Instructor: Christiane Paul
E-mail: Christiane_Paul@WHITNEY.ORG
Telecommunications for Artists I
This class will introduce students to possibilities for making artworks that utilize computer networks and other forms of interactive multimedia and telecommunications technologies. The course will outline the history of tele- and network communications and basic Internet technologies as well as forms and concepts of interactivity. We will examine aesthetic and technological possibilities for art works in the networked environment of the Internet. Through a series of projects, and discussions and readings, students will learn to work with these technologies, and to articulate their interests and concerns as artists working with them.Attendance will be recorded for each class. Grades will be based on attendance, participation, and completed projects. Unexcused absences, lateness, and missed assignments will negatively affect students’ grades.The following syllabus is subject to change. Field trips and guest speakers may be added.
Required Books:
- Christiane Paul, Digital Art, Thames & Hudson, UK, 2003 [Book website]
- Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort (Eds.), The New Media Reader, MIT Press, 2003
- Required course work:
- A presentation (20 – 30 min.) on one of the topics on the syllabus; you will choose one of the topics on the syllabus and give your presentation during the class devoted to the topic of your choice.
- A project developed over the course of the semester: you may create an art project or develop a proposal for an alternative interface; projects are due by the end of the semester.
Week 1 (9/8)
Guest lecture and introduction: Mary Flanagan
maryflanagan.com
Assignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 7-22, “Introduction;” “A Short History of Technology and Art”
- New Media Reader: 54|791 Tim Berners-Lee et. al., The World-Wide Web
- Further suggested Reading: New Media Reader:
14|211 Four Selections by Experiments in Art and Technology
17|247 From Software — Information Technology, Its New Meaning for Art (exhibition at the Jewish Museum, 1970)
Week 2 (9/15)
Introduction to course: topics and course work.
History of art and technology, and telecommunications art.
Overview of tele- and network communications and Internet technologies.
URLs:
- History of the Internet pages:
Hobbes’ Internet Timeline
A Little History of the World Wide Web
Bruce Sterling, “History of the Internet”
- Early Telecommunications Art:
Liza Bear , Willoughby Sharp, Sharon Grace, Carl Loeffler Send/Receive (1979)
Kit Galloway / Sherrie Rabinowitz, Satellite Arts Project 77
Robert Adrian,Telecommunications Projects
- Museum sites / Online Galleries:
artport (Whitney Museum)
Walker Gallery 9
SFMOMA e-space
Turbulence
- Networks / Community Platforms:
Rhizome: http://www.rhizome.org
nettime: http://bbs.thing.netAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 111-124, “Internet art and nomadic networks”
- New Media Reader: 02|35 Vannevar Bush, As We May Think
08 | 93: Douglas Engelbart, From Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework
16 | 231: Douglas Engelbart, William English “A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect /online information about the presentation
- Choose a topic for your presentation
Week 3 (9/22)
Early concepts of interfaces and hypermedia. Desktop and GUI.
History of Internet art and early net art projects.
URLs:
- Net art histories & maps:
Martin Wattenberg, Idea Line
Natalie Bookchin, A story of Netart
Guggenheim Cyberatlas
jodi, map.jodi.org, after a network diagram, 1997.
- Early net art Projects:
Olia Lialina, teleportacia / My Boyfriend Came Back From The War / The Last Net Art Museum / Anna Karenin Goes To Paradise
Heath Bunting, READ ME [Own, be owned, or remain invisible] / irrational.org
Alexei Shulgin, easylife.org / Form Art Competition
Vuk Cosic
entropy8zuper.org
jodi.orgAssignment for next week:
- Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
- New Media Reader: 43|625 Bill Nichols, The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems
- Digital Art: pp. 67-71 “Digital Technologies as Medium,” “Forms of Digital Art”
Week 4 (9/29)
Changing notions of the art object. Concepts of interactivity.
‘Interface culture’ and alternative Web browsers. Recycling and reproduction of information.
URLs:
- Projects:
Mark Napier, Potatoland
Wattenberg/Walczak, mw2mw
Andy Deck, artcontext / Icontext / Progressive Load
Sawad Brooks/Beth Stryker, DissemiNET / Lapses & Erasures
- ‘Alternative’ Web browsers:
I/O/D, WebStalker
Maciej Wisniewski, Netomat
Mark Napier, Riot, Web Shredder
Mark Daggett, Browser Gestures
- ‘Recycling’ on the network:
Janet Cohen, Keith Frank, John Ippolito, The Unreliable Archivist
Amy Alexander, The Multicultural Recycler
Maciej Wisniewski,JackpotAssignment for next week:
- New Media Reader: 11|133 Theodor Nelson, A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing and the Indeterminate; also see Theodor Nelson, Xanalogical Structure
- Digital Art: pp. 189 – 196, “Beyond the book: text and narrative environments”
- Further Suggested Reading: New Media Reader:
12|147 Six Selections by the Oulipo
42|613 Michael Joyce, “Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts”
48|691 Stuart Moulthrop, “You Say You Want a Revolution? Hypertext and the Laws of Media”
52|761 Espen J. Aarseth, “Nonlinearity and Literary Theory”
Week 5 (10/6)
Hyperlinking and hypertext.
- Wikis:
WikiWikiWeb
WikiPedia
Martin Wattenberg, Wiki History Flow
- Online hypertexts and narrative environments:
Darcey Steinke, Blindspot
Yael Kanarek,World of Awe
Mark Amerika, Grammatron
Judd Morrissey, The Jew’s Daughter
Michael Crumpton, Nathan Fruin, Kristin Holcomb, Kirstin Kantner, Chris Spain, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Duane Whitehurst, Gray Matters
Eastgate Hypertext Resources
- Non-Fiction Narrative Environments:
Vivian Selbo, Carl Skelton, Tree Part 2: Before & After Geography, Ralph Lemon
Patrick Lichty, Sprawl
Margot Lovejoy, Turns
360 Degrees
- Semantic Projects:
Visual Thesaurus
Mary Flanagan, [search]Assignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 139-145, “Artificial Life”; pp. 146-153, “Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Agents”
- New Media Reader:
04|65 Norbert Wiener, “Men, Machines, and the World About”
05|73 J.C.R. Licklider, “Man-Computer Symbiosis”
03|49 Alan Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”
24|367 Joseph Weizenbaum, From Computer Power and Human Reason
- Suggested further reading:
Jaron Lanier, “Agents of Alienation”
New Media Reader: 41|599 Lucy Suchman, From Plans and Situated Actions
Week 6 (10/13)
Presentation: Yuli Ziv.
Artificial intelligence and artificial life.
URLs:
- Digital evolution and ‘artificial life’:
Karl Sims, Galapagos
Rebecca Allen, Emergence
Kenneth Rinaldo, Autopoiesis
Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Life Spacies
Tom Ray, Tierra
Eduardo Kac, Genesis
Technosphere
The Gene Media Forum
- AI:
Eliza
Eliza, Computer Therapist
Alice IA Foundation
Ken Feingold, If/Then (2001), Sinking Feeling (2001)
David Rokeby, The Giver of Names
Harold Cohen, Aaron / also see kurzweilcyberart.com/
Gabor Papp, Connoisseur
Heide, Onesandzeros, Pocock, Stehle, Unmovie
- Agent projects:
Noah Wardrip-Fruin + Adam Chapman, Impermanence Agent / Agent Intro
Robert Nideffer, PROXY Portal / Agent Application / MUE/MOO help / overview of MAM system
Jenny Marketou, Smell.Bytes
Amy Alexander, The Bot
MIT Medialab Agents group
MIT AI Lab
- Autonomous characters / Cellular Automata / Particle Worlds:
Steering behaviours for autonomous characters
Mirek’s Java Cellebration
Particle World
Computer Visualization of the Marine Environment
The Computational Beauty of NatureAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 174-189, “Databases, data visualization and mapping”
- Lev Manovich, Database as a Symbolic Form
- Benjamin Fry, Organic Information Design
Week 7 (10/20)
Presentation: Heayeon Yoon.
Mapping and database visualization; database aesthetics.
Sound projects
URLs:
- “Information Architecture:”
The Art Of Memory
Giulio Camillo, Memory Theater
- Mapping and database visualization:
Atlas of CyberspaceMartin Wattenberg & Marek Walczak, Apartment
Golan Levin, with Martin Wattenberg, Jonathan Feinberg, Shelly Wynecoop, David Elashoff, and David Becker, The Secret Life of Numbers
John Klima, Earth
Lisa Jevbratt, 1:1 / Mapping the Web Infome / Infome Imager Lite
Ben Fry, Valence
Bradford Paley, TextArc
Mary Flanagan, [collection]
Alex Galloway & RSG, Carnivore
Mark Watkins, Manhattan TimeformationsFinancial Data Sets:
Smart Money’s Map of the Market (Martin Wattenberg)
Nancy Patterson, Stock Market Skirt
Lynn Hershman, Synthia
John Klima, ecosystmMapping Communication
Warren Sack, Conversation Map Judith Donath, Chat CirclesExhibition:
Mapping TransitionsAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 96-111, “Film, video, and animation”
- New Media Reader: 44|643 Lynn Hershman, “The Fantasy Beyond Control”
- Further suggested reading:
Lev Manovich, Cinema and Telecommunication/Distance and Aura (1999)
- Lev Manovich, What is Digital Cinema? (1995)
- Lev Manovich, Cinema and Digital Media (1995)
Week 8 (10/27)
Presentation: Lexia Snow.
Streaming media. Digital cinema.
- Digital Cinema
Exhibition:
Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary After FilmOnline Projects:
Mark Amerika, Filmtext
Jennifer & Kevin MCoy, 201, A Space Algorithm
Nick Crowe, Discrete Packets
David Blair, WAXWEBASCII movies:
ASCII Art Ensemble
Cory Arcangel, UrbandaleInstallations:
Toni Dove, Artificial Changelings / Spectropia / Sally
Luc Courchesne, The Visitor, Living by Numbers
Jennifer & Kevin MCoy, Every Shot, Every Episode / Every Anvil / How I learnedWeb Cinema / Internet as Distribution Medium:
New Venue
Daniel Garcia Andujar, Technologies to the People Video CollectionAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 154-164, Telepresence, telematics, and telerobotics
- Ken Goldberg, The Unique Phenomenon of a Distance (Introduction from The Robot in the Garden, MIT Press)
Week 9 (11/3)
Telepresence and telerobotics.
URLs:
- Telepresence and telerobotics:
Ken Goldberg et. al., Telegarden
June Houston, Ghost Watcher
Steve Mann, Wireless Wearable Webcam
Parkbench, Alice sat here / / Alice sat here
Eric Paulos, John Canny, PRoP — Personal Roving Presence
Fakeshop, Fakeshop / Capsule Hotel
Wolfgang Staehle, Empire 24/7
Adrianne Wortzel, Camouflage Town
Eduardo Kac, Rara Avis / Uirapuru / Teleporting an Unknown StateExhibition:
Telematic Connections: The Virtual Embrace
- Telerobots:
Xavier, Carnegie Mellon
telerobot.mech.uwa.edu.au
Yahoo robots directoryAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 165-174, “Body and identity”
- New Media Reader: 35|515 Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto”
Week 10 (11/10)
Guest lecture: John Klima
cityarts.com
Week 11 (11/17)
Presentation: Sang Joon Han.
Cyberbodies, avatars, self, and identity in the networked environment.
URLs:
- Cyberbody/Identity Projects:
Victoria Vesna, Bodies, Inc. / Notime / Datamining Bodies: Project Documentation — online version(under construction)
Tina Laporta, Distance / eye2ear / Dystopia / Re:mote
Mouchette, mouchette.org / Flesh&Blood
Stelarc
Shu Lea Chang, Brandon
Mark Daggett, Analysis Engine
- Avatar Projects:
Desktop Theater
The ABC ExperimentAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 204-211, “Tactical media, activism and hacktivism”
- New Media Reader: 53|781 Critical Art Ensemble, “Nomadic Power and Cultural Resistance”
- Suggested further reading:
Patrick Lichty, Grasping at Bits
Robbin Murphy, “Artists and Legal Ambiguity on the Internet”
Week 12 (11/24)
Presentation: Elsa Tu.
Net activism, tactical media hacktivism and cultural hacking.
Intellectual Properties.
URLs:
- Net Activism :
RTMark
etoy
Heath Bunting, irational.org
Ricardo Dominguez, floodnet
Mongrel
Harwood [Mongrel], Tate online
Josh On & Futurefarmers, They Rule
plagiarist.org
0100101110101101.ORG
Institute for Applied Autonomy
Critical Art Ensemble
Natalie Jeremijenko
Bureau of Inverse Technologies
- Exhibitions:
open_source_art_hack
I LOVE YOU – computer_viruses_hacker_culture
- Legal Ambiguity:
“Reward”
“7-11”
Documenta X
Antonio Muntadas, The File Room
- General:
Creative Commons
Berkman Center for Internet & SocietyAssignment for next week:
- Lev Manovich, The Aesthetics of Virtual Worlds
- Digital Art: pp. 196-204, “Gaming”
- New Media Reader:
46|663 Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer, “The Lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat”
34|499 Sherry Turkle, “Video Games and Computer Holding Power”
38|563 Brenda Laurel, “The Six Elements and the Causal Relations Among Them” / “Star Raiders: Dramatic Interaction in a Small World”
- Further suggested readings:
Mary Flanagan “navigating the narrative in space: gender and spatiality in virtual worlds”
DAC Melbourne Papers:
Espen Aarseth, “Playing Research: Methodological approaches to game analysis”
Tiffany Holmes, “Arcade Classics Spawn Art? Current Trends in the Art Game Genre”
Ben Hourigan, “The Utopia of Open Space in Role-Playing Videogames”
Mikael Jakobsson, “The Sopranos Meets EverQuest: Social Networking in Massively Multiplayer Online Games”
Eddo Stern, “A Touch of Medieval: Narrative, Magic and Computer Technology in Massively Multiplayer Computer Role-Playing Games”
Week 13 (12/1)
Presentation: Chun-Chia Ho(gaming).
Networked multi-user environments, MUDs, MOOs; 3D-Worlds and VRML.
Gaming
URLs:
- 3D Worlds:
Active Worlds
Adobe Atmosphere
Digital Space
- Artist-created 3D Worlds:
web3Dart
Melinda Rackham, Empyrean
Meet Factory / Conversations with Angels
- Graphic Chat Rooms:
The Palace
Desktop Theater
- MUDs/MOOs:
Yahoo MUD, MOO Directory
LambdaMOO Programmer’s Manual
Unofficial LambdaMOO Beginners Quick Reference
The Lost Library of MOO
- (Multi-User) Games:
Will Wright/Electronic Arts, The Sims
Everquest
- Current exhibitions:
Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney, Australia, Plaything
Games, curated by Tilman Baumgäertel
Institute for Contemporary Art, Cape Town, South Africa, (re:Play), curated by Radioqalia
New Museum of Contemporary Art, Killer Instinct
- Artist-created (multi-user) games & game mods:
Natalie Bookchin, Intruder / Metapet
Eric Zimmerman + Word, Sissyfight 2000
John Klima, ecogame / Jack & Jill
Feng Mengbo, Q4U
Anne-Marie Schleiner, Velvet-Strike
JODI, SOD / Untitled Game / Wolfenstein version of My Boyfriend…
Tom Betts, q-q-q
Escape from Woomera
Bush Mechanics
- General info
www.playability.deAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 71-96, “Installation;” pp. 125-132 “Virtual reality and augmented reality”
- New Media Reader: 25|377 Myron Krueger, “Responsive Environments”
- Digital Art: pp. 132-137, “Sound and Music”
Week 14 (12/8)
First presentation of final projects
Presentation: Keunyoung Oh.
Immersive environments and interactive installations. Virtual Reality.
Sound projects.
URLs:
- (Networked) installation projects:
Eduardo Kac, Uirapuru, Rara Avis, Darker than Night, Teleporting an Unknown State
Jeffrey Shaw
John Klima, Go Fish
Bill Seaman, Projects
Masaki Fujihata, Projects
Perry Hoberman, Projects
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Projects
George Legrady, Pockets Full of Memories
Camille Utterback
Sommerer/Mignonneau
Char Davies, Osmose / Ephemere
- Sound Projects:
John Klima, glasbead
Stephen Vitiello, Tetrasomia
Golan Levin, Dialtones, Scribble, Audio-Visual Environment Suite
Tom Betts, BitmapSequencer
ixi software, Connector
G.H. Hovagimyan & Peter Sinclair, Soap Opera for Laptops
- Interfaces:
MIT Aesthetics + Computation GroupAssignment for next week:
- Digital Art: pp. 23-27, “The presentation, collection and preservation of digital art”
- Switch Issue No. 17, [Rivets + Denizens] Collaborative Curatorial Models in Theory and Practice
- Digital Art: pp. 212-215, “Technologies of the future”
Week 15 (10/15)
Final presentation of projects
Presenting and preserving new media art, the virtual museum, collecting and storing visual data.
Technologies of the Future.
URLs:
- Virtual Museums
Image Collections:
Mark Harden, Artchive (“texas.net Museum of Art”)
Nicholas Pioch, “WebMuseum” (“Le WebLouvre”)
Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO)
Virtual Tours:
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Brancusi’s Mademoiselle Pogany
Frick Collection Virtual Tour
Sydney Opera Virtual Tour
Mini MOMA
Virtual Museum Models:
Guggenheim Virtual Museum
Whitney Artport
Rhizome Artbase
- Collaborative Curating:
Switch Magazine, Collaborative Curatorial Models in Theory and Practice
Connections
Your Show HereStudent projects:
Heayeon Yoon, http://class.sva.edu/~heayeon/WorldNews/test/opentest.htmlYen Chiao Tu, http://www2.sva.edu/~yenchiao/inhabit_domain.htmlKeunyoung Oh, http://www2.sva.edu/~Keun/miss.htmlSang Joon Han, http://www2.sva.edu/~sangjoon/telecom/final/main.swf /http://mfaca.sva.edu/~sangjoon/telecom/final/al_experiment.htmlYuli Ziv http://www.yuliziv.com/memory.htmlPrevious student projects:
- Su Xian Wu, hypertext narrative
- Sangjin Eom, Positive and Negative
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