Interactive Expression
IMA 762
Wednesdays 5:30PM -8:30PM
Film and Media Department Hunter College, New York
Fall 2004
Instructor: Andrea Polli, apolli@hunter.cuny.edu
212.772.5589
COURSE
DESCRIPTION: Interactive Expressions is a studio course designed
to introduce students to the language and methods of interactive art and communication.
For media makers, interactive systems present unique challenges. Such systems
can blur the definition of author, allowing for shared authorship and creation,
and interactivity itself can open new forms of communication and expression.
Some topics students in the course may explore in the form of projects are:
interactive narrative and storytelling, interactive environments, and responsive
media and public art. This workshop may be counted towards the CHANNELS or VISIONS
clusters.
PREREQUISITE:
Graduate standing, IMA 760 Tools and Techniques of Integrated Media. Students
new to multimedia design should have a working knowledge of Mac operating systems
as well as Adobe's Photoshop (or other comparable programs). The use and
mastery of software based tools is encouraged in this course, but the choice
of tools will be dependent on the nature of your project. Macromedia Director
will be the primary authoring program discussed in this course.
TOPICS
Some possible topics of discussion:
- Histories of
Interactive Media and various analyses of the cultural impact of Interactive
Media
- How media is
reframed or redefined in light of recent technological transformations
- The impact
of networks on communities, relationships, space, privacy, fiction, and non-fiction
- Globalism,
the digital divide, and social transformation via interactive media
- The body and
the machine: biotechnology, cyborgs, immersive environments, and augmented
reality
- Copyright and
other issues of ownership in the digital age
- Current developments
in technology: nanotechnology, telepresence, GPS, wearable compting, etc.
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- Design flow
charts and storyboards for interactive projects
- Map the flow
of information in an interactive project
- Use image
editing software to change, clean up, and perfect images for use in an interactive
project
- Program special
navigational devices for an interactive project
- Work independently
and/or collaboratively on new media projects
- Incorporate
external resources to interactive projects including: graphics, sound, video,
other resources
- Develop interactive
media project proposals
- Use the internet
to gather information and interactive media creation to present ideas
REQUIRED TEXTS:
title: DIRECTOR
DEMYSTIFIED
author: Jason Roberts
Additional readings
and books: available online and as provided by instructor
MATERIALS:
A sketchbook and notebook will be required
Zip disks, Flash disks, or CDRs as needed for projects
GRADING
POLICIES:
A professional attitude and approach toward all aspects of this course is expected.
Specifically; class starts on time, and class attendance and participation are
mandatory. Un-excused absences and un-excused lateness will adversely
effect your grade. Excused and un-excused absences are at the discretion
of the instructor. Please contact the instructor prior to class if you will
be late or absent. The fourth absence- for any reason- constitutes a failing
grade. (Two late arrivals = 1 absence) Assignments are expected
on time ( late assignments will be graded down 1 grade per week late). Make-ups:
If a student finds they will not be able to hand in a midterm or final on the
scheduled day, it is the student's responsibility to notify me prior to that
day. Under no circumstances will I accept the work if I have not been notified
and arrangements made prior to that day. Grades are based on a system
of personal growth within the following criteria; time and effort, interpretation
of the assignment, aesthetics and technical expertise, critique participation
and professional presentations.
GRADING
SCALE
100 - 90 = A
90 - 80 = B
80 - 70 = C
70 - 60 = D
60 and below = F
PARTICIPATION:
Lecture must be interactive. To this end, I encourage an open atmosphere where
back-and-forth communication is the norm. Students are free to speak up when
they need clarification or wish to make observations. Always let me know if
you are having difficulties mastering a technique presented in class and I will
help you. Plus, you will be expected to work several hours outside of
class time each week. You will not be able to finish your assignments
during class!
SPECIAL
NOTE: Some of the course reading will be on-line and you wil be expected
to use the internet as a research tool. You MUST have an email account
by the second week of class! Some class correspondence may happen via
email, there are several free services available, ask me if you need assistance
getting email.
This syllabus is
subject to change
COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY
AND RESOURCE MATERIALS:
-
As We May Think Vannevar
Bush
-
A Rape in Cyberspace Julian Dibbell electronic distribution only 1993
- Information
Design.
Jacobson, Robert. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999
- Cybernetics
or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Wiener, Norbert.
Cambridge: MIT Press,1948
- The Design
of Everyday Things Donald Norman
- The Work
of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin
- The Invisible
Computer Donald Norman
- Life on
the Screen Sherry Turkle Touchstone Books, 1997
- Being Digital
Nicholas Negreponte New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
- Collective
Intelligence Pierre Levy 1995
- The Nature
of Order Christopher Alexander
- Envisioning
Cyberspace Peter Anders, McGraw-Hill, 1999
- Computers
as Theater Brenda Laurel, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993
- Affective
Computing. Rosalind W. Picard Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997
- Hyper/Text/Theory.
Landow, George P (ed.) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994
- The Age
of Intelligent Machines. Kurzweil, Raymond (ed.) Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1992
- The Age
of Spiritual Machines : When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. Kurzweil,
Raymond. New York: Viking, 1999
- The Society
of Mind. Minsky, Marvin New York: Simon & Shuster,1986
- The Structure
of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn, Thomas. Chicago: U of Chicago Press,
1970
- The Cyborg
Handbook Chris Hables Gray (ed.) London: Routledge, 1996.
- Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium_FemaleMan_Meets_OncoMouse,
Feminism and Technoscience. Haraway Donna J., Routledge London,
1997.
- Simians,
Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. Haraway, Donna J.
London: Free Association Books, 1991
- Digital
Delirium. Kroker, Arthur and Kroker, Marilouise, (eds.). New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1997
- The War
of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age. Stone, Allucquere
Rosanne. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996
- Zeroes
+ Ones: Digital Women + The New Technoculture Sadie Plant New York: Doubleday,
1997
- Hackers:
Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Levy, Steven. New York: Anchor
Press/ Doubleday, 1984
- The Network
Nation: Human Communication Via Computer. Hiltz, Starr Roxanne and Murray
Turoff. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993
- The Archeology
of a Computer Screen Lev Manovich. published in Kunstforum International,
Germany 1995
- Envisioning
Information Edward Tufte Graphics Press 1990
- Neuromancer
William Gibson
- The Robot
in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology on on the Internet Ken
Goldberg Cambridge, MIT Press, 2000
- Snow Crash.
Neal Stephenson. Bantam Books 1992
- Understanding
Media. McLuhan,Marshall . Cambridge:The MIT Press, 1994
- Information
Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology Stephen Wilson MIT
Press, 2001
- The New
World Border : Prophecies, Poems & Loqueras for the End of the Century
Guillermo Gomez-Pena
- The
Society of the Spectacle Guy-Ernest Debord
- Emergence:
The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software Steven Johnson
- Six Degrees:
The Science of a Connected Age Duncan Watts
- Smart Mobs:
The Next Social Revolution Howard Rheingold
- The Hacker
Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age Pekka Himanen with Linus Torvalds
and Manuel Castells, Random House, 2001
Web Resources: find
this page:http://www.andreapolli.com follow the 'teaching ' links on the
left
COURSE
OUTLINE Interactive Expression
These are suggested topics and are subject to change
1 - Sept 1
- Imagining the
Future of Media brainstorming exercise
- Introduction
to Macromedia Director - interactive text exercise
- Homework
1:
DUE NEXT WEEK - 10-15 digital images on disk for use in image exercise
2 - Sept 8
3 - Sept 15 - NO
CLASS MEETING
4 - Sept 22
- Presentations
of HOMEWORK 1 (see week 2)
- Reading discussion
- Macromedia Director
- interactive video exercise
- Homework
4:
DUE SEPT 29- Develop an initial 3-5 page typed proposal and interactive map
for your final project DUE NEXT WEEK
- Reading:
The Language of Tactical Media Joanne Richardson
- Reading:
Chapters
4, 8 & 10- Director Demystified
5 - Sept 29
- Presentations
and discussion HOMEWORK 4
- Reading Discussion
- Macromedia Director
exercises
- MIDTERM
ASSIGNMENT: DUE
OCT 20 - Build the navigation for your final project in Director using
text and/or simple graphics (the information architecture), present with revised project
proposal, revised interactive map, and visual samples
- DUE IN THREE WEEKS
- Reading:
Chapters 9-11 - Director Demystified
- OCTOBER 1-3
Spectropolis: Mobile Media Art and the City 12-4 PM Daily, City Hall Park
- see http://www.lmcc.net
for more details
6 - Oct 6
- URBAN
NOISE 6PM LANG RECITAL HALL
- Reading:
Chapter 17 - Director Demystified
7 - Oct 13
- NO FORMAL CLASS
MEETING
- Attend ACM
Multimedia Interactive Art Exhibition, Columbia University
- Independent
work on midterm
- Reading:
Chapters 12 & 13 - Director Demystified
8 - Oct 20
MIDTERM CRITIQUE
9 - Oct 27
- Macromedia
Director continued
- FINAL
PROJECT ASSIGNMENT: DUE DEC 8 Completed, functioning, final
project, revised 3 - 5 page project description, and
final interactive map ONE IN CLASS WORK IN PROGRESS PRESENTATION PRIOR
TO DEC 8 REQUIRED in addition to final presentation
- Reading:
The Anti-Sublime Ideal in New Media Lev Manovich
- Reading:
Chapters 18 & 20 - Director Demystified
10 - Nov 3
- Work in Progress
Presentations
- Reading discussion
- Macromedia Director
exercises
11 - Nov 10
NO
FORMAL CLASS MEETING
- Independent
work on final project
12 - Nov 17
- Work in Progress
Presentations
- LMCC Rafael
Lozano Hemmer 7PM
13 - Nov 24
NO CLASS MEETING - HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
14 - Dec 1
- Work in Progress
Presentations
15 - Dec 8
FINAL PROJECT CRITIQUES
December 15-17,
20-21
GRADUATE CRITIQUE WEEK! Sign up for a critique!