Due posted on this blog by 5pm Monday, April 27th:

• the work (image(s), link(s) to a video and/or link(s) to code-based work, or. this can be unfinished but should be something you can finish within a week
• the work’s title
• artist statement (see below) [SENIORS ONLY]
• a representative image , 1080×1080 pixels (if you could only use one image this is the one)
• a personal URL you will include in submission (optional) [SENIORS ONLY]
• social media account links (optional) [SENIORS ONLY]

Before class on Wednesday, April 29th [SENIORS ONLY]:

• read the exhibition submission form for all details, bring questions to class
• draft an artist statement (see below)

Before May 4th end of day [SENIORS]:

• submit the form!
• submit all the images
• submit the copyright form

Before May 4th end of day [JUNIORS]:

• post your final project on the blog (e.g., video link, images, link to code, etc.)
• post your title for that project on the blog
• post a representative image

About the artist statement [SENIORS ONLY]–> I ended up removing the artist statement requirement from the syllabus post COVID, but now see it’s requested for the exhibition. Here is my quick guide to writing a statement:

• ask yourself: what is your subject? IOW, what do you make work about? For me, this would be something like “the cultural effects of software.”
• what is one or more question(s) you ask with your work? for example, mine would be something like: “how does an interface that foregrounds our friend count change conceptions of friendship?” Another could be: “Who benefits when a software system can understand how we feel?”
• what mediums do you use? I use code, video, sound.
• who might be interested? everyday users of software

Once you have some answers assembled, turn it into a quick statement such as this example for me:

“As an artist I focus on the cultural effects of software. How does an interface that foregrounds our friend count change conceptions of friendship? Who benefits when a software system can understand how we feel? To investigate these questions I use code, video, and sound to enable everyday users of software to reconsider their relationship to technology.”

Draft something for next week’s class (Apr 29) that we can look at.

We talked about the following in today’s online class:

• loss — a lot has been lost in this shift and it’s important to recognize it (BFA exhibition at KAM, graduation, last weeks w/ cohort (for seniors), face-to-face interaction, access to resources and tools, etc.)
• BFA exhibition topics:
  • can the KAM part be rescheduled for later? (Ben will advocate and get back to you)
  • what will the online exhibition be? (not sure yet, will report back)
  • could NM do its own online exhibition (in addition to A+D version)? yes! volunteers for a subcommittee to think on this were: Priyankka, Natalie, Niky, Sora
  • opportunities for a NM-specific online presence to be a good thing for some of us
• course structure going forward — only thing left is for seniors to do a BFA artwork and for juniors to make their media object. no other remaining requirements.
  • at least for the moment, we will continue to meet at 1pm on Wednesdays on Zoom, even if briefly.
  • we’ll use Zoom during class time for synchronous conversations w/ Ben
  • we’ll use MS Teams for peer critique (post something, asking for feedback).
  • embrace however this moment is affecting your work — stuck w/ low-res cameras? embrace it. can’t build what you intended? go with it and use cardboard or whatever is on hand. IOW, don’t be afraid to let this moment be visible in your work (it will be anyway!)
• what’s next required?
  • post one paragraph (or more or less) on the blog about what your project will be. this could be the same thing you posted previously … IOW, nothing has to change. at the same time, it might be different than what you’d had planned (because of change in resources/materials/tools or rethinking the project in current moment, etc.)
  • work on the project!
• stay safe. reach out if you need anything or have questions.

FYI ….. I saw this was going on and asked Julie for more info. Looks like a good opportunity! Transport is free (though you have pay $20 to reserve your seat — refunded when you board the bus).

Hi Ben—

Thanks for sharing this with your students.  The Arts + Culture Career Fair is on the UIC campus and is open to students at all 3 U of I campuses.  UIUC students can learn more about the event and register for it here.  You are not going to be able to see any information if you follow the link, because it is on Handshake@Illinois, the campus-wide career services platform and while all students automatically have accounts, faculty do not.  But here is the information posted there:

Friday, February 21st 2020

12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Illinois Room at Student Center East, University of Illinois at Chicago, 750 S. Halsted St., Chicago 

Come to Chicago to get connected with the non-profits who are hiring. Meet with employers seeking majors related to performing arts, creative arts, liberal arts & humanities, visual design, museums and libraries.  This is an excellent opportunity to learn about potential internships, summer work, and full-time job opportunities in the arts. Bring your resumes and dress professionally! Transportation is provided and seats are limited.  To reserve your seat, email jrundell@illinois.edu This event is in collaboration with University of Illinois Chicago. Information about employers will be posted here as it is available. If you want to participate as an employer, please contact Julie Rundell at jrundell@illinois.edu

We are renting a bus to go to Chicago and it is free for students.  When they sign up for transportation, there is a $20 deposit, which is refunded when they board the bus.  The bus leaves at 9am sharp and will return around 6pm.

Here is a list of the employers that are registered at this point, with the ones most appealing to A+D students highlighted:

• The Art Institute of Chicago: Summer Internships for Art and Art History majors
• Chicago Zoological Society / Brookfield Zoo: Full-time and part-time jobs
• Fox 32 Chicago: TV, Film, & Journalism
• Fred Astaire Dance Studios: Part and Full-Time Professional Ballroom Dancing jobs for Dance, Theatre, and Music majors
• The Goodman Theatre: Internships for Theatre, Drama, Publicity, Marketing, Arts and Non-Profit Administration, and Management
• Live Nation Entertainment: Production Runner, Production Assistant, Catering Runner, and Catering for all majors
• Merit School of Music: All majors
• Museum of Contemporary Art: Internships and Possible Part-Time Positions for all majors
• North Star Camp: Photographer, Videographer, Arts Instructors, Camp Counselor for Media, Radio/TV/Film, Fine Arts, and Education majors
• Ravinia Festival: Production Assistant (Full-Time/Temporary, internship credit available); Classical Coordinator for all majors
• Ravinia’s Stearns Music Institute: Production Assistant Internship (Full-Time seasonal) for any major, may appeal particularly to Music and Music Business, Music Education and Arts majors
• Read/Write Library: Internships for all majors
• Shedd Aquarium: Part-time Internships, and Volunteer Opportunities for all majors
• Victory Gardens Theater: Unpaid Internships in Marketing, Education, Casting & Producing, Fundraising & Events, and Literary departments for Theatre, Arts Management, Music, and Marketing majors

Thank you for helping spread the word about this Career Fair.  It is a great opportunity for FAA students.

Best,

-j

Julie Rundell

Calming Surveillant Anxiety
—————————
Crawford asks at the end of her article “how might we find a radical potential in the surveillant anxieities of the big data era?” In this spirit, what might such a radical artistic response be? If surveillant anxiety is a fear that our data may reveal too much and/or also misrepresent us, what are some strategies to disable and/or disarm our personal big data profiles?

Challenging the Big Data Fallacy
——————————–
A prevailing problem with big data is that some presume that having enough data is the same as having meaning from the data. Yet data must be interepreted to produce meaning. Imagine any kind of artistic object (game, installation, browser extension, performance, etc) that demonstrates the fallacy that more data necessarily equals more meaning.
What Should Be Forgotten?
————————-
A salient feature of big data is that it remembers everything. Going from the premise that some things are better forgotten, devise a performance/video/story/interaction that addresses this quesiton of forgetting. What is important to forget? What problems occur when that type of control is lost over oneself? Black Mirror looked at how it affects interpersonal relationships and citizen-government surveillance relationships…what are some other aspects of life that would/could be negatively impacted by a loss of forgetting.

1: AGENCY

Computer systems can have some degree of agency. Simply making a thing with intention and unleashing it on the world means it maintains some of that intention without its creator. That agency can act on others, other systems, other humans. (examples from SM)

Given this conception of agency, imagine a simple machine/device/interface you could conceivably build using existing tools/tech that communicates a sense of agency to a viewer/user. Try to keep your idea as simple as possible (e.g. a stuffed animal that gets scared at loud noise rather than a complex robotic system that can swordfight with humans).

2: GENDER/LABOR/PERSONAS/IDEOLOGIES

Software engineering is a field that has become male dominated. This lack of diversity combines with the ideologies of the relatively homogenous group of people that write software and “leaks out” into what they make. In other words, if men who write software imagine women in a specific kind of way (idealized, not one of “us”, etc) it can lead them to recreate that way of thinking in the software they write.

Given the above, try one or more of the following:

– Imagine an intervention/exercise/game/etc that would communicate the importance of diversity to programmers who haven’t thought about it. Try to keep the idea as simple as possible.

– How might we conceive of a concious AI that isn’t subject to stereotypical gender norms? Imagine what it might look like or sound like? How would human interaction benefit (or not) from this different conception of a constructed self? How might the AI see us differently than we see ourselves?

– design an interaction between humans (e.g. through an installation, app, or game) to illustrate that *connection by text* is not avoidance of connection but simply a *mode of connection*. perhaps consider whether Turkle’s belief that this *is* avoidance comes from older conceptions of what connection is (phone, in person conversation, etc.)

– create a set of rules for living that would demonstrate the fallacy of digital dualism. easy rule example: no smartphone devices for one week. theorize how your rule(s) will help humans understand the idea of augmented reality. do different rules need to be created for different age groups/generations?

– consider Turkle’s contention that we “measure our success” with metrics like calls answered, messages responded to, etc. do you agree? if yes, then what is a technological intervention/change you could make to blunt this effect? if no, then what is a technological intervention you could make to debunk this view? imagine you could alter any app or website as desired, create whatever game you wanted, or craft a physical installation that structures action and interaction.