| Material Manipulation: Introduction to Fibers |
Early College Program Summer Institute |
403 (001) |
Summer 2024 |
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Description
This course explores traditional and non-traditional methods of altering, enriching, and manipulating existing fiber-based materials and objects; using techniques such as soft-sculpture building, stitching, cutting, dyeing, wrapping, printing, stenciling, paper manipulation, and layering in combination with waxes, adhesives, and collage. Projects may range from fabric sculptures to embellished clothing to altered objects to layered reliefs and beyond. Emphasis is placed on surface treatment and experimentation while also considering conceptual concerns to create portfolio-quality works. Looking to artists such as Nick Cave, Tara Donovan, Anna Betbeze, Isa Genzken, Carlos 'Dzine' Rolan, and Samantha Bittman, students learn to make artwork through appropriation and object/paper manipulation as well as an introduction to soft sculpture techniques. Trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, thrift stores, and local galleries/studios, artist presentations, and group critiques supplement the studio experience. Artwork and/or performances that are temporary in nature or that cannot be easily transported will be properly documented through photography and/or video.
*NOTE* Students do not need prior experience for this course, but basic hand sewing skills are helpful. Students are encouraged to bring their own digital camera, tablet, and/or laptop for homework/research and after-studio hours projects.
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Class Number
1044
Credits
2
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| Core Studio Practice I |
Contemporary Practices |
1010 (007) |
Fall 2024 |
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Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1294
Credits
3
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| Core Studio Practice II |
Contemporary Practices |
1011 (007) |
Spring 2025 |
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Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1230
Credits
3
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| Introduction To Fiber/Material Studies |
Fiber and Material Studies |
2000 (002) |
Fall 2024 |
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Description
This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips.
By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities.
Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.
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Class Number
1545
Credits
3
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| Introduction To Fiber/Material Studies |
Fiber and Material Studies |
2000 (007) |
Fall 2024 |
|
Description
This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips.
By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities.
Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.
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Class Number
2211
Credits
3
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| Craft and Object in Contemporary Art |
Fiber and Material Studies |
2900 (036) |
Spring 2025 |
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Description
The word 'craft' has been used both as a badge of honor and as a dismissive slur. This seminar will explore the stereotypes, the history and the changing status of craft in relation to contemporary art in America.
We will read essays by craft theorists and makers including Marie Lo, M. Anna Fariello, Bruce Metcalf, L.J. Roberts and Namita Gupta Wiggers and watch the PBS Docuseries 'Craft in America' to help us triangulate an ever-shifting definition of craft. Students will bring previously-critiqued, in-process and revised work to 3 critiques, where an emphasis will be placed not just on WHAT objects mean but also HOW they mean.
Course work includes weekly free-writing, reading discussions, and several assignments designed to help students articulate their artistic concerns and contextualize their work.
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Class Number
2141
Credits
3
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| Sustainable Practice/Sustainable Life |
Fiber and Material Studies |
3900 (001) |
Spring 2025 |
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Description
This professional practice seminar emphasizes sustainability (emotional, economic, and environmental) as key for living artists. Each student will develop a sustainable work flow for organizing opportunities, documenting expenses, and applying for exhibitions, grants and residencies. Emphasis will be placed on sustainable material sourcing, both for environmental concerns and our own economic needs. Discussions and readings will revolve around how to keep making art, even when life gets in the way. Students will learn practical skills that serve their work (tweaking artist statements for various opportunities, developing and maintaining a website, ongoing research ) along with stress-management techniques (organized work flow, time-management, knowing when to take a break and how to rest more effectively, peer-to-peer support, dealing with rejection). This course will address the myriad ways studio artists get paid outside the commercial gallery system via recorded interviews with living artists. Readings include 'Art and Fear' (David Bayles and Ted Orlando) and 'Artists Gotta Eat and Other Things We Forget to Remember' by Tempesst Hazel. Past Visiting Artists have included Selina Trepp, who uses and reuses the material in her studio, and Sadie Woods, who is an artist, curator and DJ. Similar Visiting Artists will be chosen in future semesters. Each student will create a personal opportunities database, create a submission for the opportunity of their choice, write an artist statement, bio and CV, build a portfolio website, give an artist talk and develop a sustainable plan for sourcing materials and managing stress.
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Class Number
1576
Credits
3
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