Classes

U: 4.324 | G: 4.325

This seminar connects the arts and sciences by exploring methodological similarities and differences across disciplines between the arts and architecture, the humanities and the social sciences, engineering, natural and material sciences, alongside exploring emerging technologies such as AR/XR, AI and ML. Aimed at fostering student collaborations across research interests, students develop their ideas for projects through targeted analysis of their disciplinary and interdisciplinary interests. Each student will either enter with a project in mind or develop their project ideas within the class. Students can choose to work individually or in groups. 

This seminar’s goal is to provide a blueprint for developing interdisciplinary projects. The final project is a written and visual presentation of a workable plan whose goals/outcomes will form the basis for a collaborative interdisciplinary project. Visitors to the class may include Caroline A. Jones, Paul Vanouse, Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits, Candice Hooper, Jens Hauser, Pierre Huyghe, Po-Hao Chi among others.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

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

This course focuses on the production of artistic experiments catalyzed by research in art and climate, and eco-sociality of the locale. The workshop will engage the Herter community garden in Boston as a site where utopias for the future forms of environmental citizenship and new climate commons will be prototyped.

In conversation with local stakeholders the participants will develop hybrid projects of art and design suggesting an artistic instrumentarium for ecological repair, envisioning a future of cohabitation with more-than-humans, and probing alternative perspectives that catalyze a different climate for the future.

Inspired by counterculture experiments and emerging environmentalist design of the 60’s and 70’s, the course will discuss concepts such as anthropocene aesthetics, compossibility, critical zones, eco-activism, feminist fabulation, interspecies assemblies, permacomputing, and archipelagic thinking.

Readings will include those by Jane Bennet, Georges Canguilhem, TJ Demos, Eduardo Viveiro de Castro, Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, Astrida Neimanis, Andrew Pickering, Elizabeth Povinelli, Isabelle Stengers, Anna Tsing, and others.

Visits to the class and the field trips may include Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Tue Greenfort, Diane Borsato, Fernando García-Dory, Pelin Tan, Julie Kepes, D-Lab experts, FutureFarmers, Critical Art Ensemble, Platform London, The Center for Land Use Interpretation.

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)

4.341 U / 4.342 G

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

4.341 U / 4.342 G

1/24/23: Note schedule change from MW 9:30-12:30 to MW 2-5.

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.341/4.242 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

4.341 U / 4.342 G

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

4.341 U / 4.342 G

Introduction to Photography & Related Media offers an overview of the photographic medium and related media as tools for artistic expression. The word ‘photography’ was created from the Greek roots φωτός (phōtos), genitive of φως (phōs) and γραφή (graphé), together meaning ‘drawing with light.’ Since its invention, photography has constantly evolved technically as its role in society has become more impactful. Through readings, lectures, workshops, in class discussions and critic sessions, the course introduces students to the history of photography and the use of images in contemporary art practices. It fosters, both theoretically and practically, visual literacy and an understanding of photography from analog to digital imaging technologies. Throughout the semester, students receive practical instructions for various camera formats and instructions in digital imaging (essentially Photoshop). Readings, film screenings and assignments addressing specific topics challenge students to experiment with a range of techniques while discovering iconic visual artworks. Students explore the photographic medium and other related media while developing critical awareness of the cultural and technological production of images. Assignments are continuously discussed in a critical forum. Students present a topic at the end of the semester. Students from various disciplines welcome however enrollment is limited to 15. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.341/4.342 Syllabus (Baladi) — MIT Certificate Required
4.341/4.342 Syllabus (Membreno-Canales) — MIT Certificate Required

4.341 U / 4.342 G

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus Willis | Membreno-Canales

4.341 U / 4.342 G

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

Note: section taught by Ryan Aasen is digital photography only

Syllabi (MIT Certificate protected):

• R. Aasen (coming soon)
• H. Membreno-Canales (coming soon)
• J. Willis

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.344 U / 4.345 G

Advanced Photography and Related Media is a studio seminar course that addresses Historical Memory and the Politics of Representation. 

The course is designed for students who wish to explore photography and related media as tools for artistic practice. Students are encouraged to explore analog, digital and new technologies while researching and studying the history of photography, film, art and visual culture at large.

Through lectures, readings, film screenings, student-driven projects, guest lecturers’ presentations and critique sessions, students experiment with a range of artistic strategies. Throughout the semester, they engage in cross-disciplinary research and work on a project individually or collaboratively. 

On a weekly basis, students discuss theoretical texts related to various artistic practices, cutting across a range of media and various historical contexts. Students are encouraged to work with a diversity of media and formats, including film, video, sculpture, multimedia installations etc., providing images/photography remain central to their projects. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Equipment available for checkout.

4.344/4.345 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Required)

Advanced Photography and Related Media is a studio seminar course which addresses Historical Memory and the Politics of Representation. The course is designed for students who wish to explore photography and related media as tools for artistic practice. Students are encouraged to explore analog, digital and new technologies while researching and studying visual strategies used in photography, film, art and visual culture at large. 

Through lectures, readings, film screenings, student-driven projects, guest lecturers’ presentations and critique sessions, students experiment with a range of artistic strategies. Throughout the semester they engage in cross disciplinary research and work on a project individually or collaboratively. On a weekly basis, students discuss theoretical texts related to various artistic practices, cutting across a range of media and various historical contexts. 

Students are encouraged to work with a diversity of media and formats including film, video, sculpture, multimedia installations etc., providing images/photography remain central to their projects. Students from various disciplines are invited to enroll. 

This course is open to all students with a background in photography or any related media - Introduction to Photography or the equivalent. Students from various disciplines are encouraged to enroll and submit a portfolio of 15+ images of previous works. 

Note: 8/16/23 - schedule change from M 2-5 to W 2-5

4.344 U / 4.345 G

PHOTO FUTURES is a hybrid seminar-studio course looking at potential futures of photography. Divided into three “post”s--post-photography, post-truth, and post-human--we will work with both “traditional” ideas of image making and “emerging” methods of reproduction such as photogrammetry, 3D printing, and projection mapping. Emphasis will be placed on the politics of representation and art making.

Course is centered around developing individual projects of students’ choosing. No prior experience in photography is necessary, and students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Additional work required of graduate students.

4.344/4.345 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

2/8/23: Note room change to E15-283A

Introduces advanced strategies of image and sound manipulation, both technical and conceptual. Covers pre-production planning (storyboards and scripting), refinement of digital editing techniques, visual effects such as chroma-keying, post-production, as well as audio and sonic components. Context provided by regular viewings of contemporary video artworks and other audio-visual formats. Students work individually and in groups to develop skills in media literacy and communication.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.352/4.353 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

Introduces advanced strategies of image and sound manipulation, both technical and conceptual. Covers pre-production planning (storyboards and scripting), refinement of digital editing techniques, visual effects such as chroma-keying, post-production, as well as audio and sonic components. Context provided by regular viewings of contemporary video artworks and other audio-visual formats. Students work individually and in groups to develop skills in media literacy and communication.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

1/24/25 - Schedule change from TR 2-5 to TW 2-5

4.352 UG | 4.353 G

Advanced video production, installation, and exhibition design introduces advanced image and sound design strategies from both a technical and conceptual perspective. Storytelling is the linchpin that unites these seemingly disparate forms. Visual semiotics and media analysis, alongside installation and exhibition design, offer a perspective from which to consider how meaning is constructed when you engage across different forms of art production such as within individual artworks, media installations, and the design of exhibitions. Each of these forms implies a different spatial configuration and it is the relationship between the artwork and the space where it is displayed that determines how the work is understood by a viewer.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

UG: 4.354; G: 4.355

Introduces advanced strategies of image and sound manipulation, both technical and conceptual. Covers pre-production planning (storyboards and scripting), refinement of digital editing techniques, visual effects such as chroma-keying, post-production, as well as audio and sonic components. Context provided by regular viewings of contemporary video artworks and other audio-visual formats. Students work individually and in groups to develop skills in media literacy and communication. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

4.354/4.355 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

Examines the technical and conceptual variables and strategies inherent in contemporary video art practice. Analyzes structural concepts of time, space, perspective, and sound within the art form. Building upon the historical legacy of the moving the image, students render self-exploration, performance, social critique, and manipulation of raw experience into an aesthetic form. Emphasizes practical knowledge of lighting, video capturing and editing, and montage. Presentation and critique of student work, technical workshops, screenings, and reading discussions assist students with final project.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

UG: 4.354; G: 4.355

This course introduces global traditions of counter-cinema and experimental video through a combined studio and seminar format. We trace how artists and collectives develop form under pressure, studying methods that arise from protest, censorship, displacement, and environmental crisis. Topics include montage and materiality, index and memory, sound as testimony, and architectures of spectatorship. Screenings, lectures, and readings provide a theoretical and historical framework for rigorous discussion. Short weekly exercises translate these frameworks into practice through image and sound manipulation, camera and editing experiments, and iterative prototyping toward a final piece. Peer-to-peer critique emphasizes clarity of intention, ethical stakes, and technical execution.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.356 U / 4.357 G

What do the words “cinematic” and “migration” evoke? What does the conjunction evoke? How is “cinematic” being defined here? How is “migration” being defined here? How are both being thought in relation to each other?

Desire for cinema perhaps existed before its creation. Questions regarding this speculation and the variety of ways this longing has been addressed in the past and present form the basis of inquiry in this workshop.

The course explores how cinema has been transformed in and by online video and television, spatial installations, performance and dance, and an expanding range of formats and portable devices, as well as the theory and content of how cinema is categorized, disseminated, and analyzed. This workshop is meant to stimulate further experiments in transdisciplinary forms and to broaden students’ perception of cinema in the present.

The workshop will include explorations of the emergence of cinemas on local and national levels that have migrated through the world to varying effect. Readings will include philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s Cinema 1: The Movement Image, and Cinema 2: The Time Image. We will be screening and discussing films by film makers and artists such as: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Chris Marker, John Akomfrah, Harun Farocki, Chantal Akerman, Lucrecia Martel, Ousmane Sembene, Jia Zhangke, Agnes Varda, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Renee Green and Yvonne Rainer. Students are encouraged to produce time-based work in forms adapted to their interests.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.356/4.357 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)