Sculpture + Expanded Media Courses

Mapping + Memory: Spacial Construction

Course No. SEM 204-304-404  Credits: 3.0

This course will focus on various properties of memory as they are informed by contemporary science and philosophy via the transformation of “information, thoughts and experiences” as a process of mapping and as a condition of recording into works of art. Mapping (recording) for this course should be understood as a process of revelation, a translation of fact (reality) or imagination (memory) into dimensional representations. Mapping implies numerous spatial relationships, framing positions such as scale and physical proximity, the passage of time and the probabilistic qualities of space-time. In addition to the significance of proximity when exploring and understanding space, the process of mapping is also associated with journey in space or as the length of a durational event. In order to accomplish these transformations students will be able to engage and examine both physical and virtual approaches to spatial construction will be encouraged. Open to all students.

Media Installation

Course No. SEM 206-306-406  Credits: 3.0

This class serves as an introduction to installation art that employs a variety of media including video, sound, light, and electronic technologies in spatial context. Lectures will cover concepts and presentations of contemporary artists working with installation and both analog and digital technologies. Course work will be hands-on practice of techniques and methods presented in lecture, discussion of readings, and critique of student projects. This class will involve a series of introductory workshops using materials and processes which can be utilized to create media installations, such as synced digital video displays, video projection mapping, multi-channel speaker installation, and interactive electronic media. Experience with digital video and sound production is not required.

Performance & Theater: Ensemble Creation (EP)

Course No. SEM 220X-320X-420X  Credits: 3.0

This class is focused on aspects of theater, installation, and performance art. This is a collaborative class in which the students will be guided through training techniques that will lead to the creation of an original piece of theatre. The work will be performed at Station Hope, Cleveland Public Theater’s annual immersive multi-arts community event centered at the historic St. John’s Church in Ohio City. The students will work with members of the Cleveland Public Theater to learn storytelling and ensemble building techniques, as well as explore the dynamism of physical forms and space in their connection with poetic inner life. This is a unique opportunity to enter into a dynamic, creative environment where participants will explore the process of devising new work in relationship, response and collaboration with Cleveland community. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Fulfills Engaged Practice requirement.

On the Body

Course No. SEM 221-321-421  Credits: 3.0

Experimental fashion, object-generated performance, and costume. This course will teach pattern making and a variety of fabrication processes relevant to building three-dimensional forms from pliant and mutable materials, including but not restricted to cloth. It will also include casting methods that are useful for designing patterns to cover a body or act as the skin of an object. The techniques have a wide range of applications. In the past students have applied these skills to experimental fashion, sculpture, social sculpture, and performance. In addition, class material will address our social and cultural understanding of the body as a source for making work. We will draw on theory and contemporary research from the fields of fashion, the hard sciences and the social sciences.

Installlation: Light + Sound

Course No. SEM 230A-330A-430A  Credits: 3.0

Sculptural installation is a condition of space that is neither object bound nor object-centric in its existence but rather presents a condition that is often identified as immersive and intentionally organized to produce a spatially dependent experience beyond that of the “Everyday”. This course will investigate various applications and approaches to subject of Installation with an emphasis on contemporary practices using light and sound as a means of constructing space and form. Primary to this course is the understanding of light (lighting) as both a material and structural element with regard to organization and presentation and the combined relationship of sound as an immersive component in the production of installation-based works.

Intro Sculpture + Expanded Media

Course No. SEM 231  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Sarah Paul

This course provides an introduction to Sculpture + Expanded Media by examining the methodologies, materials, history, traditions, and cultural context of sculpture and expanded media in contemporary art. The class will include wood construction and textile-based fabrication processes, moldmaking, and casting relevant to a range of materials, basic metalworking techniques such as cutting and welding, and will introduce the student to the use of time-based media in contemporary sculpture. Required for sophomore Sculpture + Expanded Media majors. Open to all students as an elective. Offered spring.

Intro Sculpture Fabrication

Course No. SEM 232  Credits: 3.0
Faculty William Lorton

The goal of this course is to expose students to the qualitative nature of materiality at a fundamental level and to provide them with a formative understanding of the various aesthetic qualities that materials possess. In other words this course introduces how materials influence the meaning of a work of art. This course addresses how the qualities of material act to determine aesthetic organization and conditions of conveyance within a work. The course focuses on both the physicality of material condition(s) of state-change, intensive material exploration and experimentation as a function of structure, and its effect on aesthetic production. Required at the sophomore level for all Sculpture majors and open to all other students. Offered fall.

Time-Based Strategies

Course No. SEM 236  Credits: 3.0

This course will provide students with an opportunity to investigate the concepts and practices of various time-based media arts. A basic introduction to the processes of video art, sound art, and media installation will serve as the basis for the production of several projects. Assignments will be grounded in the development of media literacy, media ethics, dissemination techniques, and teamwork. Offered fall.