, portfolio 5-10 images of work relevant to this class, and a list of classes you have taken in fashion and/ or art & technology. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Electronic Textiles and the Body | 3026 (001) | Anke Loh, Christine Anne Shallenberg | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Through lectures, readings and demos this studio class will focus on the use of e-textiles in art, design and fashion, with a focus on user-centered design, fashion applications, and embodied, tactile and sensory e-textiles with the potential for therapeutic, stimulating and engaging applications. Topics will include different types of sensing systems for stretchable/flexible/soft textiles with compatible sensors and electronics, as well as the opportunities and challenges of e-textiles in the areas of fashion and interior design. The class will cover reliability, sustainability and future trends. Professional practice field trips within the Chicago region will cover developing ventures in technology, art or wearables.
Students will be introduced to techniques for building electronic components using non-traditional and soft materials and programming for Arduino to integrate sensors into expressive forms, expand their understanding of wearable technology history through readings and artists working at the intersection of technology and the body and improve their ability to synthesize ideas and to see a project through from research to final presentation and to consider the best form of presentation. Readings, lectures and screenings will vary. Example of suggested readings: Haptics by Lynette Jones, 2018 Smart Textiles: fundamentals, design, and interaction by Stefan Schneegass (University of Stuttgart) and Oliver Amft (University of Passau), 2017 Crafting Wearables: blending technology with fashion by Sibel Deren Guler, et al., 2016 Wearing Embodied Emotions: a practice based design research on wearable technology by Secil Ugur, 2013 Course work includes weekly reading responses, a mid-term, and a final project. Students can expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester. Departmental consent required: junior level and up preferred. Please send brief paragraph why you wish to take this course, portfolio 5-10 images of work relevant to this class, and a list of classes you have taken in fashion and/ or art & technology. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Air, Fluid and Actuators | 3033 (001) | Dan Miller | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This kinetics course will explore the activation of art projects with materials that flow, inflate, pump, pour and move in unique ways. Demonstrations will introduce: basic electronics, pneumatics, air-muscles, inflatables, pumps, motors, actuators and the necessary means to power these devices. This course will explore materials and their unique properties when activated by these processes. Students will learn various techniques to animate and control art projects, including the use of the Arduino micro-controller and sensors.
Throughout the course, screenings and readings will introduce students to artists who work with kinetics, robotics and related fields. Artists shown and discussed in class include: Theo Jansen, Rapheal Lozano-Hemmer, Chico Mac Murtrie, Rebecca Horn. Students will be introduced to organizations, galleries and networks that support this type of art work including ARS Electronica, Rhizome and Bitforms gallery. A series of workshops and smaller assignments will expose students to the potentials of these devices and processes in art making. Next, students will develop projects that utilize one or more of the systems covered in class. Students will be guided in project proposal development where ideas will be explored in group discussions. Mechanical and electronic fabrication techniques will be further explored through project development. Completed projects will be evaluated in group critiques. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Introduction to Computer Vision | 3039 (001) | Douglas Rosman | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Computer vision allows machines to see and understand their environment. This course will equip students with the practical skills and critical theory needed to both employ and critically engage these techniques. Real-time body tracking, facial recognition and gesture analysis using RGB+D and LiDAR sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning will be emphasized. Students will explore and critique contemporary applications ranging from automated mass surveillance to interactive installations. A final project will build on in-class workshops, technical exercises, critical readings and discussions.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Hacking the Object | 3045 (001) | Joseph Michael Kramer | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
DIY has become a widespread movement in the artistic community. Modifying, tinkering, tweaking and downright hijacking have become a commonplace practice among today?s artists. Many everyday electronic objects are yearning to be liberated from their banal existences. This course explores readily available materials with a goal of bringing out the hidden aesthetic potentials of electronic devices. Students dig beneath the shiny surfaces to uncover underlying workings, principles and mechanisms. Class projects result in new artworks by reanimating the physical presences and behaviors of the reassembled artifact.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Shaping Light | 3048 (001) | Gregory Mowery | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Light is a material that can be shaped to express ideas, create experiences and increase the communicative potential of objects and spaces. Through a combination of lectures, demos, fields trips and most of all, hands-on lab work, students develop a degree of self sufficiency in the design, construction and prototyping of illuminated objects, physical graphics and environmental lighting. Students learn basic electronic and electrical circuit design, lamp specification and experiment with illumination technologies including incandescent, LED and cold cathode (neon).
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Programming for Sound: Max for Live | 3051 (001) | Shawn Decker | Thurs
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This online version of The Programming Sound class will feature an introduction to various synthesis methods, tracing the history of sound synthesis, starting with traditional analog synthesis techniques and methodologies, and then moving to a history of digital sound synthesis techniques. The class will review the histories surrounding sound synthesis, and students will learn various software and hardware techniques and pursue a number of creative projects. These projects will retrace the development of these important techniques and their aesthetic and compositional potential in a series of smaller creative projects, concluding with a more substantial final project. The class will make use of various software including Max/MSP as well as Ableton Live, and will feature various software synthesis plugins that will allow students to engage with the various techniques being discussed.
Students are required to have a laptop that can run Max/Msp and Ableton Live, and a good set of headphones or a stereo monitoring system. Software licenses will be supplied to students who need them. PrerequisitesPrerequisite: SOUND 2001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Alternative Image Capture | 3075 (001) | William Harper | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Alternative Image Capture investigates emerging imaging technology. AI image making and animation, 3D Camera, monitor and projection systems, action cameras, trail cams, IP equipped video, smart phone, infrared, thermal, and DSLR cameras will be used to collect primary images, video and audio material. Further exploration will include methods of processing and distribution of still and animated imagery. The ultimate shape of the course will be informed by breaking technology and the interests of the students in the class.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Synthetic Futures: Biodesign Challenge | 3090 (001) | Andrew H. Scarpelli | Fri, Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
In this course we will work in collaborative teams to produce projects to enter the first annual Biodesign Challenge, a competition to envision the future of synthetic biology.
Synthetic biology is the design and construction of life itself; the engineering of living organisms as biological machines. The field consists of scientists, industries, artists, and citizens using known fundamentals governing how biology works on a submicro-level in order to create meaningful alterations to how life functions. This hybrid studio/science course will introduce students to the theory and techniques of microbial genetic engineering while placing it in a larger cultural, ethical and artistic context. Students will learn and explore the basics of biology of all living organisms with an emphasis on single celled organisms, supported by lab work with bacterial cultures, DNA extraction and manipulation, polymerase chain reaction and gel electrophoresis. Fluency with these lab techniques will enable critical consideration of research and experimentation in biological science and in art and design. Studio projects will focus on designing systems and experiments to utilize this technology conceptually and creatively. The course will culminate in a design summit in New York City, an exhibition of winning projects, and a publication in print and online. |
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| Holography | 3111 (001) | Alan Perry | Sat
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM In Person |
Description
In this introduction to the theory, tools, and techniques of three-dimensional imaging, students study the structure of light and the ways in which it can convey information, and familiarize themselves with the basic tool of holography, the laser. Students make several different styles of holograms, some viewable in laser light, and some in white light. Techniques involving spatial juxtaposition and montage are also explored. The focus is on developing a working knowledge of the medium from the perspective of its artistic possibilities.
Readings will include journal articles that touch on the history, techniques, and aesthetics of holography. Some of the artists we will consider include Sally Weber, Mary Harman, Paula Dawson, and John Kaufman. We will also look at prior student work and discuss holography as an interdisciplinary, installation-based practice in addition to holography as a medium in and of itself. Lastly, we will discuss the unique issues around and strategies for exhibiting holographic works. Over the course of the semester, students should expect to produce a body of work of laser- and/or white-light-viewable holograms over a sequence of assignments that conceptually build off one another, and work collaboratively to produce a digital hologram. |
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| Soft Bulletins: Biological Communications | 3163 (001) | Brett Ian Balogh | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Societies, ecologies and organisms are complex systems that require coordination among their disparate elements to function. These biological systems accomplish this by communicating in a variety of different ways: sound, light, touch, chemical messaging, the exchange of genetic material and electrical impulses. This studio art course critically examines the variety of ways simple biological systems communicate through the lens of contemporary discourse around posthuman roles in the anthropocene and its attendant problems of mass extinction, climate change, clean energy and dwindling resources.
The course will examine examples of biological communications among multicellular and unicellular non-human organisms and will draw on a history of artwork in the field of bioart. The studio asks the student to identify (speculate) ways they can intervene in, mimic or participate in these communication networks in order to inspire empathy and establish new ways of interspecies communication. Course activities will be supported by the purchase of kit whose contents will serve as tools to facilitate observation, recording, measurement and conversation with the subjects of our explorations. Each student will research a topic of interest and will respond to it through the lens of their own practice in the creation of a final project. No prior skills in electronics or art and technology studies are required; however, curiosity and a willingness to learn are a must. |
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| Advanced Neon | 3164 (001) | Gregory Mowery | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
The relatively simple to program microprocessor technology and solid state hardware allow students to focus on issues of content and concept. Students will learn both industry standards and unique solutions of assembly, installation and presentation. Students will be asked to create work where the temporal, spacial and physical elements are intrinsically related. Artists will look at both commercial work from mid-century and current fine art with an emphasis on animation, and other implementations and mixing of technologies. A special emphasis will be given to Bruce Nauman, who most exemplifies the values of this course. Students will be required to complete assigned exercises early in the semester. There will be an assigned mid-term followed by several weeks of studio and a final critique.
PrerequisitesPre: ARTTECH 2112 |
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| Physical Computing: Outside the Box | 3218 (001) | Shawn Decker | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This hands-on course embraces and develops a radically wider concept of computation that includes responsive, purposeful behavior that may be embodied in many types of physical media, objects and environments. Artists from many disciplines explore answers to such questions as: How can the computer perceive and understand the environment outside its box? Can the computer be taught to respond astutely to human gestures and actions in its vicinity? How can previously inert materials be given life? Basic programming and interfacing techniques for sensory awareness, embedded intelligence, communications, and purposeful behaviors are applied to the creation of intelligent objects and responsive environments in this multidisciplinary course.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ARTTECH 2101 or permission of instructor. |
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Credits |
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| Virtual Reality | 3235 (001) | Sal Moreno | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
DescriptionVirtual Reality is a studio course focused on setting up interactive, head and hand tracked, dynamic, collaborative, stereoscopic, three dimensional computer graphic spaces for large format displays such as the CAVE. The class will cover the necessary programming, modeling, interaction, and audio components to start mastering this digital craft. |
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| Sound Projects | 4003 (001) | Austen Brown | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Students pursue individual projects which are critiqued in class, with occasional individual meetings as needed. Discussions include aesthetics and history of sonic arts as relevant to the work students bring in, concepts of critical listening, and technical issues speciHcally related to student projects (but this is not a course in general studio technique). Active participation in all critiques is expected. Students will be given access to only those studios that they have already used in previous sound courses. Open to students working with sound in other media (Hlm/video, installation, performance, etc.), as well as with ?pure sound?.
This class is an occasion for students with advanced sound skills to receive critique (and course credit) for their work. Examples of sound work by other artists, as well as readings, are brought in as prompted by issues in student work. Students should expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester. In addition, the professor may assign a few compositional or technical exercises. |
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| Brave N3w B0d1es : Posthuman Practices | 4005 (001) | Lee Blalock | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course will focus on cybernetics and systems through the lens of the posthuman, connecting us with the vast array of disciplines that contribute to the DNA of this field. This is the place where new images, sounds, language, and identities emerge through experimental studio techniques. This is a project-based class for students taking conceptual cues from survival systems, the world of body modification, and our non-human sentient cousins. Projects can range from robust exoskeletons to screen based projects and abstractions. We will begin with proposal presentations at our second class meeting and students will have the option of making one or two fully realized projects using technology-based media. In the past, students have created wearable instruments, perception altering animal-hybrid suits, and gravity-defying animations. Readings will vary throughout the semester and will include topics such as embodiment, hybrid identities, body modification, and fleshy data. Each weekly class will be structured so that it includes a lecture or presentation, a discussion or concept workshop, and time dedicated to project completion. In this advanced projects-based setting, big ideas and beginner skills are as welcome as underdeveloped ideas and advanced skills. Students of all technical levels will be robustly supported.
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| Retro Tech: Restoration and Preservation | 4014 (001) | Lee Blalock | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
What happens to an electronic or computer-based artwork if it fails during an exhibition? Who cares for a digital piece in a collection when the technology that supports that work is outdated? How do artists address the death of the media on which their work relies? This course will focus on preserving and restoring technology-mediated artworks through case studies, practical workshops, guest speakers, and an interdisciplinary research approach.
We will discuss exhibitions focused on archiving and preserving technology-mediated artworks and the specific problems facing the artists and the museum staff when showing this work. We'll hear from artists and curators about the challenges and opportunities in maintaining electronic and digital art, historical or contemporary, and study project notes and texts from exhibition catalogs. We'll read about efforts to address the needs of computer-based artworks from a research perspective and look closely at the interdisciplinary approach required to solve technical problems. Practical workshops will focus on repair and restoration skills. Students should expect to talk with students, faculty, and exhibition staff in and around campus in an effort to learn about the way artwork is created, installed, maintained, and archived. Weekly course work will vary but will typically include readings, workshops, a mid-term, and a final project in the form of case studies. |
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| Virtual Sound | 4019 (001) | Kristin McWharter, Joseph Michael Kramer | Wed, Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course approaches the tools provided by game engines as an experimental sound studio capable of creating new kinds of digital audio works for un-fixed media. Procedural audio tools can lead to endlessly evolving sound compositions and generative music; interactivity can empower navigability through sonic worlds, virtual sound installations, or the creation of new instruments; physics simulations can allow for real, hyperreal, and unreal audio environments for listeners, viewers, and gamers. Starting from the first day with the download of a game engine and a digital audio workstation and ending on the last with the critique of a sound-focused work, this class will provide a thorough introduction to authoring sound-focused art experiences using game engines.
Some of the scholars/artists we will study in this course include Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller¿s audio walks, Peter Gena, Poppy Crum, Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers among others. Of particular interest are works that explore the use of real time, interactive, and emergent systems that critically address the ways that sound, action, and presence shape the experience of listening bodies. Screening may include virtual reality works such as Notes on Blindness by Colinart, La Burthe, and Middleton and Spinney or spatial audio experiences such as Scott Reitheman¿s Boom App. Through weekly assignments and class studio time, we will focus first on building technical skills and developing some historical context related to game engine development, digital audio production, spatial hearing and spatial audio approaches, and real time motion tracking and interaction. Individual projects for formal class critiques will be proposed by students and may take the form of music composition, virtual sound installation, video game or VR sound design, new sonics forms, etc. PrerequisitesAny 3000 level ARTTECH or SOUND class |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Virtual Sound | 4019 (001) | Kristin McWharter, Joseph Michael Kramer | Wed, Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course approaches the tools provided by game engines as an experimental sound studio capable of creating new kinds of digital audio works for un-fixed media. Procedural audio tools can lead to endlessly evolving sound compositions and generative music; interactivity can empower navigability through sonic worlds, virtual sound installations, or the creation of new instruments; physics simulations can allow for real, hyperreal, and unreal audio environments for listeners, viewers, and gamers. Starting from the first day with the download of a game engine and a digital audio workstation and ending on the last with the critique of a sound-focused work, this class will provide a thorough introduction to authoring sound-focused art experiences using game engines.
Some of the scholars/artists we will study in this course include Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller¿s audio walks, Peter Gena, Poppy Crum, Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers among others. Of particular interest are works that explore the use of real time, interactive, and emergent systems that critically address the ways that sound, action, and presence shape the experience of listening bodies. Screening may include virtual reality works such as Notes on Blindness by Colinart, La Burthe, and Middleton and Spinney or spatial audio experiences such as Scott Reitheman¿s Boom App. Through weekly assignments and class studio time, we will focus first on building technical skills and developing some historical context related to game engine development, digital audio production, spatial hearing and spatial audio approaches, and real time motion tracking and interaction. Individual projects for formal class critiques will be proposed by students and may take the form of music composition, virtual sound installation, video game or VR sound design, new sonics forms, etc. PrerequisitesAny 3000 level ARTTECH or SOUND class |
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Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Public Light and Space | 4032 (001) | Jan Tichy | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Public Light and Space examines concepts and develops plans for art projects based on light, space and public interaction. The projects are conceptualized and planned in response to the opportunities afforded by specific locations around the city of Chicago. Particular attention is focused on elements such as digital light projection, controlled light sources, and light-responsive materials.
The course investigates concepts and understandings of public space and the history of art in these spaces. The class offers a critical examination of the active role played by light and its dynamics in selected art movements. A series of technical workshops builds proficiency to lend support to the development of the final, publicly exhibited project. Visiting artists, critics and Chicagoans assist in refining the project ideas, as they are being chosen and developed. |
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| Advanced Art and Technology Projects | 4121 (001) | Douglas Rosman | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
The goal of this course is to create an active engaged micro-community to support the the successful development and completion of advanced projects. An advanced project is a project that may require special technical skills, hardware, software or other support that may not be available in other ATS courses. An advanced project may be an artistic work or in-depth technical research. Advanced projects will have an measurable or tangible outcome (work of art, publication, software, etc.) and will flow from a formal peer-reviewed advanced project proposal. Students will meet weekly to critically engage each other?s work, participate in discussions informed by the project proposal and share technical skills. Students will meet with the instructor regularly for individual advising, tutorials and discussion as needed to advance the advanced project.
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| Experimental Game Lab | 4136 (001) | Salvatore Cordova | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM All Online |
Description
As a growing, hybrid form of art, experimental video games deal and intersect with themes of politics and society, architecture, design, storytelling; they subvert common commercial tropes of popular games, and more. Students will play, analyze, and discuss a variety of recent and older games, increase their literacy with the field, and apply the ideas learned in creating their own games or interactive digital artworks. Access to a Mac or Windows computer for playing and developing games is required. Workshops will be taught for the Twine and Unity 3D (C#) game creation tools. No prior experience required.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ARTTECH 2101 or permission of instructor. |
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| Poetic Systems | 4137 (001) | Judd Morrissey | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
What do we mean when we say that something is poetic? How would you describe the unique poetics at play within your own work? While contemplation about poetics can be traced back thousands of years, it has surged in the last half-century as artists and scholars attempt to account for the accelerated diversification of creative forms in a rapidly evolving technoculture. This course is a laboratory for experiments that embrace poetics as a way of thinking and making across disciplines. We will explore a selectively broad range of expanded and media-based poetic practices including constraint-based composition, hypertext, digital poetry, performance writing, virtual poetics, and bio-poetry as we discover and develop unique interdisciplinary projects. Open to a multiplicity of influences and outputs, text-centric or otherwise, the course is appropriate to artists with interests in language, semantics, code, and systems. No specific technical experience is required but the course is advanced in its expectation of a self-directed creative commitment and a significant contribution to group discourse in relation to the topic.
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| Sound Toolbox for MFA Students | 5002 (001) | Paige Naylor | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course introduces sound production techniques, basic acoustics, and fundamental listening skills that can be incorporated into many studio practices, including installation, performance, cinema, new media, and others. It is directed at graduate students who have little formal training in sound who want to incorporate sound more robustly into their work. The focus is on sound production tools, techniques, and skills that are readily available to the individual without the need for specialized facilities.
The course is skills-based and not historical or theoretical. Readings will include information on basic acoustics, sound production tools and techniques, Pauline Oliveros's 'Deep Listening' exercises, and fundamentals of auditory perception. Individual production projects based on each student's practice and specific needs. |
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