DEREE COLLEGE SYLLABUS FOR: DR 4025 COMPUTATIONAL MEDIA AND INTERACTIVE ART 3/0/3

– UK LEVEL 6
(Previously DR 2025) UK CREDITS 15
(Revised Fall 2015)

PREREQUISITES: None

CATALOG Computation in Art; fundamentals of computer programming, techniques

DESCRIPTION: in computer vision, sound generation, image processing, and networking
used to create art pieces and interactive installations. Use of the
“Processing” programming language.

RATIONALE: Students will experiment with the use of innovative hardware to create
their own tools and explore the possibilities for interactive art and new
media. The course supports engagement with new modes of professional
practice for students majoring in performing and visual arts, programming
and digital media.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: As a result of taking this course, a student should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the artistic possibilities of
computation
2. Apply skills acquired to meet the technical challenges in creating
a digital art piece
3. Evaluate the merits of works by new media artists
4. Experiment with programming in the “Processing” language
designed for artists
5. Design and develop an interactive art works

METHOD OF TEACHING AND In congruence with the teaching and learning strategy of the college, the
LEARNING following tools are used:

 Discussions on assigned readings and art pieces, lectures, lab

work on programming

 Office hours: students are encouraged to make full use of

instructor’s office hours for questions, to see their exams/papers,
and/or go over lecture material.

 Use of a Blackboard site, where instructors post assignment

instructions, timely announcements, as well as additional
resources.

ASSESSMENT: Summative:
Coursework portfolio 45%
Class participation, contribution 10%
Final project 45%

Formative:
Practical review sessions 0
Discussions 0
Presentation and analysis of past final projects 0

All formative assessments prepare students for assignments and

 projects.

Coursework portfolio test Learning Outcomes # 2,4

Class participation tests Learning Outcomes #1,2,3
Final individual project tests Learning Outcomes #2,4,5

READING LIST: REQUIRED MATERIAL:

Primary source:
Shiffman, D. (2008). Learning Processing, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
www.learningprocessing.com

Selected passages from:

Pearson, M. (2011) Generative Art, New York: Manning Publications.
(http://goo.gl/OpCxR)

Williams, S. (2002) Free as in Freedom – Richard Stallman’s crusade for

free software, O'Reilly.
(http://goo.gl/WdXog)

Selected Online Essays:

Levin, Golan. Beyond Photoshop with code, USA, 2001,
http://goo.gl/8ULTW
Graham, Paul. Hackers and Painters, USA, 2003, http://goo.gl/lQfdR)

RECOMMENDED MATERIAL: Recommended reading

Lessig, L. (2004) Free Culture, The nature and future of
creativity, Penguin Press, USA, 2004
http://www.free-culture.cc/

COMMUNICATION The class is designed to be paperless. All teaching material, from books
REQUIREMENTS: and essays to assignments and final projects are handled electronically.
To achieve that the following communication tools are used:
 Class website: where all material is stored including class
notes, weekly assignments, books, essays, links of interest,
videos, software, etc. http://artech.cc
 Blackboard
 Github + git: Early in the course students are taught how to
setup an online repository using git/github where they post all
their weekly programming assignments. The benefits of this are
two-fold: by studying each other's work, collaborative learning is
encouraged and secondly, students master an invaluable tool in
promoting their future work online.

SOFTWARE Recommended hardware:

REQUIREMENTS: 1 Microsoft Kinect per 2-3 students
1 webcam per student
1 PC per student

All software used in the class is Free and Open Source Software.
 Processing (programming language)
WWW RESOURCES: Useful links:
Processing programming language: http://www.processing.org/
Free Software Foundation: http://www.fsf.org/

INDICATIVE CONTENT: 1 - Introduction to computing, the free software movement and

Wordpress
2 - Painting with Processing - Introduction to programming
3 - Animation and Generative Art
4 - The first interactive artwork
5 - Functions
6 - Coding complexity in an art piece: Introduction to arrays and classes
7 - Pixels under the microscope: Using images
8 - General review
9- Machine vision for interactive art (using a webcam)
10- Interactive art using the Kinect 3D camera - part 1
11 - Interactive art using the Kinect 3D camera - part 2
12 - Introduction to Sound
13 - Using text in interactive artworks
14 - Using web-based information in artworks
15- Integrating elements into a project