Studio Art in the Schools – Computer Arts
Art Ed 430/530 - 004 UNM College of Education, Art Education Program
Fall 2006
Wednesday 4:00pm to 6:45pm: B41 – Student Services Center (Basement)
Professor: Alexa Wheeler
Office Hours: 3pm to 4pm, Wednesdays, B41 (before class)
Mission of the Art Education Program
The Art Education Program at the University of New Mexico prepares art
professionals to meet the needs of diverse populations in the state and nation.
The program supports art professionals in their examination of multiple
approaches to art education; these include, but are not limited to image
focused, discipline-based, and issues-based art education as well as visual
culture. The undergraduate program educates students toward becoming
reflective art teachers who can encourage students to develop artworks in
response to life experiences. The graduate program, culminating in a Master of
Arts in Art Education degree, supports students with a wide range of interests.
Students can focus their investigations on making and studying art in cultural,
social, and historical contexts. We believe that studying and making imagery is a
life-long pursuit for art professionals working in our diverse and visually complex
society.
Course Description
This course focuses on the possibilities of the creative, technical, and
conceptual aspects of digital image making. We will explore the technical
processes used to create and manipulate images, discuss the philosophical and
conceptual dialogues surrounding digital images, and analyze the work of
digitally based artists. We will focus on using the Adobe Creative Suite,
specifically Photoshop, the industry standard for the creation and manipulation
of digital images, as a tool to help you fabricate, restore, and retouch images.
The objectives of this course are three-fold. First, each student will acquire the
necessary skills to successfully create images using the computer in order to
have the ability to teach basic computer imaging to students in the K-12
educational setting. Second, each student will be able to manipulate images and
make technically competent inkjet prints while experimenting with creative and
aesthetic possibilities of image making through the use of digital technologies.
Finally, each student is expected to learn how to “decode” a photograph/digital
image visually and conceptually and to have the ability to do this on a variety of
teaching levels. This course seeks to expand the possibilities of the creative,
technical, and conceptual aspects of digital photography/art and provide the
skills for you to then turnaround and do the same in your own classroom.
Supplies & Required Texts - CD-Rs (no CD-RWs) or removable Flash Drive for back-up and
storage
- Required texts:
o TXT: Visual Quickstart Guide: Photoshop CS for Windows and
Macintosh, Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas, Peachpit
Press. (Or other edition depending on what Photoshop you will
be using, if you have your own access), available at the UNM
Bookstore
o RDR: Course Reader – available in Publication/Copy Center,
Travelstead Hall 124, 277-7276
- Optional Texts:
o The Kids’ Guide to Digital Photography, Jenni Bidner, Lark
Books, 2004.
o Picture This: Fun Photography and Crafts, Debra Friedman,
Kids Can Press, 2003.
- Digital Camera (optional) – The Art Education Program has some
available for check-out for this class only
Course Requirements/Grading Policy/Procedures & Policies Requirements:
- Students are required to attend class, arrive on time, and remain
present until the end of class. More than 3 absences without prior
consultation may result in a failing grade. Leaving early or arriving late
3 times results in one absence.
- Assignments/projects must be presented on time. Although work time
in this lab (B41) is limited outside of class, there are plenty of labs
available throughout campus for use – see CIRT’s website
http://cirt.unm.edu - for hours and locations.
- Students must do the assigned readings and participate in class
discussions
- You will learn from each other – be generous with your feedback. You
are expected to participate during critiques.
- Enjoy digital art!
Grading:
Completion of the assignments/projects is necessary to complete this class.
Grades are based on creative, technical, and conceptual progress.
Projects 1 – 4 10% each
Project 5 20%
Assignments 1 – 2 15%
Readings 10%
Critique (Attendance and Participation) 15%
Procedures & Policies:
- Unless there is a clear emergency, I will NOT issue an INCOMPLETE.
- I do not give any extra credit.
- Please see your student handbook (p.38+) regarding the correct
procedures for filing a grievance.
Course Agenda Aug-23 Introductions, Review/Discussion of Syllabus, Textbook, Reader
Readings: RDR: p. 12 - 25
The Reconfigured Eye
Digital Imaging: An Overview
Anatomy of the Digital Image
A Life in the Day of an Image
Aug-30 Demo: Photoshop StartUp, the Basics/Tools,
Image Types, Color, Create/Save Files, Bridge,
Workspace
Lecture: The Reconfigured Eye
Readings: TXT: Chapters 1 - 5
RDR: p. 26 - 37
Medium or Tool?
Introduction (Color)
Color Systems
Color in Practice
Color
Project 1: Color, Hand-Drawn: Childhood Memory
Sep-6 Demo: Selections, Layers, Text, Compositing,
Cameras, Card Readers, Scanners
Readings: TXT: Chapters 6 - 9
RDR: p. 38 - 58
Design Process
Unity
Project 2: Text as Image
Sep-13 Work Time
Demo: Adjustments (color, tones, exposure, refocus,
retouch), History, Colors, Brushes,
Assignment 1: Critical Writing: ABQ Museum – Biennial
Southwest
Readings: TXT: Chapters 10 – 19
RDR: p. 59 - 65
Balance
Shape/Volume
Sep-20 Demo: Printing, Preferences
Lecture: Posters/Poster Artists
Readings: TXT: Chapters 30, 31
RDR: p. 66 - 69
Photographer at Work: Merging
Photography and Illustration
Photographer at Work: A
Photojournalist uses Digital
Imaging
Project 3: Poster
Sep-27 Work Time
Readings: RDR: p. 70 - 77
Digital Imaging for Personal
Expression/Advertising
Into the Information Age
Oct-4 Work Time
Oct-11 Midterm Critique – Projects 1, 2, 3
Oct-18 Demo: PowerPoint
Lecture: Contemporary Digital Artists
Assignment 2: Research Digital Artists: give PowerPoint
presentation to a target age group between
grades K – 12
Oct-25 PowerPoint Presentation
Nov-1 Demo: Filters, More Tools, Masks, Paths
Readings: TXT: Chapters 20 – 24, 26, 27
RDR: p. 78 - 85
Computers, Thinking, and Schools in
the “New World Economic
Order”
Project 4: Image/Reality
Nov-8 Work Time
Nov-15 Critique - Project 4
Lecture: The Digital Photographer
Readings: RDR: p. 86 - 93
Utopian Plagiarism, Hypertextuality, and
Electronic Cultural Production
Project 5: Self-Directed Series/Lesson Plan
Nov-22 Work Time/Individual Meetings
Nov-29 Work Time/Individual Meetings
Readings: RDR: p. 94 - 100
A Flow of Monsters
Dec-6 Work Time
Dec-13 Final Critique
critical writing: ABQ Museum “Biennial Southwest”….. Assignment 1
Choose a piece in the show that has been created or has utilized any digital
technique/s. Write a 500 word critical review of the piece. First, describe the
piece. Then, discuss how this work is pushing the envelope of the current
“digital revolution?” Place this piece in art history – what were the preceding
movements/artists that may have influenced this artist? How does this piece
speak of future art technologies? How can this piece be a tool in describing
digital art to students in the K – 12 setting?
contemporary digital artists…..a selection
Assignment 2
Find an artist with whom you feel a conceptual or aesthetic connection.
Research his/her contribution to digital technology. How does their work
respond to this era of “technological revolution?” What issues are addressed in
their work? When researching your artist, evaluate how they discuss their work
and the critics interpret it. In what educational setting and for what type of
project would you use this artist as inspiration to your students? Research
online and at the library to collect information and visuals about your artist. You
will share your findings with the class in the form of a 10 minute oral/visual
PowerPoint presentation. This short lecture will be presented to a hypothetical
target audience of your choosing, between K – 12 grades.
Robert & Shawna ParkeHarrison
Jim Campbell
James Nakagawa
Joyce Neimanas
Esther Parada
Andreas Gursky
Nancy Burson
Anthony Goicolea
Ann Hamilton
Simon Attie
Nam June Paik
Trihn T. Min Ha
Martina Lopez
Mariko Mori
Pedro Meyer
Shirin Neshat
Simen Johan
Maggie Taylor
Lorna Simpson
Meridel Rubenstein
Bill Viola
Bruce Nauman
Clarissa Sligh
Loretta Lux
Carrie Mae Weems
Orlan
Guerrilla Girls
Mary Tsiongas
Juan Fontcuberta
Byron Wolfe
Sally Mann
Emmett Gowin
Mark Klett
Alfredo Jaar
Christian Boltanski
Pedro Meyer
Daniel Shifman
Hannah Gal
Shirley Kaneda
Wallace Berman
Helmut Newton
common terms*…..
CPU Central Processing Unit, a microprocessor. CPU
usually has 2 places to read and write information. Hard Disk and RAM (memory).
Booting “Booting up” to turn a computer on, system “pulls
itself up by its bootstraps.”
Disk Slower, low cost per unit of data, non-volatile storage
for CPU (hard disk). Where thinks live when the computer is on.
Removable Storage Floppy, Zip, CD, DVD, Flash Drive, etc….
Memory A class of silicon chips that are able to hold
instructions or data. The CPU can either read
information from memory or write to it. Most common is DRAM.
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory; 64 billion “bits” of
data in groups of 8 Volatile, needs electrical power to retain their contents. Fast, expensive, loses contents when electrical power is cut-off.
OS Operating System; software that controls operation
of the computer once it is running.
ROM Read only memory
ROM BIOS Chip that contains entire set of instructions,
computer programs written in to the chip manage the boot-up process.
Motherboard Circuit board that connects all components in the CPU including other things like fans, power supply, etc….
Binary Binary mathematics uses only 2 digits vs. the 10 in our normal decimal system. Conforms well to the “on” and “off” states of electronic
devices. Zero and One are used. Zero = absence of charge and One = presence
of charge.
Analog An analog system uses a representation of information rather
than a numerical version in its processing. For example, the traditional radio
sends and receives sound with an electronic wave that is an analog of voice, music, or noise waves that enters the microphone. Analog systems are well
suited for carrying information, but not modifying it.
Digital A digital system is one that translates all the information it works with into numbers – binary numbers in the case of computers. Binary and Digital
systems gave birth to the term “bit,” a contraction of the two terms.
Bit A single digit that can be either one or zero
1 01 21
2 00 01 10 11 4 (22) 3 000 001 010 011 100 101 111 110 8 (23)
-
-
8 = 256 (28) = byte = unit of measurement in computing
1000 - thousand =KB: Kilabyte
1,000,000 -million =MB: Megabyte
1,000,000,000 -billion =GB: Gigabyte
1,000,000,000,000 -trillion =TB: Terabyte
When a computer is turned on it has to “relearn” everything including the fact that it is a computer, what kind of
computer, how it displays texts, how many days until warranty ends, etc….The noise it makes is the hard disk spinning
at 4,500 rpm. A MAC starts reading the hard disk, plays the disk and copies everything that it reads into its memory; when something is in its memory, it is instantaneously available to the computer.
Memory = temporary storage RAM = fast, expensive, measured in MEGS (buy memory 32 or 64 megs at a time)
Hard Disk – slower, permanent, measured in GIGS (buy 10 gigs, 20 gigs, etc…)
*Mary Tsiongas, Associate Professor, College of Fine Art, University of New Mexico
short select history*…
1121 Physicist Al-Khazani describes force of gravity in text on hydrostatics
1200 Arabic numerals develop around 600 CE – introduced to Europe, greatly easing computations
1492 Leonardo da Vinci describes the flying machine in his notebook
1435 Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press produces 42-line Mazarin bible, beginning era of movable
type and opening the way for the mass production of books
1514 Nicolaus Copernicus outlines heliocentric theory
1609 Galileo Galilei builds optical refracting telescope
1623 Wilhelm Schickand engineers mechanical calculator, which can add, subtract, multiply, and divide
1633 Galileo charges with heresy for discoveries supporting Copernicus and placed under hose arrest
1712 Blacksmith Thomas Newcomer makes first commercially successful steam engine
1735 Carolus Linneaus proposes taxonomic system for naming species; humans get a new name:
Homo Spaien
1801 Joseph Marie Jacquard invents automatic loom using punch cards for control of patterns in
fabrics
1822 Mathematician Charles Babbage conceives Difference Engine No.1, considered the first
mechanical computer
1840 Ada Lovelace, assistant to Charles Babbage, conceives programming language for his computer
1859 Darwin publishes On Origin of the Species
1876 Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
1877 Thomas Edison invents the phonograph
1878 Edison perfects the carbon-thread incandescent light bulbs
1881 Nicola Tesla, electrical engineer and physicist, discovers principles of alternating current and
invented numerous devices and procedures that were seminal to the development of radio and
harnessing of electricity
1905 Albert Einstein publishes special theory of relativity, stating the equivalence of matter and energy
in the now famous equation: E = mc2
1939 John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry complete prototype of digital computer; it is able to store data
and do addition and subtraction using binary code
1946 Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) – one of the worlds first electronic
computers, delivered to the US Army.
1957 Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite, goes up; Laika, the dog, is the first living creature in space
and flies aboard the Sputnik II.
1969 Neil Armstrong walks on the moon. Arpanet, a precursor to the Internet, officially commissioned
1976 Apple computer developed by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak
1981 Xerox PARC develops Star Systems, User Interface (UI) used by Apple
*Mary Tsiongas, Associate Professor, College of Fine Art, University of New Mexico, “Much, much more, of course, was not included here.”
table of contents…..
syllabus 3
critical writing - assignment 1 7
contemporary digital artists - assignment 2 8
common terms 9
short select history 10
image size equivalents 11
The Reconfigured Eye 12
Digital Imaging: An Overview 20
Anatomy of the digital image 22
A life in the day of an image 24
Medium or Tool? 26
Introduction (Chapter 1) 27
Color Systems (Chapter 2) 29
Color in Practice: Two-Dimensional (Chapter 4) 35
Color (Chapter 13) 36
Design Process (Chapter 1) 38
Unity (Chapter 2) 47
Balance (Chapter 5) 59
Shape/Volume (Chapter 8) 64
Photographer at Work: Merging Photography and Illustration 66
Photographer at Work: A Photojournalist uses Digital Imaging 68
Digital Imaging used for Personal Expression 70
Digital Imaging used for Advertising 72
Into the Information Age 74
Computers, Thinking, and Schools in the “New World Economic Order” 78
Utopian Plagiarism, Hypertextuality, and Electrnic Cultural Production 86
A Flow of Monsters: Luddism and Virtual Technologies 94
Bibliography:
Resisting the Virtual Life: The Culture and Politics of Information, Brook, James and Ian A. Boal, editors, City Light
Publishers, 1995.
The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era, Mitchell, William, The MIT Press, 1992.
Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation (Post-Contemporary Interventions), Massumi, Brian, Duke
University Press, 2002.
Electronic Disturbance (New Autonomy Series), Critical Art Ensemble, Autonomedia, 2000.
New Media in Late 20th Century Art (World of Art), Rush, Michael, Thames & Hudson, 1999.
Snap to Grid: A User’s Guide to Digital Arts, Media, and Cultures, Lunenfeld, Peter, The MIT Press, 2001.
Photoshop CS for Photography: The Art of Pixel Processing, Ang, Tom, Amphoto Books, 2005.
The New Media Reader, Wardrip-Fruin, Noah and Nick Montfort, editors, The MIT Press, 2003.
Photography, London, Barbara and John Upton, Prentice Hall, 204.
Color Basics, Pentak, Stephen and Richard Roth, Wadswirth Publishing, 2003.
Design Basics, Lauer, A. and Stephen Pentak, Wadswoth Publishing, 2004.