4.346 UG | 4.347 G

Students explore the complexities of avant-garde cinematic practices through crafting short videos. By studying the conceptual, technical, and social dimensions of avant-garde cinema, participants develop innovative storytelling approaches that challenge mainstream conventions. Students engage in film screenings and discussions that trace the history of moving images from their origins to the contemporary era, with a specific focus on avant-garde practices. Introduces practical knowledge of video capturing, audio recording, lighting, and editing, while emphasizing aesthetic strategies for individual concept development. Specific project topics may vary each term, allowing for the opportunity to repeat for credit. 

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. 

4.356 U / 4.357 G

Explores ideas and contexts behind moving images through a multifaceted look at cinema's transmutations, emergence on local and national levels, and global migrations. Examines the transformation caused by online video, television, spatial installations, performances, dance, and many formats and portable devices, as well as the theory and context of film's categorization, dissemination, and analysis. Presentations, screenings, field trips, readings, visiting artists, and experimental transdisciplinary projects broaden the perception of present cinema. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

Explores the theory and criticism of intersections between art, culture, and technology in relation to contemporary artistic practice, critical design, and media. Students consider methods of investigation, documentation, and display and explore modes of communication. Students develop projects in which they organize research goals, engage in production, cultivate a context for practice, and explore how to communicate, display, and document work, with artistic practice as a method of critical inquiry/knowledge dissemination. Regular presentation and peer-critiques, reviews with ACT faculty and fellows, and external guest reviewers provide feedback as projects develop. Simultaneously, students prepare for thesis through both foundational texts in contemporary theory and criticism and artist writings, alongside presentations and discussions on methodological perspectives required of interdisciplinary approaches. 

Combines the critical lens of art with the innovation framework of DesignX, promoting introspection and deliberation before diving into thoughtful design interventions. Initiates a transdisciplinary collaboration between ACT and the Morningside Academy for Design through DesignX. Students design and present visual representations on the social impact area on which they choose to innovate and explore. Undergraduates welcome. 

4.341 UG | 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.

4.322 UG | 4.323 G

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. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.