ICAM150/VIS159 winter 2008

Visual Arts Department | UCSD | winter 2008
ICAM 150 / VIS 159: History of Art and Technology

The syllabus for this class is online at www.manovich.net/
As the class progresses, the additional materials related to each week's lecture and readings will be added to the class web site.

instructor: Dr. Lev Manovich
office: Visual Arts Facility (VAF) 553
office hours: Wednesday 2-3pm or by appointment
email: manovich@ucsd.edu

TAs:
T.A.'s office hours and email addresses will be announced in sections.

Readings:
All readings for this class will be available online at no charge. They will consist from the texts of the instructor which constitute the boos in progress and additional historical and/or theoretical texts by other authors. The students will be also asked to study the web sites describing particular cultural projects.


Class Description:

In this class we will discuss the relationships between art, culture, and technology by focusing on two historical periods: beginning of the 20th century and the current period.
In the beginning of the 20th century artists developed new principles of architecture, 3D design (products, furniture), graphic design, and cinema. These techniques are still largely used today (for instance, film editing). In many instances these artists directly referred to a new industrial society - the society of factories, big cities, transport, engines, electricity, etc.- in their writings. They talked about the new techniques hey developed as being responses responses to the new industrial society.

Our first goal is to understand what these new modern techniques of visual communication and spatial organization are. We also need to understand what was the thinking of these artists - how they were able to move from the images of industrial society and its abstract principles to new artistic techniques. We will use our insights to look at our contemporary culture which seems to be defined by information (rather than by engines, electricity or factories).

On the one hand, today we use a new type of information processing devices - digital networked computers. They are used in all areas of contemporary societies. On the other hand, we are concerned with the rapid increase of information of all kinds and we are developing new tools (search engines, information visualization) to deal with it. To put this in another way: if a hundred years ago the newspapers would write about a new Ford factory or a new transatlantic ship, today the same newspapers are likely to carry news of new developments at Google, Apple, Yahoo, Youtube, Flickr and other companies which are in the business of information and software.

To what extent contemporary visual and spatial forms - forms of buildings and products, graphic designs, web designs, motion graphics, etc. - reflect the primacy of information in contemporary society? Are these forms really new - representing a cultural response to the shift from an industrial to information society - or do they still belong to the past?

Another goal of our class is to understand the relationships between new media technologies of the early 20th and early 21st century and new artistic techniques and forms. For modern artists, photography and film were "new media." Contemporary designers, architects, filmmakers and artists are working with another new media - software. We will look at software-based design process and discuss how it influences the visual and spatial forms being created today .

LECTURES:
lectures time: Wednesday | 6:000p - 8:50pm
lectures location: CENTR 214

The lectures assume that you have done the assigned readings. The readings will include a chapter written by the instructor which covers the topic of the forthcoming lecture in detail. During the lecture time the instructor will go through the key points; he may also show and discuss particular cultural projects relevant to this week's topic. We may also screen relevant documentaries and feature films. Note that each lecture will contain new material not covered in readings - therefore it is essential that you take notes.

Discussion sections: MANDE 103
Discussion sections are conducted by TAs. The sessions provide the opportunity to discuss the class topics in small groups. They will be also used to present and discuss additional cultural works beyond what is presented in lectures. Students may be also asked to write short responses to lectures and readings in preparation for discussions. Finally, T.A.s will also conduct occasional unannounced short quizzes.

requirements:

1.Consistent class attendance. Class attendance will be taken every class - at different times. You are allowed to miss one lecture and discussion meeting without an excuse. Missing any additional classes without proper excuse (doctor's notice) will lower your final grade half a letter grade for each class missed. Chronic lateness counts as absence. Forgetting to sign the attendance sheet or leaving early counts as absence.

2. Reading the assigned materials before each lecture. If any additional online resources are assigned for the lecture, you should consult them before the lecture as well.

3. Midterm exam. The exam is "open book." It will consist from a number of questions which can be answered in one sentence and two short (2 pages each) essay questions. Since this is an open book exam, you should bring all the readings (and, of course, your lecture notes). If you have laptop, bring your laptop as well - you are allowed to use it and access the internet during the exam.

5.Take-home final essays. You will be provided with 3 questions. You will chose any 2 questions and write essays (1200-1500 words each) answering these questions.

6. In order to provide feedback on your performance throughout the quarter, a few short quizzes (without previous announcement) will be given in the discussion sessions.

7. Discussion sessions: active participation in the discussions. If TA assigns additional resources for you to consult before discussion meetings and/or short writing assignments, you are responsible for carrying out these assignments on time.

grading:
1. Quizzes in discussion sessions: 15%
2. In class midterm: %35
3. Take-home final: %50