081 VISUAL ARTS The following courses serve as studio classes for the bachelor of arts (B.A.) and the bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) curricula. |
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| Course Number | Course Title (credits) | Course Description |
| 07:081:105 | Visual Arts Practice (1) | Crew assignments each semester in exhibition techniques and studio mechanics. Required of all B.F.A. visual arts majors. Must be repeated for a total of 4 credits. Required of all B.A. visual arts majors. Must be repeated for a total of 2 credits. |
| 07:081:107 | Digital Image Fundamentals (1) | This two-week course aims to introduce visual arts foundation students to the fundamentals of the digital image. Today, regardless of the discipline, visual artists are surrounded by digital images either as producers, publishers or consumers. This mini-curriculum is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to correlate formal aspects with the fundamental properties of digital images. The intention of the curriculum is not to teach specific software or computer programming but rather to inspire and equip students with knowledge regarding digital production and representation. Content of the course will also address cultural connotations, trends, and the archeology of emerging digital image aesthetics. |
| 07:081:121 | Drawing Fundamentals I-A (4) | Introductory course designed to familiarize the student with the basic principles of drawing. Focusing primarily on fundamental skills such as accuracy in perceptual ability; a sensitivity to line, and understanding of compositional strategies; a working knowledge of one and two point perspective; an understanding of different strategies of creating space on a two dimensional picture plane as well as mastery of materials such as pencil and charcoal are covered. |
| 07:081:122 | 4D Fundamentals | Working with the computer and with everyday technologies including smart phones, the internet, cameras and audio recording devices, student learn fundamentals of time- and screen-based contemporary art practices. The class introduces students to a range of experimental techniques and approaches, working with photomontage, image sequencing, video recording and editing, and sound. The class includes screenings, demos, workshops, labs, readings, group discussions, and critiques. Students will develop their own creative and independent voices while working on a series of focused assignments. The course will culminate in a public screening of student artwork produced during the course. |
| 07:081:200-201 | Seminar in Contemp Art-A and B (3,3) | Examination on actual works of art, beginning with Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and culminating with current exhibitions of contemporary art. Students are required to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in the first semester, and during the second semester familiarize themselves with galleries in New York, particularly Chelsea and the Lower East Side. Work in all medium, from painting, drawing, and sculpture to film, photography, and performance will be discussed.Prerequisite: 01:082:105 and 01:082:106 and 01:355:101 |
| 07:081: 221 | Drawing I-A (4) Subtitle: Collage and Installation | This course will explore the idea of drawing as a contemporary discipline that expands on the traditional notion and definition of drawing. Ideas of fracture, montage, image/object, process and environment will all be explored as students develop their own vocabulary and studio practice. Historical models, relevant texts, and contemporary artists will be examined, research/special projects and group and individual critiques are an integral part of the course. Prerequisite: 07:081:121and 07:081:122 |
| 07:081:222 | Drawing I-B (4) Subtitle: Systems & Mapping | This course will examine the nature of drawing as a discipline and process as well as its relationship to other visual arts media. The creation of various systems as a way to generate, organize, compose, pattern, plan, model, design, execute, and possibly destroy art work will be explored. Examining and understanding other artist's work, reading relevant texts, research/special projects, the personal development of an active studio practice, group and individual critiques are an integral part of this course. Prerequisite: 07:081:121 and 07:081:122 |
| 07:081:227 | Design and Visual Thinking I-A (4) Subtitle: Black and White | An exploration of formalist design principles and basic compositional strategies in two and three dimensions, basic skill sets within a variety of materials and approaches, familiarity with the process of conceptualization to visual ideation, and development of a working vocabulary with which assess their own work and the work of others. |
| 07:081:228 | Visual Thinking I-B (4) Subtitle: Color | Basic principles of color which address issues related to its physical properties, scientific principles, practical application, cultural implications and concepts of color "theory". |
| 07:081:231 | Design I-A: Type and Typography (4) | Introduction to typography, the practice of making verbal language visual. Builds visual awareness of letterforms and their composition in space through studio projects that engage with type as a means for clear communication and visual expression. In addition to studio work, this course demands absorbing technical and historical knowledge in order to develop a visual sensitivity for typographic form. |
| 07:081:232 | Design I-B: Form and Meaning (4) | Introduction
to a visual communication design process. Work with both hand methods
and digital technologies to develop original design solutions.
Assignments integrate conceptual thinking with formal experimentation.
Students explore problems dealing with visual metaphor, symbols, and
the combination of type and image for making meaning. |
| 07:081:243 | MEDIA I-A: INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA ART: SCREEN/IMAGE/SOUND (4) | This introductory course focuses on the production and concepts of screen-based media artwork. Students learn about the interdisciplinary field of Media art, which can include video art, installation, and video sculpture, artists' cinema, experimental film and video, participatory art, live media performance, and art for the internet. Students learn to navigate a landscape of continuously changing technologies and devices. The course includes lectures, workshops, technical demos, readings, critiques of student work, and screenings of artists' works. Students create a series of group and individual media art projects. No technical experience required.No prerequisite: Open to all students. |
| 07:081:244 | MEDIA I-B: EXPERIMENTAL PRACTICES AND TECHNIQUES (4) |
A
course on experimental approaches to screen-based Media art including
experimental documentary and narrative, collage and montage, sampling,
remixing, and abstraction. The course includes a series of technical
workshops that may include 2-d animation, compositing, and other visual
and digital tools and effects. Screening and discussions about media
art in relation to art history and contemporary art. Includes
lectures, workshops, technical demos, readings, critiques of student
work, and screenings of artists' works. Students create a series of
short video and sound artworks. No prerequisite: Open to all students. |
| 07:081:247-248 | Events and Performance (4,4) | Exploration: Creating script for and performing in events and performance. Methods of finding and scripting one's own narrative intention emphasized. Exercises use of body movements, gestures and vocalization as they best serve the narrative content intention of performance. Use of props, masks, costume and a variety of mixed-media including audio, slides and video content on screen and projected. History of ritual and work of performance artists will be discussed. |
| 07:081:251-252 | Painting I-A and B (4,4) | Introduces a range of technical and experimental approaches to oils and acrylics, in practice that relate to the history of Modernist painting. Varied approaches to the problems of structure, shape, and color and to the development of formal coherence and imagery through individual and group critiques. Aspects of representation and abstraction. Selected readings and museum visits required. |
| 07:081:261 | PHOTOGRAPHY I-A: INTRO TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY (4) | A rigorous introduction to digital photography, featuring the digital camera, digital image file development including camera RAW, and the presentation of photographs on screen and in print. This studio-based course explores photography by considering technical, creative, historical, cultural and critical issues of the multi-faceted medium of photography. No prerequisites. Open to all students. |
| 07:081:262 | PHOTOGRAPHY I-B: DARKROOM PHOTOGRAPHY (4) | Explores the foundations of film photography with an emphasis on technique and aesthetic concerns, coupled with an introduction to the history of photography. Emphasizes mastery of the 35 mm and large format film camera techniques, lighting, black-and-white film development, gelatin silver printing, visual literacy, editing, and presentation methods. No Prerequisites. Open to all students. |
| 07:081:271 | Print I-A (4) | In depth exploration of silkscreen including hand drawn, computer generated positives, and production. The course encourages the combination of other print mediums and will include a short segment on print as a 3-D structure. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:272 | Print I-B (4) | In depth exploration of woodcut, linocut, reduction print, work will be in both black and white and printing of multi-colored blocks including reduction block printing. The course encourages the combination of other print mediums. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:281-282 | Sculpture I-A and B (4,4) | An introduction to the fundamentals of sculpture. Utilizing traditional and nontraditional techniques. Processes will include learning the application of various hand tools and machines, welding, additive and subtractive techniques, and mold making. Slide presentations will be shown and informal discussions held throughout the semester. |
| 07:081:303 | Seminar in Media (3) | A
survey of contemporary Media art including video art and installation,
expanded and artists' cinema, experimental film and video, sound art,
and art for the internet. Students are introduced to a range of media
art practices that may include experimental narratives and
documentaries, radical and activist media, multi-media installations,
found footage collage and remix work, online art interventions, and
live media performance. The course explores histories, theories, and
critical writing on avant-garde media from the 20th Century to the
present. |
| 07:081:306 | Seminar in Print (3) | History of print, paper, and collaboration from Guttenberg to the internet. The dissemination of printmaking, the multiple in installation, paper, photography, sculpture, and book forms. Current ideas, history, criticism, practices, and artists who deal with the multiple are explored through readings, lectures, slides, and film. The relationship between the collaborative studio and the artist is explored through the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions. |
| 07:081:308 | Seminar in Design (3) | Exploration of historical and contemporary critical debates in graphic design. Students investigate the ways historical, cultural, political, and economic factors have shaped design through readings, lectures, research, and presentation. Students situate their practice within the design discourse of today through an examination of the development of the discipline. |
| 07:081:310 | Seminar in Photography (3) | Examination of historical and contemporary discourse in photography. The course will include detailed discussion of major theoretical approaches to photography. Students encounter aspects of the history of photography and its interaction with other cultural forms through the development of historical, cultural and political factors and their relationship to the present through key readings, lectures, film and guest speakers. |
| 07:081:321 | Drawing II-A (4) Subtitle: Drawing & Animation | This
course examines the relationship of drawing to time and media based
practices, specifically through the history and techniques of
animation. Exploring traditional and experimental animation we will
examine how drawing can mark space and movement to create the illusion
of time. Starting from pre-cinematic animation techniques through the
realm of the digital we will examine the impact of technology both
technically and conceptually. We will develop a critical understanding
of animation and "the animated" as it relates to personal
iconography/biography and social/political circumstances through the
lens of the current zeitgeist. |
| 07:081:322 | Drawing II-B (4) Subtitle: Graphic Novel | |
| 07:081:330 | Seminar in Sculpture (3) | Study of sculpture from the 60's to current contemporary sculpture through readings, discussions, museums, galleries and practicing sculptor's studio visits. |
| 07:081:331 | Design II-A: Systems (4) | Exploration of complex multipart Design problems dealing with series, sequences, and grids. Development of personal interests and voice as a designer within given prompts addressing book design, identity design and motion graphics. Further develops skills in design research, visual experimentation, and digital applications for print and screen. Prerequisites: 07:081:231-232. |
| 07:081:332 | Design II-B: Experimental Interaction Design (4) | This course is focused on modalities and aesthetics of a wide range of digital media and techniques. In four distinct modules covering hypertext, algorithmic forms and motion, data visualization and physical interaction, students gain insights and a set of skills for digital methodologies and interfaces of artistic expression and design. Pre- and co-requisite: 07:081:331. |
| 07:081:343 | Media II-A and B (4,4) | This
course focuses on making and displaying screen- and time-based media in
galleries and other architectural environments. Students learn about
sequencing in space as well as principles and practices of sound and
exhibition design. The course explores how different spaces affect
moving images, sound, and projections, and how moving images, sound,
and projections can construct and alter space. Students learn about
historical precedents and current practices, from pre-cinematic magic
lantern shows to expanded cinema, and from video sculpture and
site-specific installation art, to multi-channel video installations,
urban screens, and artists' cinema. The course includes technical
workshops on syncing multiple channels of video and surround sound.
Students create their own media installations and environments. |
| 07:081:344 | MEDIA II-B: MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE (4) |
A
course on various intersections between Media and performance art.
Topics may include performance for the camera, online performances and
interventions, participatory art works, autobiography and video
diaries, the filmed body as medium, and live video and cinema
performance and events. Students create their own recorded or live
media art projects. |
| 07:081:351-352 | Painting II-A and B (4,4) | This course nurtures individual growth as a painter in technical mastery and conceptual understanding. Emphasis is placed on working in increasingly self-directed series. Selected readings and visits to exhibitions required, as are group discussions and reviews. Prerequisites: 07:081:251-252 or permission of department. |
| 07:081:353 | Seminar in Painting (3) | This course consists of readings, presentations, and studio assignments pertaining to current painting practice and the precedents that created it. Through discussions in museums and galleries in the presence of painting, students practice looking and situating what we see with the help of the texts, and learn to engage painting discourse from within. |
| 07:081:356 | SEMINAR IN DRAWING (4) | This seminar examines contemporary Drawing within the context of its history and traditions as a fluid discipline through the use of diverse media with non-specific temporal and spatial boundaries. Students will explore aesthetic, historical, cultural and theoretical issues in relation to drawing as a medium, method and practice through written assignments, readings, presentations, lectures, studio visits to practicing artists, and visits to galleries and museums. |
| 07:081:361 | PHOTOGRAPHY II-A: DIGITAL IMAGE & PRINT (4) | Features
the refinement of digital photography with an emphasis on making
exhibition-quality prints and building print portfolios. Through
creative assignments, this studio-based course explores photography
with particular focus on expressive, historical and theoretical aspects
of the ubiquitous medium. |
| 07:081:362 | PHOTOGRAPHY II-B: THE BOOK AND ONLINE PRESENCE (4) | A
course focused on refining your photographic images or images of your
artwork for a book or catalog made in InDesign and printed on-demand; a
slide presentation of the work; and a website or blog. Your project
will be self-directed. |
| 07:081:371 | Print II-A (4) Subtitle: Intaglio | In depth focus on intaglio, including engraving, drypoint, etching, aquatint, and spit bite. The course encourages the combination of other print mediums and will include a segment on photo polymer plates. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:372 | Print II-B (4) Subtitle: Lithography | In depth focus on lithography, including stones, aluminum plates, photo-litho plates, and color lithography. The course encourages the combination of other print mediums. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:381 | Sculpture II-A (4) Subtitle: Ceramics | This course provides an introduction to ceramic sculpture with an emphasis on hand building methods. Students will learn methods of building ceramic sculpture by techniques of pinch building, slab, coil, press hump mold construction, wheel and slip casting. History and theory will be introduced alongside the various methods of construction, surface treatment, glaze chemistry and firing methodology. |
| 07:081:382 | Sculpture II-B (4) | In this course students explore a selection of diverse concepts, materials, and processes associated with making sculpture. Emphasis will be on exploring alternative methods of art production, expanding conceptual development as well as further students' technical skills. The course will address the development in transforming ideas into form.Prerequisites: 07:081:281 |
| 07:081:421-422 | Drawing III-A and B (4,4) | Through practice, experimentation, research and a use of a variety of media and methodologies students will explore more complex approaches to their drawing practice. These may include: the use of image and text; time, sequence and narrative in drawing; and drawing as a performative practice, among others. Self-directed work in the studio, research and reading of critical texts are required. |
| 07:081:310 | SEMINAR IN PHOTOGRAPHY (3) | Examines historical and contemporary discourse in photography. The course will include detailed discussion of major theoretical approaches to photography. Students encounter aspects of the history of photography and its interaction with other cultural forms through the development of historical, cultural, and political factors and their relationships to the present through key readings, lectures, film, and guest speakers. |
| 07:081:431 | Design III-A: Design for the Digital Realm (4) | This
course trains students to research, analyze, prototype, and develop
design concepts for digital media such as online, tablets, and mobile apps, for three distinct social and cultural contexts. The focus is on practice and experimentation to master UI/UX design. This course consists of three projects addressing experience design and its presentation. Pre-requisites / Co-requisites: 07:081:332 |
| 07:081:432 | Design III-B: Portfolio (4) | Development of a diverse, refined body of work and format for its presentation. Lectures and readings survey current issues in design practice. Critiques and discussions underpin the process of defining and articulating the student’s interests and approach to design. Pre-requisites / Co-requisites: 07:081:431 |
| 07:081:433-434 | Advanced Design A and B: Practicum (4,4) | Design Practicum is a hands-on course that provides an opportunity to design for real-world situations in a non-commercial environment. It is an advanced production studio for students interested in collaborating with academics from other fields, university administrators, local representatives and other designers. Students will engage in research, concept development, design, production and presentation. Students are expected to work in close contact with peers and outside collaborators to produce visual projects that meet mutually agreed upon parameters. Pre- or co-requisite: 07:081:431. |
| 07:081:441 | MEDIA III-A: INDEPENDENT MEDIA PRODUCTION (4) | Students work under the direction of faculty and in discussion with the class, work on producing self-directed, independently conceived Media art works that reflect their own interests and ideas. Students will proceed through all stages to fully realize their work – from research, proposal, production, postproduction, to installation, screening, or other form of display. Ongoing group discussions, critiques, readings, and screenings related to students' creative projects. Prerequisites: Any Visual Arts studio concentration course (Design, Drawing, Media, Painting, Photography, Print, or Sculpture) or permission of instructor. |
| 07:081:442 | MEDIA III-B: INTERACTION DESIGN AND DATA VISUALIZATION (4) |
This course is focused on modalities and aesthetics of a wide range of digital media and techniques. In four distinct modules covering hypertext, algorithmic forms and motion, data visualization and physical interaction, students gain insights and a set of skills for digital methodologies and interfaces of artistic expression and design. (Cross-listed with Design II-B 07:081:332):Prerequisites: 07:081:441 or permission of instructor. |
| 07:081:446 | Advanced Media A (4) | Students
work under the direction of faculty and in discussion with the class on
producing self-directed, independently conceived media art works that
reflect their own interests and ideas. Ongoing group discussions,
critiques, readings, and screenings in media art. Prerequisites: 07:081:442 or permission of instructor. |
| 07:081:447 | ADVANCED MEDIA B (4) | Students
work under the direction of faculty and in discussion with the class on
producing independent media art projects. The class addresses life
after art school, including options and approaches to exhibiting and
distributing media art, preparing portfolios, and writing proposals and
statements. Prerequisites: 07:081:442 or permission of instructor. |
| 07:081:451-452 | Painting III-A and B (4,4) | Students focus on individual practice, such as development of personal style and content meaning. Selected readings and visits to exhibitions required, as are group discussions and reviews. Prerequisites: 07:081:351-352. Primarily for concentration majors. |
| 07:081:453-454 | Advanced Painting A and B (4,4) | Mentored individual work in painting toward thesis. Pre- or co requisites: 07:081:451 and 07:081:452 |
| 07:081:455-456 | Advanced Drawing A and B (4,4) | Exploration of Advanced Projects in drawing. |
| 07:081:461-462 | PHOTOGRAPHY III-A AND III-B: EXHIBITION & PORTFOLIO (4,4) |
Concentrates
on individual development by which students can develop an awareness
and understanding of experimental and creative approaches to conceptual
projects within the framework of contemporary photographic art
practice. Photography IIIB continues further experimentation and
analysis where students are encouraged to develop a more informed and
individual approach to their photographic practice within the context
of contemporary art. Advanced theoretical studies and individual
practical investigations are used to support an emerging independent
work process culminating in a final body of work. |
| 07:081:463-464 | ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHY (4,4) | Projects in this special topics class concentrate on the approach to specialized development in photography areas such as artists books, multimedia approaches, performance, installation, and photography based public art. Individual and group work includes research and short- and long-term project development. Prerequisites: 07:081:461-462. |
| 07:081:471 | Print III-A (4 )Subtitle: Letterpress | In depth focus on letterpress including hand typesetting and polymer plates on the Vandercook press. The course will cover broadsides, artists' books, and chap books. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:472 | Print III-B (4) Subtitle: Papermaking | In depth focus on papermaking including western style formation, working with Japanese fibers, three-dimensional pulp casting, coloring of pulps, stencils, watermarking, sizing, pressing, and drying. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:473 | Advanced Print-A (4)Subtitle: Mass Media Print | In depth focus on the digital print in mass printed culture including zines, books on demand, the poster as an art form, and installation. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:474 | Advanced Print-B (4) Subtitle: Artist's Books | In depth focus on hand made artists books including Japanese stab binding, accordion structures, single and multiple signatures, Coptic, and alternative books. Artistic development concerning composition, content, and conceptual ideas will be addressed through individual and group critiques. |
| 07:081:481-482 | Sculpture III-A and B (4,4) | This class will set an environment that will encourage students to explore, define and develop their artistic voice. Students will be working independently on their own projects. The object is to learn about one's own work through criticism, dialogue and interaction with peers. Prerequisites: 07:081:381 and 07:081:382 |
| 07:081:483-484 | Advanced Sculpture A (4) | This course provides an introduction to ceramic sculpture with an emphasis on hand building methods. Students will learn methods of building ceramic sculpture by techniques of pinch building, slab, coil, press hump mold construction, wheel and slip casting. History and theory will be introduced alongside the various methods of construction, surface treatment, glaze chemistry and firing methodology.Pre- or co requisites: 07:081:481 and 07:081:482 |
| 07:081:497-498 | Thesis and Exhibition A and B (3,3) | Students in the Design concentration take the Thesis and Exhibition A and B courses as a separate section, taught by Design faculty. Students create works that explore a personal focus within design, and present their work within the senior exhibition. |