Course Description
An intermediate production / studio course that engages with media practices outside of the traditional single-channel film or videotapes made for broadcast or screening.  New genres and hybrid media forms including installation, performance, and tactical media are explored through a series of readings, lectures, presentations, and creative assignments in both individual and group projects. This class encourages a critical, creative approach to the medium, non-traditional solutions, and contextualization within the histories and methodologies of performance art, site-specific works, live art, body art, experimental films and video, net art, culture jamming, and other interactive hybrid forms. This course is especially recommended for Media Studies majors who are considering creating a media installation, performance, or other hybrid forms as their Capstone (thesis) project, as well as student in other fields (e.g. Studio Art, Dance, Theatre, Music) who are interested in these and other hybrid media forms.

Students planning to enroll in this course should have taken one of the following courses as a prerequisite: Introduction to Video Art (MS82 or equivalent). Introduction to Digital Imaging or equivalent, and introductory-level studio art course in a relevant genre such as sculpture and photography.

• To experiment with and become familiar with non-tradition forms of media production and exhibition;
• To acquire a sense of the historical context of these non-traditional forms, including performance art, tactical media, body art, and others within their own media practices;
• To understand the concepts of site-specificity, embodiment, duration, detournement, culture jamming, relational aesthetics, and other relevant theories, ideas, and practices; and to be able to test out some of these ideas in short production projects;
• To be able to work and learn in both individual and group contexts;
• To develop skills in presentation and critique of their creative projects, both as presenter and critic, and in individual as well as group situations.

Related Goals For The Class

• To have student produce interesting and challenging work, both for themselves and for their audiences;
• To promote solidarity rather than competition in the process of learning.

Course Organization
Our course work for the semester is focused on five topics: body, space, time, action, and community. We will normally spend three weeks on each topic. Within this period, I will introduce the topic in the first class with a combination of lecture, presentation of artist projects and documentation, discussion of reading assignments; the second class meeting will be divided into two parts—the first is a student-led session on the topic, where 2-3 students will design a 1-1.5 hrs. class; the second part of the class will be a lab when students can meet individually with the instructor, work in groups, or undergo technical and equipment training. The third class will be a presentation and group critique/discussion of student projects, led by instructor and/or students.

Our class activities will be centered around student projects, reading assignments, in-class screenings and presentations, group and individual critiques, and technical demonstrations. Both individual and collaborative projects will be assigned. Selected guest speakers (filmmakers, media artists, scholars, etc.) may join us remotely via Zoom, or in person, schedule and budget permitting, depending on level of interest expressed and their availability. I may assign events (required or recommended) outside of the class meeting time, and will try my best to balance out with class time.

Laptop computers with an internet connection and appropriate software, sometimes smart phones and other mobile digital devices can be used in class only for class-related activities (e.g. taking notes or relevant web searches). I ask students to agree to these conditions for class: no recording of audio, photo, or video unless pre-approved by instructor; no emails, texting, messaging, checking your social media accounts and other non-class related activities on your device. These and other diversions are not acceptable during class time, and will lower your grade.

Attendance
Attendance and participation of all classes is required. Do not miss class or arrive late! Your weekly attendance and active participation is central to the class’s success and to your success in the class.  Documented medical or family emergencies will be excused, and you have one “free passe” for when you need a personal day. All other absences will negatively impact your total grade percentage by one point.  Please note, this attendance policy is separate from absences related to Covid-19 isolation/quarantine protocols, which are outlined below. Attendance is determined by when I take roll.

Class Participation
Your active, well-prepared participation in class discussions is essential to creating a dynamic (i.e. not boring!) learning environment. Although you will not receive a letter grade for class participation, it will figure into your final grade based on my observations.

We may study sexually explicit, political, and otherwise challenging material in this course. These are not included for shock value, but are legitimate investigations of controversial subject matters in media. You are certainly encouraged to explore difficult and complex subject matters in your work, and you should be prepared to consider these issues intellectually and emotionally. Our class is a safe space in which students can express their beliefs and opinions. You always have a voice, but please be respectful of others as well. Abusive language and behavior are not be tolerated. Open-mindedness is encouraged!

Class Assignments and Projects
Students will complete a class project for each topic, except for the one they are teaching the student-led class in. Students are allowed one self-initiated collaboration. Other class project guidelines are as follows:

Unless an extension is approved by myself in advance of the due date, your grade are reduced by one letter grade (i.e. B to C) per class day your project is late. You are encouraged to meet with me individually during my office hours to discuss your assignments, your grades, and your overall performance in class. I am always open to suggestions and feedback!

Reading Assignments
Required readings are drawn from the textbooks below and the articles are on Sakai, organized by topic (body, time, space, etc.) You are encouraged to look up the additional reading on your own.

Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, Dijon, France: Les Presses Du Reel, 1998
Amelia Jones, Body Art: Performing the Subject, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1998
---, ed., The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, New York: Routledge, 2003
Ameila Jones and Andrew Stephenson, eds., Performing the Body / Performing the Text, New York: Routledge, 1999
Ken Knabb, ed., The Situationist International Anthology, Berkeley, CA: Bureau Of Public Secrets, 2007
Miwon Kwon, One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2004
Kalle Lasn, Culture Jam, New York: Quill/Harper Collins, 2000
Michael Rush, Video Art, New York:Thames and Hudson, 2003
Erika Suderburg, ed., Space, Site, Intervention: Situating Installation Art, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2000
Erika Suderburg and Ming-Yuen S. Ma, eds., Resolutions 3: Global Networks of Video, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2012

* Your general performance in class including participation, attendance, and punctuality, except in the special cases listed above, such as if you have more than 3 unexcused absences.

Generally, outstanding ('A') students in this class have good attendance and completed all their assignments on time. They are consistently well prepared for class, and actively participate in and advance our discussions with pertinent information, questions, and observations. Their work demonstrate their ability to innovate and respond to the topic at hand, awareness of the issues addressed by and the historical context for the media works and genres they are referencing, as well as their ability to articulate their observations and analyses in a clear and concise manner. Only letter grades are given out in this class.

Academic Accommodations
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your faculty and the academic support service of your home campus by email at the beginning of the semester if you have not already registered for accommodations. A student’s home campus is responsible for establishing and providing accommodations. You must contact your home institution to establish accommodations. Below is a list of coordinators: 

CMC: disabilityservices@cmc.edu
HMC: ability@hmc.edu
Pitzer: academicsupport@pitzer.edu
Pomona: disability@pomona.edu
Scripps: ars@scrippscollege.edu

Academic Integrity
You are responsible for reading and adhering to the colleges’ policies regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism. If you have any questions about what they constitute (e.g. the representation of someone else's work as your own, the destruction or malicious alteration of the work of others, the re-use of work prepared for another course, etc) you should direct them to the professor.

Extra Credit
Students are encouraged toattend screenings, conferences, lectures, exhibitions and web events related to this course. Write a two-page (typed and double-spaced) report of the event or activity. Incorporate the event's relevance to the class as well as your personal responses to it. Proof of attendance is required (keep your ticket stubs, programs, etc.) Students are allowed two extra credit papers. Announcements for events of interest to this class are done in the first 5 mins. of each class.

Questions About Grading
I try my best to make my grading criteria as clear as possible, and you are welcome to come and discuss your grades and your class performance with me. However, I only consider legitimate concerns, and be aware that your grade is as likely to go down as it is to go up after I reassess your assignment. I do not tolerate haggling, bribing, threats, and any other pointless arguments. I consider all aspects of your performance before I assign a grade, please respect my assessment as I respect your efforts.

COVID-19 Policies
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be an evolving one. Our goal will be to keep each other safe, and accommodations will be put in place to support this. These may include individual meetings with the professor, course notes, recorded sessions, or temporary pivot to online instruction, as appropriate. If you learn that you have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or if you are experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms, please let your professor know. If you test positive, you will not be allowed to attend class. If you are required to isolate/quarantine, accommodations will be provided. Absences related to COVID-19 protocols do not count towards the course absence policy. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any needs related to the COVID-19 procedures or concerns about classroom safety.
 
The COVID-19 policies are subject to modification throughout the semester based on current protocols.  Students are required to follow all current protocols for the class and all class related activities. The links to the campus COVID protocols are as follows:

CMC: https://cmc-returns21.cmc.edu/
HMC: https://www.hmc.edu/covid-19/
Pitzer: https://www.pitzer.edu/pathway-forward/covid-19-symptoms-protocol-support/
Pomona: https://www.pomona.edu/covid-19
Scripps: https://www.scrippscollege.edu/scripps-strong/for-students/


 

Equipment:
Equipment and editing rooms can now be reserved on-line at the Media Studies web site
List of equipment available for check out

Equipment Checkout Days:
Mondays and Thursdays

A note on general respect and care: we are all depending on each other to keep our equipment in good working order. If the equipment breaks down, no one can complete his or her work! You are responsible for reading and following rules for equipment usage. The IMS Production Center staff or myself may revoke access privileges at any time if the rules are not followed. Use common sense and please be considerate of each other: return the equipment on time.

Memory cards, external hard drives, and other media for class projects can be purchased at the bookstore, on-line, or at any good A/V supply store (Ametron, Studio Film & Tape, etc.)

Mosbacher/Gartrell Center Spaces for Class Projects:
The Kallick Family Gallery, Q114, and Q116 can be booked for class projects. Space usages policy:

1. Usage of Kallick Family Gallery and Q114 in the Mosbacher/Gartrell Center must be supervised by IMS faculty, IMS staff, or Pitzer Art Galleries staff at all times. Q116 can be used during class time for class assignments or events;
2. Spaces must be booked at least one week ahead of time through me or Matthew Pagoaga. You should indicate in your project proposals, due a week ahead of each in-class crit., what space you propose to use for that project;
3. Each student can only book one space per project.  Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis (explain in your project proposal why you will need to use more than one space) Given the number of students in our class, expect to share the space with others.  Use common sense, be considerate of and respect each other's work when sharing a space;
4. If any student is found using the spaces irresponsibly or for unapproved purposes, IMS staff and faculty reserve the right to suspend any, all or some privileges, as it is deemed necessary. Students are required to report any misuse of the gallery, other exhibition spaces, and workspace to the IMS staff and faculty immediately;
5. Spaces must be returned to its original condition, and is subjected to inspection by IMS faculty and staff.  Students who damage the space or leave a mess will loose their privilege of using that space for the semester, depending on the assessment of each case by IMS staff and faculty.

Course Schedule:

Topic 1: BODY
Key Concepts, Genres, and Movements:
Body art, performance art, presence, subjectivity, feminism, feminist art movement, Fluxus, Viennese Actionism

Artists and Collectives:
Carolee Schneemann, Yayoi Kusama, Ana Mendieta, Vito Acconci, Hannah Wilke, Orlan, Bob Flanagan/Sheree Rose, Yoko Ono, Ulay/Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Pipilotti Rist, Bruce Nauman, Mona Hatoum, Chris Burden, Regina Jose Galindo, Ron Athey, Skip Arnold, Kalup Linzy, Ryan Trecartin, Artur Zmijewski, Maria Diaz, Alex Villar, Valie Export, MaLiuming, He Chengyao,Yang Zhichao, Zhang Huan

Reading Assignment:
Amelia Jones, Body Art, Introduction and Chapter 1, pp.1-52

Additional Reading (Optional):
Karen Lang, "Reason and Remainders: Kantian Performativity in the History of Art," in Performing the Body, pp. 11-28
Michael Hatt, "Race, Ritual, and Responsibility: Performativity and the Southern Lynching," in Performing the Body, pp. 76-88
Michael Rush, Video Art, Ch. 2 Video and the Conceptual Body, pp. 63-123
Philip Ursprung, "Catholic Tastes: Hurting and Healing the Body in Viennese Actionism," in Performing the Body, pp. 138-152

Tuesday 1.17

Topic 2: TIME
Key Concepts, Genres, and Movements:
Time-based media, duration, "sculpting in time," history, memory, ephemerality and permanence, linear and non-linear time, recollection objects, sense memory, chronophobia, durational aesthetics

Key Artists, Collectives, and Groups:
John Cage, Andrey Tarkovsky, Douglas Gordon, Tehching Hsieh, Linda Montano, Shauna Beharry, Mona Hatoum, Ulay and Abramovic, Lin Hixson, Goat Island, Forced Entertainment, Franko B, La Ribot, Ulay and Abramovic, Andy Warhol, Jim Campbell, On Kawara, Hanna Darboven, Vito Acconci, Joseph Beuys, Roman Opalka, Rea Tajiri, Walid Ra’ad, Julie Dash

Reading Assignment:
Andrey Tarkovsky, "Imprinted Time" and "Time, Rhythm and Editing," in Sculpting in Time; Reflections on the Cinema, New York: Knopf, 1987, pp. 57-80, 113-124
Michael Rush, Video Art, pp. 172-176
Marita Sturken, "The Space of Electronic Time: The Memory Machines of Jim Campbell," in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 287-296
Adrian Heathfield, 'Thought of Duration," in Out of Now: Lifeworks of Tehching Hsieh, Adrian Heathfield and Tehching Hsieh, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009, pp.17-23

Additional Reading (Optional):
Wikipedia pages on John Cage and his composition 4'33"
John Cage, Silence, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1973
Adrian Heathfield and Tehching Hsieh, Out of Now: Lifeworks of Tehching Hsieh, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009
Pamela M. Lee, Chronophobia: On Time in the Art of the 1960s, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004
Live: Art and Performance, edited by Adrian Heathfield, New York: Routledge, 2004, pp. 6-13
Joanna Lowry, "Performing Vision in the Theatre of the Gaze," in Performing the Body, pp. 273-282
Laura U. Marks, The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and The Senses, Durham; Duke University Press, 2000, pp. 97-126

Additional Listening (Optional):
Audio clips of Marina Abramovic discussing her work in the MOMA exhibition The Artist is Present

Tuesday 2.7

Topic 3: SPACE
Key Concepts, Genres, and Movements:
installation, sculpture, architecture, environment, performance, collection, media projections, gesamtkunstwerk, wunderkammern / cabinets de curiosité, expanded cinema, intermedia environments, site-specificity, site/nonsite, institutional critique, functional site

Artists and Collectives:
Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, Peter Campus, Frank Gillette and Ira Schneider, Gary Hill, Bill Viola, Mary Lucier, Steve McQueen, Isaac Julien, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Pipilotti Rist, Doug Aitken, Eija-Liisa Ahtilla, Shirin Neshat, Kutlug Ataman, Julian Rosenfeld, Diana Thater, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Stan Douglas, Dan Graham, Joan Jonas, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Reading Assignment:
Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another, Introduction & Chapter 1, pp. 1-31
Erika Suderburg, Space, Site, Intervention, Introduction pp.1-22 (Skim)
Holly Willis, "City as Screen," in Resolutions 3, pp. 105-111
Michael Rush, "Installation and the New Cinematics," in Resolutions 3, pp. 112-120
The last 2 articles are in one PDF

Additional Reading (Optional):
Chrissie Iles, "Video and Film Space," in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 252-262
Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another, Chapter 2, pp. 33-55
Bruce Jenkins, "The Machine in the Museum; or, The Seventh Art in Search of Authorization," in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 263-274
Colin Gardner, "'No Guarantees, They're Wolves': Structure, Movement, and the Dystopic in Diana Thater's China," in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 275-286
Tiffany Ana Lopez, "Imaging Community: Video in the Installation Work of Pepón Osorio," in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 317-331
Amelia Jones, "The 1970s 'Situation' and Recent Installation: Joseph Santarromana's Intersubjective Engagements,"in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 332-346
Laurence A. Rickels, "The Evil Eye of Adolescence," in Resolutions 3, pp. 121-133
Michael Rush, Video Art, pp.17-20, 126-137, 148-152, 178-196

Tuesday 2.28

Topic 4: ACTION
Key Concepts, Genres, and Movements:
Action and intervention, praxis,Situationism, tactical media, propaganda, agit prop, culture jamming, detournement, dérive, media performance,

Key Artists, Collectives, and Groups:
The Situationist International, Suzanne Lacy, Leslie Labowitz, Gran Fury, Adbuster Media Foundation, RTMark, The Yes Men, Wafaa Bilal

Reading Assignment:
Guy Debord, Asger Jorn, Gil J. Wolman, Rene Vienet and others, Articles on Situationism, in The Situationist International Anthology, pp. 8-14, 41-56, 213-216 all in one PDF
Suzanne Lacy & Leslie Labowitz, "Feminist Media Strategies for Political Performance," in The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, pp. 302-313

Additional Reading (Optional):
Ad Busters Media Foundation web site (see below for link)
Wafaa Bilal and Kari Lydersen, Shoot An Iraqi: Art, Life, and Resistance Under the Gun, San Francisco: City Lights, 2008
C. Ondine Chavoya, "Internal Exiles: The Interventionist Public and Performance Art of ASCO", in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 189-208
Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another, Chapter 3, pp. 56-99
Kalle Lasn, Culture Jam, pp. 29-35, 123-136
Richard Meyer, Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art, Boston: Beacon Press, 2002. See Chapter 5, pp. 225-275, for a discussion of Gran Fury's Kissing Doesn't Kill campaign.
Alessandra Moctezuma and Leda Ramos, "Hidden Economies in Los Angeles: An Emerging Latino Metropolis", in Space, Site, Intervention, pp. 143-157

Tuesday 3.28

Topic 5: COMMUNITY
Key Concepts, Genres, and Movements:
Relational aesthetics, collaboration, social interstices, micro-utopias, context, audience, antagonism, relational antagonism

Key Artists, Collectives, and Groups:
Rirkrit Tiravanija, Santiago Sierra, Jorge Pardo, Michael Lin, Liam Gillick, Apolonia Sustersic, Phillippe Parreno, Pierre Huyghe, Carsten Höller, Christine Hill, Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Cattelan, Thomas Hirschhorn, Dominique Gonzales-Foerster, Noritoshi Hirakawa,Fareed Armaly, Philippe Parreno, Henry Bond, Julia Sher

Reading Assignment:
Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, pp. 7-40

Additional Reading (Optional):
Claire Bishop, "Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics," in October 110, Fall 2004, pp. 51-79
Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, pp. 65-78
Interview with Doryun Chong, curator of OPEN ENDED (the art of engagement) exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another, Chapters 4&5, pp. 100-155
The Land web site, and a shorter description of the project at the UC Berkeley site.
Santiago Sierra in conversation with Teresa Margolles, BOMB magazine web site

Tuesday 4.18

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