Kevin Hamilton
OFFICE: A+D 124
EMAIL: kham@uiuc.edu
leave messages in box in A+D 143

6-8:50PM
Tuesdays: A+D 229
Thursdays: A+D 336 (lab)

This course takes as its focus the creation and reception of time-based media in image and sound. Our concern will be with open-ended exploration of the formal and contextual opportunities unique to these media, rather than with any one applied vocabulary (i.e., commmercial cinema, documentary radio). We will approach time-based media as:

• possessive of unique formal properties that occur in no other medium, worthy of consideration through practice and critique
  part of an already diverse and contentious history as applied in contemporary art and theory, a history deserving attention and concern
  
• dominant in the visual and aural landscape of our everyday lives, and therefore desperately in need of close observation, understanding and critique
  
• readily applicable to work in established disciplines of art and design, but uniquely suited to interdisciplinary projects that assume no one formal context or history
  
• influential as an example of a "new" medium, in which tools invented outside of art practice are put to new uses by artists and designers
  
  

Our goal will be to attend equally to the formal, contextual, and technical aspects of each subject we address. Work will consist of:

• in-class studio: short and long-term exercises, projects
• out-of-class projects: short and long-term projects completed alone and in groups
• training and proficiency sessions in the computer lab
• discussion and critique
• presentations
• viewing of works in various media, in and out of class
• writing in repsonse to your work in the work of others
• some reading of relevant theories, histories
• research of relevant artists, artifacts for source materials and examples
  
  

The following will be expected of you in this course:

1. WORK
You should expect to spend as much as six hours a week outside of class on projects (or more if you wait until the last minute). Often you will be asked to work with a partner on these projects; you will be expected to respect this arrangement by contributing equally and showing up for arranged meetings.

2. PATIENCE
Important to the success of this technology-intensive course is your willingness to adapt and problem-solve in the face of unexpected (even disastrous) technical snafus. You will be expected to demonstrate that you have done everything possible to achieve all projects. Creativity in the face of adversity (even, occasionally, at the expense of departing from stated project parameters) will help all of us in our attempts to explore these media.

3. PARTICIPATION
Attendance is mandatory, and timeliness is important to our staying on schedule - missing more than three sessions will result in a full grade drop. You will also be expected to contribute to class discussions and critiques through your thoughtful and relevant questions, comments, challenges, suggestions.

Your grade in this course will consist of:

1/3 PARTICIPATION: contribution to crits, discussions, short exercises, attendance, in class and online

2/3 PROJECT SCORES: you will receive a grade for each longer-term project, based on adherence to project parameters, creativity of solution, mastery of technical and formal elements, attention to context and history

You will be charged 85 dollars for use of materials and facilities in this course. $75.00 of this fee covers use of the computer labs and camera equipment. $10.00 goes to purchase of additional supplies for the course, primarily renting videos from video art distribution houses.

In addition, you should expect to spend as much as $100.00 on storage media such as DVD-Rs, dv tapes, and other supplies.