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ART 396 •Time Studio Course Proposal


Art and Design Majors: completion of Foundations.
Non-Art and Design Majors: Junior Standing and permission of instructor.

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10. Rationale for adding this course to the curriculum:
This proposal is part of a larger Program Change Request for a new emphasis in the Department of Art and Design called Visual Studies. The change in program addresses two broad areas: 1. the incorporation of new technologies into contemporary visual art studio, 2. expanded contexts for studio practice. These areas are described more fully in the Visual Studies Proposal sections: Description, Justification/Need, and Explanation of Comparable Areas.

Time Studio expands the curriculum’s capacity to represent established practices in contemporary art exploring temporal and presentational practices and the theoretical discourse specific to such practices within a studio context. This class would address time-based art works. Time-based works include time and change as a central element to the experience and concept of the work. This includes ephemeral and kinetic objects, performance, sound works, and works incorporating moving images. The course may as well deal with installation works as they pertain to the time-based experience of the viewer. The course would incorporate current technologies in the study and creation of works that take place over time including audio, video, and performance.

Ephemeral works are designed to be temporary either through programmed decay of the materials used or through the incorporation of systems that are designed to fail.
Kinetic objects incorporate movement and sometimes mobility. They typically are objects, but also might involve spaces, gears, cranks, pulleys, pumps, fountains, lights, or colors.
Works that use audio and moving images are made for varied situations. Sometimes the presentation context is a neutral environment in which media is played that is pre-recorded and edited. Other works are used in gallery environments in which additional forms are involved such as walls, doors, objects, lights, and images. Yet another context involves presenting the media in existing environments; ranging from a subtle layer on the experience of the environment to the other extreme in which the effect is more monumental and dramatic. Existing environments are used because of a special experiential, social, political, or cultural value associated with the site.
Sound works are usually played ambiently in spaces, but at times are presented over headphones. Moving images can be presented on monitors or by projection. The size and power of all of these technologies continues to increase while cost continues to drop promising a continued increase in possibilities.
Performance works include actions by people that are experiential, narrative, autobiographical, kinesthetic, or empathetic. While there is some overlap with theatrical acting, the history is relatively clear in distinguishing between these forms. Performance is presented in varied contexts that include neutral or existing sites. They can be structured for an assembled audience, be incidental, or done in isolation and documented with audio, moving or static images for presentation in another context.
With all of these time-based forms the use of new technology in the studio process is an important part of the work. They are not only used for a resulting form, but are the media of thinking and making. Additionally, the documentation of such works regularly requires the use of audio, moving and static images in another manner; the recording and documenting of such works for historical or subsequent presentation.

By working both in and out of traditional presentation contexts the studio engages a consideration of how art is “instituted”: the domain of studio practice is not limited to the objects and images, but directly takes up ideas that engage broad questions about the social, cultural, and political implications of images and their display. These understandings illuminate new opportunities for cultural work as well as enable students to move effectively in standardized art contexts by articulating the process of encounter and engagement with audience in distinct ways.

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1. Art and Design students
2. Students from other majors. In particular students whose course of study involves the consideration of performance, time-based interactions, and the use of time-based technology.

Most studio courses are organized by discipline (medium). Time studio is organized around an experiential form (time) which has it’s own considerations and often incorporates forms and considerations rooted in various other disciplines. This approach complements the existing curriculum by focusing on important considerations of art practice not primary in other studios.

The course may be repeated once for credit. The nature and pedagogy of studio learning is student-centered. It is standard pedagogy and practice to structure a studio course to accommodate a range of students engaged in a range of projects. The course is structured to facilitate and assess this. Each implementation of Time Studio will have the same framework, but the primary "content" is not prescribed by the curriculum. Within contexts of historic and contemporary history and practice the student develops their studio work. There are technical and production aspects to every project. These too are largely variable and determined by the nature of the studio inquiry. It is standard pedagogical practice in studio courses to require students to not repeat work (content and form) that they've already done. However, we encourage students to progress work in beneficial ways and to see and extend connections among their various courses. Ambition, risk-taking, and progress in studio learning are encouraged, supported and evaluated favorably as are the quality and completeness of the finished product.

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Prerequisites assure that students enroll in Time Studio at an appropriate point in their studies. Because the art and design department requires completion of foundations (6 courses and a portfolio review) prior to enrolling in any 200 or higher level studio course, enrolling in this course follows that policy. Non-majors are not subject to this departmental policy. Permission of instructor is granted after completion of an interview with instructor in which the student is informed of the unique expectations and challenges of the course. The dual prerequisite is consistent with current practices in Art and Design.

The course does not overlap other courses in the department. This is substantiated by the support of this proposal by the department faculty. It was supported with a 12-3 vote and signed off on by the Department Chair.

Studio works that incorporate Time elements and technology are not included in the curricula of any studio courses in the department. Students in various upper level studios have migrated into using Time elements in their work in individual instances, but these approaches are not addressed in the curriculum. Successful use of these media in a contemporary studio context comes with special technical challenges and distinct conceptual, theoretical and historical considerations. Often when students have worked independently in such areas there have been problems with technology or with a lack of understanding of the particular presentation considerations. These experiences motivated the Department to develop this course.

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The course will not increase total credits required. It is however part of a new emphasis proposed in Art and Design. No existing course could be dropped or modified to accommodate this additional material.

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11. Course / content overlap with other units:

Time Studio is necessary as a distinct course. While the course has strong connections and relationships to other courses and disciplines, it uniquely addresses learning considerations that are not adequately covered in existing courses. It is also essential for the Department of Art and Design to include these established studio practices in its program because of their prevalence in the Art World. These media and methods are used in both singular and combined application with other studio methods, and typically are included within programs in Art and Design. (See Comparison with other Programs in the Emphasis Proposal.)

Time Studio makes technical, cultural, and conceptual connections with many other offerings on campus. These include academic courses such as media and film studies, sociology, philosophy, and psychology. It also connects with studio courses addressing the moving image and sound in the School of Communications as well as studios in Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, Graphic Design, Illustration and Printmaking in the Department of Art an Design. Additionally, there are studio connections to Theater and Dance as well as Creative Writing.

Much of visual art practice today operates without disciplinary/media distinctions. The range of forms and media that artists engage are quite expansive. Especially with the incorporation of digital media, various (historic and contemporary) processes are blended and merged into hybrid practices. Technological and cultural developments also make possible new contexts of presentation for art. Consequently, it is important for the Art and Design department to present the range of "ways of making" that engage time as a coherent set of theoretical and practical considerations. This course addresses broad forms involving time: This includes performance, ephemeral and kinetic objects/processes, sound, and works involving moving images. The course also deals with spatial issues and installation works as they pertain to the time-based experience of the viewer. The course introduces presentational and technical considerations particular to such work in an art context, and brings to the foreground the relationship of such work to other media, methods, processes, and considerations in studio art.

The connections with courses in the School of Communications necessitate a more detailed differentiation. There are complexities to the various ways in which overlap may be considered (technological, conceptual, cultural, pedagogical). While the question of overlap is not directly relevant to 380 courses, a consideration of the CFV/Art 380 4D Time Arts helps bridge these complexities. This 380 was a joint offering of the Department of Art and Design and the School of Communications in Winter 2005. The agreement to offer this 380 could be taken as an indication by both units that a course of this design does not significantly overlap with coursework in either unit. The Time Studio course we propose here has similarities to the 380, but is less technical, and emphasizes context and the relation to other art studios. As such it has even less in common with other courses in School of Communications. If the 380 presented no significant overlap with School of Communications, then it follows that Time Studio does not have significant overlap with other courses or programs in the School of Communications.

CFV 426 Cinematic Multimedia and CFV 327 Film and Video Art both approach making as primarily focused on cinematic or moving image contexts (multi-media, film, video, cinema). They do not adequately address other forms of time-based studio work, nor do they appear to comparably address important relationships of time-based art works to other studio methods and contexts of presentation that are central to the Time Studio course and its relationship to other Art and Design curricula. We were very deliberate to determine the minimum we needed to cover within the curriculum of the Art and Design department and to leave open connections to ways that other Units contribute to these areas of learning. The Visual Studies Emphasis accomplishes this through the large number of studio electives built into its program. We see this course as viable no matter what organizational structure or future curriculum developments might take shape. By creating this course we are not claiming that all courses involving "art" and "technology" should be exclusively in Art and Design, only that we should not be prevented from the inclusion of relevant technologies in our courses, especially to the extent that they are established practices that are integral to a quality department of Art and Design.

Including these practices in context of, and close proximity to, other historical art practices within the Department of Art and Design is essential to our program. Time Studio is designed to relate specifically to other studio courses in the Art and Design curriculum while preparing students to connect their learning to related disciplines outside of the Department. It also is designed to provide a relevant and meaningful studio experience for students majoring in other departments. The course is structured to maximize the ways in which these practices operate as integrative elements among the various studio areas in the department. It is not only important for "Time Studio" to be presented in proximity to "Painting", but also important for "Painting" to be presented in proximity to "Time Studio". This presents traditional media in relation to contemporary media and the broad context of contemporary visual culture. Assuring this integrative impact is best done through administering the course in the Art and Design department. We have appropriate existing studio spaces and computer labs.

Effective integration of these studio practices extends beyond the course, and into co-curricular activities that are important parts of the program in Art and Design. This includes faculty reviews of student portfolios at the Foundation, Junior and Senior levels. Also, each BFA student undertakes a 6 credit Senior Project that is coordinated by faculty beyond the schedule of classes. These further reinforce the importance of administering this coursework in our department.

It would not be productive to present this material in denial of the important and distinct histories and practices of the other various disciplines that engage the element of time. Therefore, this course is put together in deliberate relation to these other areas. Care will be taken to indicate to students the important connections to various related disciplines such as such as sculpture, the moving image (film and video), painting, graphic design, interface design, industrial design, computer science, theater, dance, and creative writing. Coursework in Art and Design and other related Units (see listing above) will be recommended to students whose studio work engages these related disciplines.

(Memos from School of Communications that address concerns with overlap are included in the packet of correspondence submitted with the Visual Studies Emphasis proposal. This includes a memo dated 12/4/06 and an earlier document from 3/30/06. Also see the memo from Kim Roberts, Faculty member in the Film and Video area of the School of Communications.)

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12. Syllabus of Record: ART 396 •Time Studio -attached

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13. Curriculum Resource Statement: ART 396 Time Studio -attached

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