Courses

Role of the Artist as Producer

Course No. VAT400.1  Credits: 3
Faculty Tommy White

Today artist not only make things Ð they produce and practice in a wide array of fields and contexts. . Artist as Producer asks the students to consider relative to their production the students to question what it means to be an artist, and what is their models of what an artists is and what role an artist plays in is in the world. The intent is to move them beyond the idea that what an artist does is limited to what they produce for exhibitions in galleries, and museums. We seek to explicate that artists today might work for large corporations, clean up a brown fields site, curate exhibitions, others hire fabricators or have assists who all or part of the work, which is part of the concept behind the work. This course is designed to stimulate the student to look both inward and out ward. Motivate them to ask themselves what does it means to make artwork in a local, regional, national and a globalized cultural context? What can we call local in an age of Google and Art Basel? And, what can happen to the reception of images when they cross cultural boundaries? Subsequently, students are encouraged to experiment with their work relative to the notion of audience, the inter relationship between meaning and production, the value of labor, the match up of process and idea, hand made versus industrially Coursework will include studio, readings, discussion, critiques, etc. Required for all fall semester VATe Seniors in all majors, open as an elective with approval by instructor. 3 credits.

Science Fiction Writing Workshop

Course No. LLC210W.1  Credits: 3

The genre (or sub-genre) of science fiction may, on one level, be seen as a variety of Romanticism, as an extended collective response to features of modernity, specifically scientific discoveries and innovations, as well as elements of the Industrial and technological revolutions. Science fiction, in its astonishing number of permutations, has filled a vast canvas of imaginative possibility, discovering a range of responses and forms that range from the dystopian, pessimistic, even nihilistic, to the utopian. We hear and see, in the voices and imaginations of different science fiction writers and artists, warnings and celebrations, but at the bottom, questionings of what it means to be human and of what kinds of possibilities may lay before us. Science fiction is also a remarkably popular genre; it's vitally manifested in books, television shows, films, toys, games. In this class we will investigate some of the space(s), both literal and metaphorical, that science fiction (and popular ideas of science) offer to the imagination. The course's center, however, is the students' own writing and their own ideas, and will be conducted in workshop format, with relatively brief lectures by the instructor presenting relevant literary, historical, theoretical and biographical backgrounds and contexts. During the semester, students will present two to three original works-in-progress (either creative or critical) to the class, distributing photocopies of their work a week in advance to the members of the class and to the instructor. Fulfills Humanities/Cultural Studies distribution requirement. Creative Writing Concentration course. 3 credits.

Screenwriting

Course No. LLC318
Faculty Shelley Bloomfield

What is a spec script, a slugline, a smash cut? One script page averages how many minutes of onscreen film time? What’s the difference between a conventional short and medium short film? In this course we will discuss the elements of good cinematic storytelling, study short screenplays for the ways in which they combine storytelling and visual artistry, learn the conventions of formatting, and write two short films. Students are required either to storyboard or animate their short scripts.

Screenwriting

Course No. LLC318.1  Credits: 3
Faculty Shelley Bloomfield

What is a spec script, a slugline, a smash cut? What's the difference between montage and a series of shots, and why does the screenwriter need to know? One script page averages how many minutes of onscreen film time? In addition to the demands of just plain good storytelling, writing for film entails expressing everything about the story visually, which gives visual artists an advantage in adapting to the demands of the form. It is the screenwriter's job to put all of the sights, sounds and speeches on the page, while still leaving room for interpretation by the filmmakers. In this course we will discuss the elements of good storytelling, study the screenplays of Pulp Fiction and Chocolat, and write a short screenplay formatted to conform to industry standards. Fulfills Humanities/Cultural Studies distribution requirement. Creative Writing Concentration course. 3 credits.

SCU/VAT: Installation: The Empire of the Senses

Course No. VAT35X.1  Credits: 3

Installation art breaks away from the singular object, the pedestal and the detached viewer. Through this work, it is possible to engage the viewer using all the senses. This studio course will provide the opportunity to work with materials and methods not traditionally associated with the visual arts. Lectures and research will focus on perceptionÑhow we understand the world through sight, smell/ taste, the sense of hearing and kinesthetic cues received from the body. The information provided will provide an environment of concepts to support and challenge the studentÕs work . Students will develop installations in line with their interests and concerns. Open Elective. 3 credits.

SCU/VAT: Installation: The Empire of the Senses

Course No. VAT45X.1  Credits: 3

Installation art breaks away from the singular object, the pedestal and the detached viewer. Through this work, it is possible to engage the viewer using all the senses. This studio course will provide the opportunity to work with materials and methods not traditionally associated with the visual arts. Lectures and research will focus on perceptionÑhow we understand the world through sight, smell/ taste, the sense of hearing and kinesthetic cues received from the body. The information provided will provide an environment of concepts to support and challenge the studentÕs work . Students will develop installations in line with their interests and concerns. Open Elective. 3 credits.

Sculpture - Internship

Course No. SCU399.1  Credits: 3

Sculpture Special Topics: Sculpture Multimedia: Space to Time - Linear/Non-Linear

Course No. SCU241.1

This course is designed to explore materials (traditional and non-traditional) and ideas of sculpture outside of the formats usually associated with it. The goal is for students to push the boundaries of sculpture as installation art, video, and film. Projects will deal with visibility and invisibility, ephemerality, sound, time, gender, and social issues in relation to sculpture, and will use indoor and outdoor site-specific or performance-oriented formats. Fundamental aspects of this course are the analysis, expression, experimentation, and deconstruction of existing values and the reconstruction of one's own relation to popular culture, theory and other fields of interest (such as science, music, philosophy, etc.). 3 credits.