Seminar
Columbia University School of the Arts
Spring 2004

Course Description

Artists from various disciplines began experimenting with the Internet in the mid-1990s. By 2000, net art had emerged as a distinct art form with its own communities, organizations, publications and exhibition venues, and was being recognized and assimilated by mainstream art institutions.

This course will examine net art as an interdisciplinary practice with strong ties to conceptual art, video, performance and activist art. Combining history and theory with practice, we will explore a range of issues including identity play, narrativity, formalism, surveillance and intellectual property.

Class time will be used for discussion of readings and works of net art, research-based presentations, field trips, production of art work and critique of student work.

Syllabus

Course Structure

The course is divided into three sequential sections:
+ Section One: General introduction to the history, theory and practice of net art. Students build personal web sites.
+ Section Two: Topics in net art. Students research the work of net artists, make in-class presentations and produce net art projects.
+ Section Three: Students produce final projects.

Course Requirements

+ Attend all scheduled class meetings
+ Attend all Art & Technology Lectures (see dates below) or view video streams online.
+ Complete required reading and online research before each class meeting
+ Post questions and/or comments for discussion prior to each scheduled class meeting
+ Participate in online and in-class discussions
+ Make an in-class presentation
+ Make a personal web site (or expand an existing site)
+ Complete two net art projects: one small project and a more ambitious final project

A Note on Technical Skills

The emphasis in this course is not on technical mastery but on understanding the Internet and its various protocols, platforms, and spaces as sites for artistic practice, and on finding intelligent and effective solutions to art-making problems.

Web development experience is not a prerequisite, but students will be expected to produce net-based work from the start. Some students may come to the course with extensive net-related skills, such as web design, Flash animation, PERL and PHP scripting, Java programming, database development, etc. Others may have limited skills and choose to spend substantial time developing them. But advanced net skills are not necessarily required in order to make advanced net art. Keith Obadike's Blackness for Sale and Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries' work are two examples of successful net art projects that make very limited use of net technologies. For students who are interested, we will offer workshops in various net-related skills (see workshops below).

Workshops

We plan to offer skills workshops in the following areas:

+ Intro to the Web: TCP/IP, DNS and web servers, HTTP, FTP, Telnet/SSH, HTML
+ Page Layout & Navigation using GoLive
+ Web Imaging using Photoshop
+ Flash 1: drawing and animation
+ Flash 2: ActionScript

If there's interest, we may also offer workshops in:
+ Scripting: PHP & PERL
+ Database design: MySQL
+ Java programming

Art and Technology Lectures

Additional information and video streams available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arts/dmc/docs/lectureseries.html

Attendance Policy

Attendance is required. Each student is allowed one unexcused absence. Absences will be excused due to:

1) unavoidable academic conflicts, such as mentor group;
2) serious medical conditions, with a letter from a doctor;
3) serious personal crises, such as the death of a family member;

Students with more than one unexcused absence will not pass the course.