New

Immersivity Beyond the Display +

MK Skitka | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, All, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Evening, Monday, New, Spring 2025, Wednesday, YES
Last updated: November 15, 2024

In recent years, “immersive digital experiences” have gained widespread popularity, from commercial exhibits like Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience to museums adapting spaces for digital art and brands leveraging interactive installations for promotion. But are these experiences truly immersive, and how can we evaluate them?

Immersivity Beyond the Display delves into the design of visual, interactive installations. Each week, students will modify existing sketches in p5.js to explore immersive design principles while building on foundational programming skills. “Demo days” will provide opportunities to test and reflect on each other’s prototypes. We will focus on  narrative development, embodiment, social and emotional engagement and interaction mechanics to frame our exploration.  Weekly exercises will be enriched with relevant readings and discussions. By the end of the class, students will have developed their own model for evaluating immersivity in interactive digital experiences.

Prerequisite: Students should have completed Creative Computing or possess equivalent coding experience with p5.js and JavaScript.

Electronics for Inventors (Topics in Media Art) +

Pedro Galvao Cesar de Oliveira | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, Afternoon, All, Elective, New, Spring 2025, Tuesday, YES
Last updated: November 15, 2024

Today we are no longer solely connected to the digital world through computers. The result of this push to connect the digital and the analog world is the increasing necessity for low cost, low power, and self-contained electronics.

This undergraduate course is an applications-driven introduction to electronics for inventors. Through a hands-on approach, students will learn basic concepts about analog circuits, digital devices interfaces, and low-cost code-free electronics.

Topics will include basic principles of electricity, as well as an understanding of electronics components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, audio amplifiers, and timers.

Prerequisites
Prerequisites include an open mind, interest for electronics, the drive to make, and Physical Computing.

Big Ideas in the History and Future of Technology (Topics in Media Art) +

Theodora Rivendale | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, All, Elective, Evening, New, No Tags, Spring 2025, Thursday, Tuesday, YES
Last updated: November 15, 2024

This class will provide students with a critical perspective on contemporary issues in media technologies and discuss the history, controversies, consequences, and ethical questions in emerging media. The first half of the class charts a history of media technologies from the 1940s to the present, focusing on the idealogical and social conditions that led to the creation of the technologies that exist now. The second half examines possible futures, and the tools we can use to predict (and build) those futures.

Instructor Website: http://alden.website

Recursive Art (Topics in Media Art) +

Shuang Cai | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, All, Art and Design (Old Structure), Computation and Data (Old Structure), Design and Fabrication (New Structure), Elective, Evening, Monday, New, Spring 2025, Wednesday, YES
Last updated: November 15, 2024

This course description is a concise summary and embodiment of the content, objectives, and structure of an educational course. The creation of this course description was initiated from the need to compile the information for the instructors, students, and administration staff. By writing this course description, the instructor is practicing one type of recursive creation process where the creation is a direct representation of the process of creation. This course description also aims to demonstrate how recursion isn’t confined to programming alone; it’s a fundamental idea that can be found in diverse fields, including this very course creation process.

In this course, you will look at theories around recursive philosophy, recursion as an algorithm, recursion as a programming philosophy (function-oriented programming), and various recursive works. You will think really hard alone and learn to communicate your thinking with others. You will do and make puzzles and reflect the method in your own creations through a series of small experiments. 

Why recursion:

it challenges traditional problem-solving approaches. In situations where there are numerous methods to achieve comparable outcomes, while thinking about ethical practice within any creative endeavor, the course aims to delve into the underlying meaning and purpose of the work undertaken. Recursion, in this context, embodies a form of process-oriented thinking. By exploring recursive processes, you are encouraged to question established norms, fostering a deeper understanding of the motivations driving their creative endeavors.

After Creative Coding (Topics in Media Art) +

MK Skitka | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, New, Spring 2025, YES
Last updated: November 5, 2024

This seven-week course challenges students to extend their knowledge of creative computing into the exciting realm of embodied interfaces. Building upon the fundamentals taught in Creative Computing, this course will explore the design and implementation of interactive systems that integrate the body as a controller of technology.

Going beyond the limitations of traditional mouse, keyboard, and screen interactions, we will investigate how movement, gesture, and physical interaction can be used to create engaging and meaningful user experiences. Through a combination of lectures and hands-on workshops, students will gain a deeper understanding of:

Sensor Technologies and Physical Computing: Working with sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes) to capture and interpret human movement and environmental data.

Movement Analysis and Interpretation: Techniques for analyzing movement patterns, extracting meaningful features, and mapping them to computational processes.

Performance and Embodiment in Technology: Investigating how technology can facilitate new forms of expression and performance.

The course will culminate in one proof of concept project utilizing one of the techniques explored in class.

Prerequisites: Completion of Creative Computing or equivalent experience with Arduino and Javascript p5.

Topics in Media Art: Electronics for Inventors +

Pedro Galvao Cesar de Oliveira | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, Elective, Fall 2024, New, Spring 2025, YES
Last updated: October 11, 2024

Today we are no longer solely connected to the digital world through computers. The result of this push to connect the digital and the analog world is the increasing necessity for low cost, low power, and self-contained electronics.

This undergraduate course is an applications-driven introduction to electronics for inventors. Through a hands-on approach, students will learn basic concepts about analog circuits, digital devices interfaces, and low-cost code-free electronics.

Topics will include basic principles of electricity, as well as an understanding of electronics components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, audio amplifiers, and timers.

Prerequisites
Prerequisites include an open mind, interest for electronics, the drive to make, and Physical Computing.

Topics in Media Art: Big Ideas in the History and Future of Technology +

Theodora Rivendale | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, Elective, Fall 2024, New, No Tags, Spring 2025, YES
Last updated: October 11, 2024

This class will provide students with a critical perspective on contemporary issues in media technologies and discuss the history, controversies, consequences, and ethical questions in emerging media. The first half of the class charts a history of media technologies from the 1940s to the present, focusing on the idealogical and social conditions that led to the creation of the technologies that exist now. The second half examines possible futures, and the tools we can use to predict (and build) those futures.

Instructor Website: http://alden.website

Topics in Media Art: Recursive Art +

Shuang Cai | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, Art and Design (Old Structure), Computation and Data (Old Structure), Design and Fabrication (New Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, New, Spring 2025, YES
Last updated: October 11, 2024

This course description is a concise summary and embodiment of the content, objectives, and structure of an educational course. The creation of this course description was initiated from the need to compile the information for the instructors, students, and administration staff. By writing this course description, the instructor is practicing one type of recursive creation process where the creation is a direct representation of the process of creation. This course description also aims to demonstrate how recursion isn’t confined to programming alone; it’s a fundamental idea that can be found in diverse fields, including this very course creation process.

In this course, you will look at theories around recursive philosophy, recursion as an algorithm, recursion as a programming philosophy (function-oriented programming), and various recursive works. You will think really hard alone and learn to communicate your thinking with others. You will do and make puzzles and reflect the method in your own creations through a series of small experiments. 

Why recursion:

it challenges traditional problem-solving approaches. In situations where there are numerous methods to achieve comparable outcomes, while thinking about ethical practice within any creative endeavor, the course aims to delve into the underlying meaning and purpose of the work undertaken. Recursion, in this context, embodies a form of process-oriented thinking. By exploring recursive processes, you are encouraged to question established norms, fostering a deeper understanding of the motivations driving their creative endeavors.

Topics in Media Art: After Creative Coding +

MK Skitka | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, New, Spring 2025, YES
Last updated: October 11, 2024

This seven-week course challenges students to extend their knowledge of creative computing into the exciting realm of embodied interfaces. Building upon the fundamentals taught in Creative Computing, this course will explore the design and implementation of interactive systems that integrate the body as a controller of technology.

Going beyond the limitations of traditional mouse, keyboard, and screen interactions, we will investigate how movement, gesture, and physical interaction can be used to create engaging and meaningful user experiences. Through a combination of lectures and hands-on workshops, students will gain a deeper understanding of:

Sensor Technologies and Physical Computing: Working with sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes) to capture and interpret human movement and environmental data.

Movement Analysis and Interpretation: Techniques for analyzing movement patterns, extracting meaningful features, and mapping them to computational processes.

Performance and Embodiment in Technology: Investigating how technology can facilitate new forms of expression and performance.

The course will culminate in one proof of concept project utilizing one of the techniques explored in class.

Prerequisites: Completion of Creative Computing or equivalent experience with Arduino and Javascript p5.

Building Creatures for Interactive 3D (Topics in Media Art) +

Yuliya Parshina-Kottas | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, Elective, Fall 2024, Media and Entertainment (Old Structure), New, No Tags, Physical Computing and Experimental Interfaces (Old Structure), Spring 2024, YES
Last updated: August 5, 2024

In this hands-on 3D course, we will design, model, rig, texture and animate fantastical creatures to populate digital landscapes. Using Blender as our primary software, we will master techniques for creating animation-friendly topologies, explore a variety of rigging methods, paint unique textures, work with Physically Based Rendering (PBR) materials, and bring our creatures to life with Blender’s animation tools. Our workflow will focus on exporting content for popular 3D engines and frameworks, such as Unity, Unreal Engine and Three.js.

3D Foundations for Interactive Projects (Topics in Media Art) +

Yuliya Parshina-Kottas | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.XXXX |
4 Point, Elective, Fall 2024, New, No Tags, Spring 2024
Last updated: August 5, 2024

This hands-on course provides an introduction to fundamental 3D concepts, with a focus on creating assets for interactive projects. Students will master the basics of 3D modeling, UV mapping, texturing/shading, lighting, rigging, and animation, using Blender as their primary software. We will explore industry standards and best practices for multidisciplinary 3D collaborations as well as practical methods of applying learned skills to other 3D software.

Topics in Fabrication: Contemporary Sculpture in the Digital Age +

Maya Pollack | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.0000 |
4 Point, 9.75 Ready to Schedule (Do not edit) YES, Art and Design (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, New, Physical Computing and Experimental Interfaces (Old Structure)
Last updated: March 12, 2024

Why, in an era dominated by the digital, do physical objects endure? In this fabrication course, delve into the philosophical and practical considerations that underpin the enduring significance of sculpture in an increasingly virtual world. This course not only explores the tactile and spatial dimensions of sculpture but also prompts a critical inquiry into the unique qualities of physicality and how this not only persists but responds to our digital age. Throughout the semester, students will develop practical skills in class sessions, engaging in a variety of material studies and projects. They will produce three formal, finished, and meticulously documented works, drawing from the diverse materials and forms available in the ITP/IMA Shop. Including woodworking, metalworking, mold making, vacuum forming, laser cutting, spray painting, finishes, and 3D sewing/soft sculpture. Students are welcome to integrate skills, materials, and techniques acquired from other classes. In addition to hands-on studio prompts, students engage in class discussions, critiques, and gallery visits.  Assignments are designed to build art making skills, and explore the conceptual and formal properties of sculpture. This course aims to foster a deep engagement between individual making and the context it resides within theory, art and tech history, prompting students to consider how the technological revolution has reshaped our understanding of physical spaces and experiences, and the role sculpture can play to examine, reflect, and create the world today.

Topics in Media Art: New Portraits +

Alan Winslow | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.XXXX |
2 Point, 9.75 Ready to Schedule (Do not edit) YES, Art and Design (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, Media and Entertainment (Old Structure), New
Last updated: March 12, 2024

“Portraiture stands apart from other genres of art as it marks the intersection between portrait, biography, and history. They are more than artworks; when people look at portraits, they think they are encountering that person,” says Alison Smith, chief curator at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

For thousands of years, artists have used cutting-edge tools and resources to create portraiture, giving viewers a glimpse into the subject’s life. A successful portrait embraces technology to bring the viewer closer to the subject but is not overshadowed by it.

In this course, we will delve into portraiture through the lens of volumetric capture using the Depth Kit system. Through hands-on assignments, students will learn the entire pipeline of volumetric capture, from configuring the system to capturing our subjects and final output. Simultaneously, we will focus on fundamental aspects of portraiture, such as lighting, storytelling, production techniques, and historical foundations.

The course will explain the techniques and considerations involved in creating volumetric portraits. We will explore various approaches to capturing subjects, employing advanced technologies to record their presence in 3D. Students will gain proficiency in the Depth Kit system to produce high-quality volumetric portraits that can be integrated into different mediums, including game engines, augmented reality (AR), or traditional 2D outputs.

Prerequisite: Comm. Lab (IMNY-UT 102)

Topics in Media Art: eTextiles & Physical Computing +

Staff | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.0000 |
2 Point, 9.75 Ready to Schedule (Do not edit) YES, Elective, Fall 2024, New
Last updated: March 11, 2024

The eTextiles and Physical Computing course will focus on the practical application of electronics in textiles. Students will learn by doing, spending their time building circuits, soldering, programming, learning various textile construction techniques, and integrating sensors and controls into fabrics. The course aims to teach how both physical computing and textile technical skills to create interactive textile projects.

Prerequisite: Creative Computing (IMNY-UT 101)

In this course, eTextiles are a major focus. Students will learn to incorporate electronic circuits into textiles using conductive materials like fabrics, yarns, and threads. The curriculum will cover various topics through hands-on applications — for example, students will create fabric RFID tags with conductive fabrics while learning about electromagnetism and electronic components. Additionally, topics will include (but is not limited to)  555 timers, fabric speakers, analog soft circuits, sewing, weaving, and more, giving students a comprehensive understanding of how to create and use electronic textiles.

Topics in Media Art: Politics of Code +

Joerg Blumtritt | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, 9.9 YES, Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, New, Spring 2024, Studies/Seminar (Old Structure), Tech and Society (New Structure)
Last updated: October 20, 2023

Current description based on NYUAD iteration of the course (https://github.com/jbenno/nyuad_politics_of_code). Please be advised this is in the process of being-updated by the instructor.

Deconstructing the design and implementation of software as a political medium and re-building functional alternatives.

Code is political. It is a means of political processes and activism. It is political inherently by the ethical choices often hidden in the black box of The Algorithm. In the course we aim to deconstruct the design, implementation, and data of software as a political medium. We will work through political applications such as simulations, ownership of intangible assets, predictive policing, algorithmic recommendations, suggestions, and filters, social networks, and the blockchain.

Along with an introduction to the related political theory and media studies, students will work on several hands-on projects to offer actual or speculative alternatives to the existing systems. To that end, this course will include several workshops in JavaScript, Python, and other tools.

Topics in Media Art: Shared Minds +

Dan O'Sullivan | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.260 |
4 Point, 9.9 YES, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, New, Spring 2024
Last updated: October 20, 2023

What capabilities does computational media have for depicting and conveying the experience of our minds? In using the new possibilities of machine learning networks to create media, what should we take or leave from cinema, social media and virtual reality?

In this course we will start out by turning inward to reflect on how our mind transcends time and space and how artificial neural networks might better capture the multidimensional space of our thought. We then turn to using cloud networking and databases to share our thinking with other people across time and space. Finally we need to flatten everything back into 4D interfaces that, while being stuck in time and space, can reach our embodied, emotional and experiential ways of understanding of the world.

The class will operate at a conceptual level, inviting students’ empirical, psychological and philosophical investigations of the nature of their experience and how to convey it with art and story. It will ask students to look critically at existing computational media’s tendencies to bore, misinform, divide or inflame its users.

But this is also very much a coding class where students will prototype their own ideas for new forms of media first with machine learning models like Stable Diffusion using Huggingface APIs or Colab notebooks, and then with networking and databases using Firebase or P5 Live Media, and finally with 3D graphics using the threejs library. Students can substitute other coding tools but game engines will not work for this class. The coding is in javascript, with touches of python, and is a natural sequel to Creative Computing.

Topics in Computation and Data: Nature of Code +

Lenin Compres | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.220 |
4 Point, 9.9 YES, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, New, Programming and Data (New Structure), Spring 2024
Last updated: October 20, 2023

Can we capture the unpredictable evolutionary and emergent properties of nature in software? Can understanding the mathematical principles behind our physical world help us to create digital worlds? This class focuses on the programming strategies and techniques behind computer simulations of natural systems. We explore topics ranging from basic mathematics and physics concepts to more advanced simulations of complex systems. Subjects covered include physics simulation, trigonometry, self-organization, genetic algorithms, and neural networks. Examples are demonstrated in JavaScript using p5.js.

Prerequisites: Creative Computing

Instructor Daniel Shiffman Website: https://natureofcode.com/

Topics in Media Art: Three.js for Makers +

Brian Ho | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, 9.9 YES, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, New, Spring 2024
Last updated: October 20, 2023

“In this increasingly online world, the internet has proven to be a powerful tool that can connect us with one another, host meaningful experiences, and provoke critical thinking. In this class, students will have an opportunity to learn about breaking out of the 2D web page and the fundamentals of working with 3D on the web.

This course hopes to introduce new avenues for creative expression and experimentation via the web and promote learning practical web development skills through experiential learning. Students will use Three.js to create dynamic and immersive web-based experiences that push the boundaries of what is possible online.

The course is intended for technologists who have no programming or computer science background but are interested in 3D exploration on the web. Nothing more than a basic understanding and familiarity with CSS, HTML, and Javascript is required.”

Topics in Media Art: The Art of Perception +

Duncan Figurski | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, 9.9 YES, Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, Media and Entertainment (Old Structure), New, Spring 2024, Studies/Seminar (Old Structure)
Last updated: October 20, 2023

“How does our auditory and visual perception influence our understanding and interaction with the world? In this course, we will delve into the science and application of these senses, employing this knowledge as a foundation to create new works and challenge our perception of familiar ones.

Each week, we will dissect a particular aspect of our senses, investigate works that have capitalized on this understanding, and produce new creations that stretch the boundaries of our sensory comprehension. Drawing on fields from cognitive psychology to media theory, from psychoacoustics to philosophy, this highly interdisciplinary course will pull from a breadth of research to form a holistic perspective on how we perceive the world.

This course will be technology agnostic, instead emphasizing a format based on critique, any technical aspects will be taught in online tutorials outside of class. Students should be comfortable with sharing and discussing their work in class.”

Topics in Media Art: Generative Art with the Unity Game Engine +

Dave Stein | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.281 |
2 Point, 9.9 YES, Computation and Data (Old Structure), Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, Media and Entertainment (Old Structure), New, Spring 2024
Last updated: October 20, 2023

This course will provide an overview of important topics of generative art. On a weekly basis we will cover a new topic, review examples of work within this topic and discuss their influence in generative artworks as well as in a broader art context.

In addition, we cover the fundamental concepts of the C# programming language and its application within the Unity game engine. C# is a widely used, very fast and efficient programming language and can perform significantly faster than P5 and Processing. As such, creating generative art projects using Unity and C# will make our projects faster with higher definition and larger detail than a typical Javascript sketch.

This course is designed for students who want to continue their creative coding practice and are interested in more advanced coding techniques while building their knowledge of C# and Unity. Students should have a solid understanding of programming concepts such as arrays, classes and objects and be comfortable with creative coding (such as with P5).

Fluid Bodies +

Snow Fu | Syllabus | IMNY-UT.0260 |
4 Point, 9.9 YES, Elective, Fall 2024, IMA Major Elective, Media and Entertainment (Old Structure), New, No Tags, Spring 2024
Last updated: October 20, 2023

Digital Bodies is an intermediate 3D imaging studio course that examines and explores the current technological applications and conceptual implications of post-photographic digital human simulations. We will regularly study the work that deals with digital bodies by contemporary artists and photographers such as LaTurbo Avedon, Chen Man, Quentin Deronzier, Hyphen-lab, Hayoun Kwon, and Gregory Bennett, and many digital art platforms in various categories, such as artificial human imaging, digital fashion models, and deepfake. We will be discussing the various theories relating to the idea of cyborgs and post-human conditions. Students will be learning 3D imaging skills for building, scanning, appropriating, and customizing prefabricated body models from multiple resources, exploring their movements that both imitate and go beyond the limits of reality and expanding conceptual themes. Besides the technical exercises, students are encouraged to create semester-long self-directed research and a final project using the imaging technology they’ve learned. Artist visits, field trips, and exhibition visits will also be arranged online or according to the public health safety situation. The exhibition of the student’s final projects will be arranged at the end of the semester. *The class is suitable for students with basic skills of 3D imaging in Maya.