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.

9/12/23 note: Schedule change to F 10-12

Series of tutorials that includes regular presentations of student writing in group critiques and supports independent thesis research and development by providing guidance on research strategy and written presentation. Sessions supplemented by regular individual conferences with thesis committee members.

4.387 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

9/12/23 note: Schedule change to F 10-12

Introduces foundational texts in contemporary theory and criticism at the intersection of art, culture, and technology. Through presentations and discussions, students explore the necessary methodological perspectives required of an interdisciplinary approach to artistic practices.

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.

4.301 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

2/8/23 note: Room changed to E15-283A

Investigates the political economy of attention from a contemporary media studies perspective. Offers instructions in theories of mass media and commodification, the history of capitalism, and key theoretical debates pertaining to the mediation of attention as a cultural form. Emphasis on critical practices of reading, viewing, and listening that resist dominant configurations of attention in the capitalist sensorium. Seminar format with time for student presentation, guest lecture, visiting artist presentation, and class field trips. Readings will be drawn from a range of fields including political philosophy, film and media theory, art history, technology studies, and communication theory. The course is open to both graduate and undergraduate students. Students may elect to fulfill final assignment as either creative project or research-based seminar paper. Additional work required of students taking graduate version.

4.s33 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

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

Textile manufacturing is among the most lucrative and largest polluting industries today: more than 80 billion square meters of leftover garments end up in landfills or get destroyed by burning. When the expected demand is not met, supply chains channel stock to the parallel economy of stock destruction ensuring price control. Critiquing this widespread phenomenon of fast fashion, this course takes the notion of “toxic textiles” both as a medium and as a framework to explore the cultural, social, political, economic, and environmental footprint of clothing through the textile medium as a artistic and critical response to the world’s pressing concerns. The course introduces hands-on experimentation with textile art and fashion design informed by case studies in contemporary art, decolonizing fashion, performative and wearable technologies, experimental preservation, and fabric upcycling. 

Research assignments and material experimentation in the first part of the semester build on Donna Haraway’s method of “Implosion” geared toward concept development and skill building. The course will introduce working with a variety of materials and techniques, with an emphasis on reverse applique technique and fabric manipulation. Lectures, readings, screenings, and crits supplement studio practice. At the end of the semester, students will be expected to exhibit one studio-based final project informed by thematic readings and class discussions. 

Students from all disciplines are encouraged and welcome to enroll. The enrollment is limited to 20 students. Sewing skills are beneficial but not pre-required for the class; sewing tutorials, machines, and basic sewing equipment and textiles will be provided.

4.s32 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)