Lee Blalock

This team-taught introductory studio provides a foundation for creative work across contemporary media practices. Students explore how systems, tools, and materials co-exist in an expansive ecosystem of technical possibility, to be mixed and used to create works that engage with technology as tool, medium, and terrain for playful exploration.
Through hands-on workshop modules, individual projects and possibilities for collaboration, the course introduces approaches drawn from creative coding, electronics, 3D, games, and related media to create responsive, time-based, and interactive audiovisual works. Creative misuse, tinkering, hacking, probing and breaking are strongly encouraged. Students gain a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, histories, and key areas of inquiry necessary for informed artistic engagement with technology.
Weekly sessions combine technical instruction with conceptual framing, encouraging students to develop their own ideas while introducing the broader AT/SP curriculum, pathways, and areas of practice. No prior experience required.

This project-based course explores empathy and discovery through the framework of the posthuman, drawing from the diverse disciplines that define this field. By examining the core concepts of posthumanism, students often gain new perspectives on what it means to be human, the nature of humanity under threat, and the vital lessons we can glean from non-human life forms. Conceptual inspiration for projects will come from survival systems, body modification, and our non-human sentient relatives. Project possibilities are extensive, ranging from functional exoskeletons to screen-based avatar performances and abstract works. Students will present proposals in the second class meeting and will complete one or two fully realized projects using technology-based media. Past student work has included wearable instruments, perception-altering animal-hybrid suits, and anti-gravity animations.

Weekly readings will cover diverse topics such as embodiment, hybrid identities, body modification, contemporary medical advancements, and the concept of 'fleshy data.' Each class session is structured to include a lecture or presentation, a discussion or concept workshop, and dedicated project work time.

In this advanced setting, students of all technical proficiencies are welcome; big ideas paired with beginner skills are as supported as underdeveloped concepts with advanced skills. Robust support will be provided for students at every technical level.

This is a studio course that will make use of vintage technologies available through the ATSP Retro Lab. Students will learn early programming languages for use on some of the first home computers (C64, Apple 2E, Atari 2600) while deepening their study of creative computing. No programming skills are necessary, though experience with newer programming languages will only enrich your understanding of the content. Students will also have access to early 1970s synthesizers and image processing systems to combine techniques and create multimedia projects throughout the semester.

Lectures and discussions will be based around topics in software studies and the history of computing. Students should expect to produce weekly programming sketches, two significant projects and a presentation on a topic of their choice relevant to the course.

Those who want a deep dive into the care of artworks made with vintage and retro technologies should also research the Preservation module of this course which is offered in the spring semester.