MAS.110 Fundamentals of Computational Media Design
Fall Term 2009
TR3, E15-209
V. Michael Bove, Jr., E15-368B, x3-0334, vmb@media.mit.edu
Leah Buechley, E15-368C, x3-2870, leah@media.mit.edu
Henry Holtzman, E15-312, x3-0319, holtzman@media.mit.edu
Writing tutor: Nora Jackson, 14N-432, norajack@mit.edu
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Class Wiki: http://wiki.media.mit.edu/view/MAS110/WebHome
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Books (available at The Coop):
The Victorian Internet, Tom Standage
Typographic Design: Form and Communication, 4th ed., Carter, Day, and Meggs
Modern Art, David Britt, ed.
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Subject Goals:
The goals of this class include
* To use a broad range of examples from art and technology to understand how they interrelate;
* To develop a "way of seeing" such that when looking at things traditionally categorized either as "art" or as "technology" one can perceive the influence of the other; and
* To gain experience and self-confidence giving and receiving peer-group critique regarding how one expresses and instantiates one's ideas
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More information on resources, class policies, etc. appears below the schedule
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Note that this syllabus is a "work-in-progress." Please check back often for changes.
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Sept 10 Introduction.
Sept 15 Paper and making marks on it. Typography, technology, and perception. Reading assignment due today: Carter, Chapter 7
Sept 17 [CLASS MEETS IN E15-235 TODAY] Video screening: Helvetica by Gary Hustwit. Video will run until 4:45; please stay late if you can.
Sept 22 Discussion of writing assignments with Nora Jackson. Looking at type, on hard- and softcopy. In-class exercise, "making letters." Reading assignment due today: Carter, Chapter 1. Please bring Carter to class today and Thursday.
Sept 24 Continued discussion of type. Discussion of "scary technologies." Reading assignment due today: Standage, Chapters 1-5
Sept 29 [CLASS MEETS IN E15-283A TODAY] Continued discussion of type. Reading assignment due today: Carter, Chapters 2-4 (please feel free to read further).
Oct 1 ESSAY 1 DUE (and discussed in class): 6-8 double-spaced pages describing your "relationship" with some technological artifact. Reading assignment due today: Standage, Chapter 6 through Epilogue
Oct 6 Continued discussion of essay 1.
Oct 8 EXERCISE 1 DUE (and discussed in class): Use type/letters to convey some concept or message such that the arrangement of the letterforms visually represents/interprets/reinforces/the message (as an example, see Carter Chapters 6 and 8 for inspiration).
Oct 13 NO CLASS (Monday schedule of classes today)
Oct 15 NO CLASS (Media Lab sponsor meetings today)
Oct 20 Guest lecturer, Walter Bender. Color -- physics, psychophysics, and aesthetics. Reading assignment due today: Britt, Chapter 1; reading assignment from Walter: http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/353/sectiond/jacobson.html; explore Apple's color pages at http://www.apple.com/pro/color/.
Oct 22 How electronic displays work and why we care. Intro to the OLPC XO machine.
Oct 27 Continued discussion of the OLPC XO hardware and the Sugar environment. Hand out XOs. Discussion of first Python/Pygame example programs.
Oct 29 Modern art. Reading assignment due today: Britt, Chapters 2-3.
Nov 3 [CLASS MEETS IN E15-283A TODAY] More modern art. Reading assignment due today: Britt, Chapters 4-5 (feel free to read further if you wish).
Nov 5 [CLASS MEETS IN E15-235 TODAY] EXERCISE 2 DUE: Playing with Python/Pygame on the XO. Take one of the example programs provided and modify it to be more "interesting".
Nov 10 ESSAY 2 DUE (and discussed in class): 6-8 double-spaced pages describing a painting at the Boston MFA in one of the styles discussed in Britt. Look up an image of the painting on the MFA Web site and discuss the difference in its appearance from that of the actual painting. Discuss also the difference in your personal experience of viewing the painting at the MFA with that of looking at a picture on the computer screen. http://www.mfa.org
Nov 12 Discussion of computational paper and fabric.
Nov 17 Continued discussion of essay 2.
Nov 19 Continued discussion of computational paper and fabric.
Nov 24 EXERCISE 3/ESSAY 3 DUE: Use any technological method/apparatus to create a visual image in the style of one of the art movements discussed in Britt. Write a 6-8 page essay on what you were trying to do and on the process by which you did it (and how you discovered/developed the process).
Nov 26 NO CLASS -- Thanksgiving break
Dec 1 EXERCISE 4 DUE: Using computational paper. http://hlt.media.mit.edu/paper_computing/workshop.html
Dec 3 Continued discussion of essay 3. FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL DUE (one page, text and/or sketch). Final project assignment: Individually or as a team, use a medium/technology of your choice to create something relating to the theme of the intersection of technology and expression.
Dec 8 "Final project clinic."
Dec 10 Presentation of student work, Media Lab Lower Atrium (invite your friends!) DUE TODAY: a paragraph explaining what your final project is, and if it's a group project describing what parts of it were done by each member of the group.
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Some More On-Line Resources:
Type:
International Typeface Corporation
OLPC:
Pygame.org (documentation, tutorials, etc.)
Don't have Photoshop and want to mess around with images? Consider GIMP (which runs on Athena machines and also can be downloaded to yours...)
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Grading: Class participation will count for 20% of the grade. The papers will collectively count for 30%, the exercises collectively for 30%, and the final project will count for 20%. Papers that are late and unexcused in advance will be penalized by one-half of a letter grade for each day late. If you need an extension, please tell the instructor at least one week ahead of time. You will select one paper for revision and resubmission, and the grade for the resubmitted paper will replace the grade for the original.
A Note on Writing Assignments: Essays are submitted as exercises in development and expression of your thoughts. It's not a good use of the instructor's time to have to mark up simple grammar and spelling errors; if you are in need of guidance in matters of grammar or style please meet with the writing tutor or visit the Writing Center in 12-132.
Class Participation: You are expected to participate in class discussion throughout the semester.
Participation includes informal class discussion of the readings, and in-class
presentations/critiques of your work. Attendance is obviously a prerequisite
for class participation. If you must miss a class, you should notify the instructor
in advance. More than two unexcused absences will seriously jeopardize your
class participation grade. Your own work will be regularly critiqued by your
peers without emphasis on issues of formal qualities, but rather on issues of
how well you have explored the areas of thought you might select. Thus your
ability to express yourself visually (i.e. being a good illustrator and so forth)
will not be as important as compared to how well you demonstrate the ability
to clearly identify and define a particular idea. Developing your ability to
orally defend yourself in the context of a critique will be the primary intent
of these regular in-class exercises that occur in tandem with your writing assignments;
the assessment of your oral communication component will depend upon your ability
to navigate the defense of your own ideas.
Plagiarism Policy: When writing a paper or creating any expressive work, you must identify the
nature and extent of your intellectual indebtedness to the authors, artists,
and designers whom you have read or to anyone else from whom you have gotten
ideas (e.g., classmates, invited lecturers, etc.). You can do so through footnotes,
a bibliography, or some other kind of scholarly device. Failure to disclose
your reliance on the research or thinking of others is PLAGIARISM, which is
considered to be the most serious academic offense and will be treated as such.
If you have any questions about how you should document the sources of your
ideas, please ask your instructors before you submit your written work. MIT's
academic policy can be found at the following link: http://web.mit.edu/policies/10.0.html.