Classes

Introduces artistic practice and critical visual thinking through three studio-based projects using different scales and media, for instance, "Body Extension," "Shaping Time," "Public Making," and/or "Networked Cultures." Each project concludes with a final presentation and critique. Students explore sculptural, architectural, performative artistic methods; video and sound art; site interventions and strategies for artistic engagement in the public realm. Lectures, screenings, guest presentations, field trips, readings, and debates supplement studio practice. Also introduces students to the historic, cultural, and environmental forces affecting both the development of an artistic vision and the reception of a work of art.

2/8/23 note: room changed to E15-207

Incommensurability is defined as the inability to express or comprehend one conceptual scheme in terms of another. That is, in other words, a lack of a common measure between models of observations, value systems, or ideologies. Environmental observational methods present incommensurability when scale becomes a variable. This lack of a common measure presents itself as well in the general inability to comprehend magnitudes of planetary phenomena related to climate change and the effects it has on humans and more than humans. The answer, as Thomas Kuhn or Paul Feyerabend would state, is not to push for a common, universalized system of measure, but to exist and experiment on incommensurable alternatives. The role of experimentation is crucial for imagining these incommensurable alternatives as it is the foundation for the translations which can potentially be actualized, demonstrating that scientific change– as well as economical and societal– are not cumulative or progress driven (conceptual conservatism), but rather never-ending spirals full of ambiguity and constant change. The incommensurability of scale and its different translations, instruments, affects, and misinterpretations will be the main exploration topic for this course.

4.301- Scale, Signal, Spectrum offers an introduction to artistic experimentation through the lens of incommensurability. By focusing on observation, measurement, and translation of the environment, this course employs artistic methodologies in order to understand conceptual and political implications of scaling mechanisms by way of time and space through biological, geological, astronomical, urban, and mechanical devices and lenses. Students will produce their own time-based instruments of environmental observation, learning from a variety of contemporary and historical technologies such as astrolabes, pantographs, and geological sections to scanning devices, radio antennas or electromagnetic signals. Strong interest is vested not just in the prototyping, conception, design, and implementation of such experiments but on their deployment and observation in public space.

Through a series of lectures, presentations, walks, and trainings, students will be introduced to a wide variety of research based artistic practices that deal with the matters of scale and its possible translations. Students will develop three studio-based exercises using different scales as media where we will explore site interventions and strategies for artistic engagement in the public realm. The production of time-based media/ instruments of environmental observation include: printmaking, molding and casting, scaling mechanisms, sonic translations, visual representations, and time-based recording devices.

4.301 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

5/16/24 - note schedule change from lecture W 2-5 to lecture T 2-5 and an added recitation, W 9:30-12:30.

Introduces artistic practice and critical visual thinking through three studio-based projects using different scales and media, for instance, "Body Extension," "Shaping Time," "Public Making," and/or "Networked Cultures." Each project concludes with a final presentation and critique. Students explore sculptural, architectural, performative artistic methods; video and sound art; site interventions and strategies for artistic engagement in the public realm. Lectures, screenings, guest presentations, field trips, readings, and debates supplement studio practice. Also introduces students to the historic, cultural, and environmental forces affecting both the development of an artistic vision and the reception of a work of art.

MIT Certificate protected syllabus

UG: 4.310, G: 4.311

This hands on studio class will expose students to the technical skills needed for successful screen printing. Students will produce single and multicolor prints on paper and fabric using a variety of methods. Classes will cover an introduction to preparing and reclaiming screens, creating handmade and digital cut stencils, use of screen positives and photo emulsion, mono prints and editions, registration, and more.  Lab fee required.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

UG: 4.310, G: 4.311

This hands on studio class will expose students to the technical skills needed for successful screen printing. Students will produce single and multicolor prints on paper and fabric using a variety of methods. Classes will cover an introduction to preparing and reclaiming screens, creating handmade and digital cut stencils, use of screen positives and photo emulsion, mono prints and editions, registration, and more.  Lab fee required.

Examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. Offers opportunity to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of technology, to build bridges between industry and culture, and to challenge the boundaries between public and private, and human and non-human. Provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology. Supports the development of individual and collective artistic research projects. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.314 U / 4.315 G

Examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. Offers opportunity to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of technology, to build bridges between industry and culture, and to challenge the boundaries between public and private, and human and non-human. Provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology. Supports the development of individual and collective artistic research projects. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

Note 5/17/24: schedule change from TR 2-5 to TR 9:30-12:30

4.314 U / 4.315 G

The Advanced Workshop in Artistic Practice and Transdisciplinary Research course series examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. It offers opportunities to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological underpinnings and consequences of technology, building bridges between industry and culture, and challenging the boundaries between public and private and human and non-human. It provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology.

Bioart is an interdisciplinary field that explores the intersection of art and biology, bridging the gap between science, technology, and artistic expression. This undergraduate and graduate-level course introduces students to the theoretical foundations, latest topics, and practical bio-art techniques, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and ethical considerations in creating bio-inspired artworks. Through theoretical discussions, hands-on art studio work, and guest lectures from experts in the field, students will gain a deep understanding of the historical context, ethical implications, and cutting-edge applications of bioart. The hands-on component includes developing artworks that utilize tissue printing, organs-on-chip microfluidic systems, bio robotics, DIY incubators, and liquid handling lab automation systems.

 Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

4.314 U / 4.315 G

Examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. Offers opportunity to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of technology, to build bridges between industry and culture, and to challenge the boundaries between public and private, and human and non-human. Provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology. Supports the development of individual and collective artistic research projects. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

4.314/4.315 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

4.314 U / 4.315 G

Examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. Offers opportunity to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of technology, to build bridges between industry and culture, and to challenge the boundaries between public and private, and human and non-human. Provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology. Supports the development of individual and collective artistic research projects. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

Bioart is an interdisciplinary field that explores the intersection of art and biology, bridging the gap between science, technology, and artistic expression. This graduate-level course introduces students to the theoretical foundations and practical techniques of bioart, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and ethical considerations in the creation of bio-inspired artworks. Through a combination of theoretical discussions, hands-on bio lab work, studio practice, and guest lectures from experts in the field, students will gain a deep understanding of the historical context, ethical implications, and cutting-edge applications of bioart including DNA origami and Tissue printing. 

Course Objectives:

1. Understand the historical context and evolution of bioart as an art form.
2. Explore the ethical considerations and social implications of bioart.
3. Acquire practical skills and techniques for creating bio-inspired artworks.
4. Engage in critical discussions on the intersection of art and biology.
5. Collaborate with peers to develop innovative bioart projects.
6. Analyze and interpret bioartworks from various perspectives.
7. Develop a strong foundation for future research in bioart.

4.314/4.315 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)
 

Explores three-dimensional art work, including sculptures and installations, from design to model to finished piece. Addresses challenges associated with design and fabrication, process, context, and relationships between objects, the body, and physical or cultural environments. Lectures, screenings, field trips, readings, and debates supplement studio practice.

The class will introduce students to the foundations of volume and sculpture centered around the human body and embodied experiences. Through research and design experiments, the class will explore structures, design and movement for the body inspired by nature (ie. flora, leaves, wings and insects).

Students are invited to propose subjects and themes to develop individually and collectively.

Activities are based on core elements in the creation of a performance and will be categorized into the following four program activity areas history and research; presentation design: costume/garment/wearable sculpture design and construction, and movement vocabulary; production design: theater and performance strategies with visual arts; and strategic planning: site specific logistics.

The project will focus on 4 areas (listed below) and will develop specific activities based on those areas.  Participants will develop innovation and creativity skills, develop and implement collaboration strategies, develop thematic design skills, and learn costume/garment construction skills.

4.322/4.323 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

4.322 UG | 4.323 G

Explores three-dimensional artwork, including sculpture, installation, and fashion from concept to finished piece. Addresses design, fabrication, process, context, and relationships between objects, the body, and material culture. Lectures, screenings, field trips, readings, and class discussions supplement studio practice. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

U: 4.324 | G: 4.325

Seminar connecting the arts and sciences by exploring methodological similarities and differences across the arts, architecture, engineering, and social sciences. Through targeted reading and exercises, each student develops a collaborative project that engages directly with another discipline. Projects are iterated over the course of the term. Readings, visitors, and lectures expose students to a wide range of practitioners across different fields. Students interrogate the underlying methodologies that unite and separate their disciplines. Presents best-practice models for cultivating collaboration through the use of case studies. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

Seminar connecting the arts and sciences by exploring methodological similarities and differences across the arts, architecture, engineering, and social sciences. Through targeted reading and exercises, each student develops a collaborative project that engages directly with another discipline. Projects are iterated over the course of the term. Readings, visitors, and lectures expose students to a wide range of practitioners across different fields. Students interrogate the underlying methodologies that unite and separate their disciplines. Presents best-practice models for cultivating collaboration through the use of case studies. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

This course focuses on the production of artistic experiments catalyzed by research in art, with art and through art. Conceptually it deals with new modes of artistic production that shifts the discussion on artistic research towards critical engagement with the new climatic regime. Titled Climate Visions, the workshop positions artistic intelligence as a way to contribute with aesthetics and criticality to climate science, suggesting new visioning, that is in dialectics with scientific one. Oscillating between pragmatics and fiction this course will probe new perspectivism that enables future narratives of cohabitation with more-than-humans. The workshop will engage the MIT laboratories as a site where utopias for the future forms of environmental citizenship and new climate commons will be prototyped. In conversation with scientists the participants will develop hybrid projects of art and science suggesting an artistic instrumentarium for ecological repair, envisioning, speculation and probing of alternative perspectives, that catalyze a different climate for the future.

A multitude of concepts will be engaged with during this workshop: hybrid habitats and milieu, critical zones and new climatic regime, shadow biosphere and feminist fabulation, sympoiesis and composibility, cohabitation and commensality. Readings related to this subject include those by Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, Anna Tsing, Gilbert Simondon, Catherine Malabou, James Lovelock, Michel Serres, Georges Canguilhem, Scott F Gilbert, Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, Andrew Pickering, Isabelle Stengers, Vinciane Despret, Eduardo Viveiro de Castro, Elizabeth Povinelli, Jakob Johann von Uexküll, TJ Demos, and others.

Visits to the class and the field trips may include Diane Borsato, Marjetica Potrč, Fernando García-Dory, Pelin Tan, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, D-Lab, MIT Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

The class is structured with the help of the three conceptual lenses through which participants will look into the artistic project: The Manifesto, The Score and The Instrument. As such these conceptual lenses would (A) connect with pressing concerns on climate crisis — making bridge between community / injustice / climate change, and (B) help to un-earth the underlying (autochthonous) landscape in the city, affected by an extractivist economy and colonization.

In addition to lectures, discussions, crits and individual studio meetings there will be visits to the labs organized facilitated by guest interlocutors, and designed to catalyze explorations and probe what “landing on Earth” (Latour) means in practical terms.

The class will meet as a group on Mondays 9:30 am – 12:30 am for main input: lectures, visits from guest artists, designers and scholars, and discussions of readings, with a Lab work scheduled on Wednesdays 9:30 am – 12:30 am, when individual meetings and/or studio visits and desk crits with the instructor (and guest artists) would be organized. Wednesdays time slot would also be reserved for workshopping of students' ideas, and/or library/archival research.

Students will engage in (3) phases and modalities of work: MANIFESTO, SCORE, and INSTRUMENT.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

This course focuses on the production of artistic experiments catalyzed by research in art, with art and through art. Conceptually it deals with new modes of artistic production that shifts the discussion on artistic research towards critical engagement with the new climatic regime. Titled Climate Visions, the workshop positions artistic intelligence as a way to contribute with aesthetics and criticality to climate science, suggesting new visioning, that is in dialectics with scientific one. Oscillating between pragmatics and fiction this course will probe new perspectivism that enables future narratives of cohabitation with more-than-humans. The workshop will engage the MIT laboratories as a site where utopias for the future forms of environmental citizenship and new climate commons will be prototyped. In conversation with scientists the participants will develop hybrid projects of art and science suggesting an artistic instrumentarium for ecological repair, envisioning, speculation and probing of alternative perspectives, that catalyze a different climate for the future.

A multitude of concepts will be engaged with during this workshop: hybrid habitats and milieu, critical zones and new climatic regime, shadow biosphere and feminist fabulation, sympoiesis and composibility, cohabitation and commensality. Readings related to this subject include those by Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, Anna Tsing, Gilbert Simondon, Catherine Malabou, James Lovelock, Michel Serres, Georges Canguilhem, Scott F Gilbert, Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, Andrew Pickering, Isabelle Stengers, Vinciane Despret, Eduardo Viveiro de Castro, Elizabeth Povinelli, Jakob Johann von Uexküll, TJ Demos, and others.

Visits to the class and the field trips may include Diane Borsato, Marjetica Potrč, Fernando García-Dory, Pelin Tan, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, D-Lab, MIT Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

The class is structured with the help of the three conceptual lenses through which participants will look into the artistic project: The Manifesto, The Score and The Instrument. As such these conceptual lenses would (A) connect with pressing concerns on climate crisis — making bridge between community / injustice / climate change, and (B) help to un-earth the underlying (autochthonous) landscape in the city, affected by an extractivist economy and colonization.

In addition to lectures, discussions, crits and individual studio meetings there will be visits to the labs organized facilitated by guest interlocutors, and designed to catalyze explorations and probe what “landing on Earth” (Latour) means in practical terms.

The class will meet as a group on Mondays 9:30 am – 12:30 am for main input: lectures, visits from guest artists, designers and scholars, and discussions of readings, with a Lab work scheduled on Wednesdays 9:30 am – 12:30 am, when individual meetings and/or studio visits and desk crits with the instructor (and guest artists) would be organized. Wednesdays time slot would also be reserved for workshopping of students' ideas, and/or library/archival research.

Students will engage in (3) phases and modalities of work: MANIFESTO, SCORE, and INSTRUMENT.

4.328/4.329 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

UG: 4.328 | G: 4.329

Presents artistic intelligence and modes of creative production as ways to contribute to and critically engage with climate science. In conversation with local stakeholders, students develop hybrid projects of art and design that negotiate between pragmatics and fiction to envision solutions to the climate crisis. Case studies and class participation examine dialectics between aesthetics and scientific knowledge related to environmental care and repair. Includes prototyping and publishing spatial, digital, and material experimentations to generate new work individually and/or collaboratively by way of diverse media explorations. Visiting speakers and field trips accompany lectures, readings, class discussions, and presentations. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

UG: 4.332, G: 4.333

Students create art projects that interact with participants and/or environment using a variety of code and hardware-based solutions including MAX/MSP/Jitter, a graphical object-based coding environment, and Arduino physical computing technologies. Students use sensors or generate data to control or interact with lights, speakers, video, audio, motors and much more. Students will create a Final Project that will be presented in “n/tr.ACT”, an Interactive Art show in the ACT Gallery. 

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

4.341 U / 4.342 G

PPPPP is a studio course and ongoing research seminar about understanding the ways photography is and has been defined by its socio-technical contexts. In this course we will think about photography as an unstable site of contradiction that is best understood through serial negotiations between photography and other concepts, forces, and disciplines.

Course content includes lectures, readings, screenings, workshops, and creative projects, and will culminate in a self-directed project of students’ choosing.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

4.341 Syllabus (Membreno-Canales; MIT Certificate Protected)
4.341 Syllabus (Aasen: MIT Certificate Protected)