New
Directions in Digital Art
Instructor:
Anne-Marie Schleiner
ARTS
4176/5176, Spring 2006
Mon/Weds
Office Hours: by appt.
N275
(Experimental Digital Arts Lab)
email:
opensorcery@opensorcery.net
'Our
action or behavior, linked with other desirable aspects of a revolution in
mores, can be briefly defined as the invention of games of an essentially new
type. The most general goal must be to expand the nonmediocre part of life, to
reduce the empty moments of life as much as possible... The situationist game
is distinguished from the classic notion of games by its radical negation of
the element of competition and of separation from everyday life. On the other
hand, it is not distinct from a moral choice, since it implies taking a stand
in favor of what will bring about the future reign of freedom and play.' --Guy
Debord 1957
This course is inspired by
the proposition of the Situationists from the late 1950's that radical play
should be incorporated as an approach to everyday life. Projects
and readings will challenge students to consider the 3-D models of the real
that are taken for granted and to PLAY with them in projects ranging from
personal to political. Forces ranging from the Pentagon, Hesbollah and
and Aryian nations have taken to modeled computer game worlds to
propagate their message, confusing the boundaries between the virtual and the
so called real. Less visible as propoganda, but equally powerful, are the
models presented by the commercial computer game industry which enforce a
number of assumptions based on rules taken for granted about how the world
works and how it should be represented visually. Throughout the semester, while
engaging with these topics, students will technically evolve their skills in
creating a 3-D modeled worlds in Blender, an open source 3D modeler
with built in physics and a game engine, and other software. (It is
assumed students are already familiar with photoshop, dreamweaver and Final Cut Pro and these will not be demoed, although lab assistants will be
available for technical assistance.)
Reading
Summaries or Visual Essays(3)--each 10% of total grade
Report
on Construction of Situationism by Guy Debord, Formulary of New Urbanism by Gilles Ivian, TAZ by Hakim Bey, Twenty Centuries of
Virtual Reality by Simon Penny
Prepare
for 2 Discussion days with summary of readings or visual essay on reading
(to show and explain to class on discussion day)
PROJECTS
(3)
Project
1: MY
HUD Make an HUD (Heads Up Display) showing the tools you use in
everyday life overlayed over an image from your everyday life. (Photoshop
or Illustrator)
Inspiration:
Use of everyday and the magic of the mundane in art, DADA, Found Objects,
Duchamp, Micah Ganske, Fake
Screen by Brody Condon and collaborators
Project
2.
Historical Game Make a recreation of a game based on historical information. For example you could recreate the court and rules of the sacrificial ball games played by the Maya and Aztecs. This option requires you to do research to obtain historical maps, drawings and descriptions.
or:
3-D
Soundscape: Sound Representation vs. Visual Representation. make a
world of primitive shapes in Blender, assign a camera to follow a primary
shape, give meaning ot the shapes and navigation through the world with
sounds Inspiration: Innothna, Retroyou --R/C
Project
3. Utopia--TAZ
or otherwise, in collaboration with partner
Modeling
Worlds, Embedded assumptions in game models of the real...Design your own
3-D Cult Compound in Blender. Inspiration: Waco by C-level, , Escape from Woomera and other explicitly Political Games, Agora Exchange by
Natalie Bookchin and Jaqueline Stevens, God Games...Black and White, The Sims, Shooter
Games, GTA, etc.
Participation--10% of total grade--participation includes attending class for critiques, technical demos, and reading discussion days
Technical
Demos and Tutorials:
Students
will be required to attend the following demos and complete premade tutorials
or watch video demos throughout the semester. (It is assumed
students are already familiar with photoshop and digital video editing
software and these will not be demoed)
1.
3D World Basics---x, y, z axises, perspective window, side and front
window, wireframe, solid, textured, number of polygons(resolution) vs. speed,
modeling for animations vs modeling for interaction and games
2.
Getting to know the Blender Interface--using mouse with three buttons.
Making own windows, headers etc
3.
Basic Mesh Modeling: Begining with primaries like planes and cubes and
then extruding them.
(Gus
Tutorial from Blender Manual)
4.
Using physics and the game engine, Logic Bricks --Sensors, Controllers, and
Actuators
5.
Adding Sound--use wav files, Basic Sound Editing Demo
6.
Mapping Textures--UV Face Window and Image Window
Extra
Credit Exercise: Make your own Blender Tutorial Webpage on something to
do with the game engine.
---------------------------------
CALENDAR
Wed
Jan 18 Intro
Mon Jan 23 Begin Project 1
Wed
Jan 25 Lab Day
Mon
Jan 30 Day
Wed
Feb 1 Project 1 Due, Critique
Mon
Feb 6 Begin Project 2, Blender Demo 1
Wed
Feb 8 Reading Discussion Day, Visual Essay or Summary due for Guy Debord, Discussion Questions
Mon
Feb 13 Lab Day
Wed
Feb 15 Blender Demo 2
Mon Feb 20 Blender Gus Tutorial in Blender Manual (Download)
Wed
Feb 22 Blender Demo 4
Mon Feb 27 Lab Day
Wed
March 1 Deck Demo?
Mon
March 6 Blender Demo 5
Wed March 8 Lab Day Dont miss Cory Arcangel performance March 9 (Next Thursday) 5:30 Humanities 1B80!!!!
Mon March 13 Progress Meetings
Wed March 15 Lab Day
Mon
March 20 Project 2 Due, Critique
Wed
March 22 Begin Project 3
Mon
April 3 Discussion Day 2, Visual Essay or Summary due for Hakim Bey and
Simon Penny, Discusssion Questions
Wed
April 5 Art examples to inspire Project 3
Mon
April 10 Lab Day
Wed
April 12 Lab Day
Mon
April 17 Lab Day
Wed
April 19 Lab Day
Mon
April 24 Lab Day
Wed
April 26 Lab Day
Mon
May 1 Project 3 Due, Critique
Wed
May 3 Last Day of Classes