PROJECTS
Files must be properly named, e.g.: “First-LastName_ProjectName_22jan24”
Files will be maintained in the MachinicModernity2024 Google folders
Office Hours: by appointment (please email eadigard@cca.edu or ivalero@cca.edu)
All due dates are indicated on the PROGRAM page
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INTRODUCTIONS
Our first class will start with individual presentations done within 3-5mn as a video, a slide presentation, prints on the wall or in any medium you see fit.
Using works of your choice, you will need to convey your current position as designer:
•WHAT are your main interests?
•WHY do want to be a designer (your current philosophy/ies)
>> Due at the first class January 19
We will then introduce the Semester program along with exemples from previous classes.
The outcome will combine two main project tracks:
1. Before Spring Break:
A study of texts related to a key contemporary topic (leading to the DIAGRAM PROJECT and the JOURNAL PROJECT)
2. After Spring Break:
The exploration of one topic of choice by each student (leading to the TOPIC OF CHOICE PROJECT)
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TEXT EXPLORATIONS RELATED TO THE FIVE CLASS TOPICS
While the theory track will focus on content, interpretations and the questions you bring to class, we will discuss formal issues in the design track.
For the theory track, you will need to study a selection of short texts to then organize your findings in the form of text/visual notations and expressions to include:
- your interpretations of the text, such as key findings, observations and impressions
- references and associations, such as related texts, imagery, designs, world events, etc.
- the question(s) it brings up especially in how it relates to any one of the topics
- how it can relate and inform your design philosophy
You will need to convey your findings through text and visual elements. Each exploration should be introduced by a short 50 to 200 words abstract. To best focus on ideation we suggest to limit presentations to PDF slides. Aside from text and 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5D design/imagery, these may include sounds, videos and links to external elements. You may style your presentations in any way you see fit but we advise to use a simple format like PDF, website, etc. so your research can be turned into a semester JOURNAL. (see details below) and so it can be used as a future asset in academic presentations or as part of a portfolio.
Because one of our primary class objectives is to relate theory and form, your work should always include commentaries on your design choices.
- Focus on all aspects of “form” especially in what and how it relates to the topic you work on.
- Aim to relate theoretical concepts to relevant mediums and design expressions.
- See how design can comment, critique, counter and augment theories.
- You may include your own sources but please include references.
- Allow your approach to be conceptual, semantic, poetic and personal. Be experimental.
However experimental it may be, your research should communicate your ideas through form itself as well as through text .
This ideation phase of notes, findings and sketches will be an opportunity to inspire and/or feed your TOPIC OF CHOICE. (see details below)
Due at each design class / Each week, one or two student(s) will be asked to formally present their findings at the start of the Theory Track
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DIAGRAM PROJECT
Over the course of the second half of the semester you will progressively conceive a diagram that conceptually organizes and relates the topics discussed in the class. In this relational web we will investigate the positioning and tensions between the topics and the interferences you have identified. This exploration will reveal new perspectives on what we have explored in this semester.
The diagram design iterations will start at mid-term. This is an opportunity to experiment with the many possible forms that diagrams can take, and how they may reveal different perspectives depending on the chosen styles and techniques, whether expressive, linguistic, symbolic, charted, illustrated, performed and/or technological. You could consider rhizomatic, arborescent or other structures or even attempt to invent your own approach. We will further discuss the concerns and opportunities of this project in class.
Due dates TBD
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“JOURNAL” PROJECT
The journal project will combine your Text Explorations as explained above. As such it will collect your semester observations, findings and designs into a single journal/document. Your journal may be conceived in any medium whether static or dynamic as long as it can be digitally shared, e.g. as a PDF, video, website or digital installation.
Whether defined as a traditional journal or not, this final document will stand for the rich chronology of your semester-long explorations with the class. It will reflect questions, speculations, experiments and findings that are at once conceptual and formal—our main objective being to consider how we can think and communicate complex notions through design. That is how we can combine 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5D forms to conceive “images” that are engaging and can communicate beyond the scope of the written language. That is also an exploration to invent new, more relevant designs better adapted to our hyper-mediated times.
Each “journal” will be a broader exploration on two fundamental contemporary phenomena:
1. How machinic modernity has emerged as a framework for today’s culture of socioeconomic structures.
2. How this regime can be challenged by new design strategies.
3. How we each find our place and voice as engaged creative agents.
Ultimately, the “journal” is an introspective exploration focused on your own interest and speculations. Within your journal, you are asked to include a citation written by you that conveys your personal design philosophy. This will probably relate to your Topic Of Choice Project
Due at the end of the semester
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TOPIC OF CHOICE PROJECT
The Topic Of Choice Project is an opportunity for you to formally relate the concepts we are exploring in class, with your own interests.
This project can take any form that relates to your interests. It may range from a fully artistic creation to a written essay or even a fiction piece. Your own interest and approach will determine whether it needs to be an installation (virtual or documented), a book, a poster or poster series, a video, a lecture, a product, an interface, etc.
This project being very improvisational, we will progressively discuss it throughout the whole semester, so it may even turn into a series of experimental projects if needed.
Due dates TBD