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::: FALL 2004
::: ART 388
::: ADVANCED ART ON THE INTERNET

::: Mon & Wed 10:30am - 12:20pm ::: FA 112 ::: SANTIAGO ECHEVERRY


Course Objectives

This class will address the history and culture of the Internet and explore the World Wide Web as an artists' domain for publication and expressive creation. Special emphasis will be placed upon defining the differences between client side and server side creations, and how these affect the content that can be provided by an artist. It will also emphasize on the evolution of multimedia into hypermedia, through the usage of client/server tools, web services and programming languages.

Readings / Requirements

Update permanently your website on the UMBC Server with every single project you create.

Readings will be distributed throughout the semester. Critiques will frequently be initiated from various topics covered in the readings. In order to participate effectively you will need to have read the required texts and be able to articulate your responses to them within the context of class discussion and critique.

Get your own USB mini storage card, such as SanDisks, memorysticks or others, get one that will be at least 256 MB. Students must have plenty of CD-R blank cds in order to store and transfer files. You can also use your own portable hard-drives or iPods, in case you have any.

You are also welcome to use your own laptops, please bring them to every class. Make sure you have an ethernet cable to connect to the network.

No email or chatting will be allowed during our sessions. All the cell phones should be silenced. NO EATING or DRINKING in the labs will be tolerated, unless it is required by a medical prescription.

No animals, persons or yourselves will be harmed during the production of your assignments and final project. Nothing can justify harming physically or psychologically a living creature - including yourselves. You are responsible for the respect of other students, and I count on your integrity for this.

Participation

A class is a multiway form of communication. I might be there as a teacher, but you are also there to make others understand, including me, other points of view. I am very open to a lot of proposals, and NO CENSORSHIP OR DISCRIMINATION will be tolerated or promoted. Consider the class as a brainstorming session. And please contact me during office hours, or send me an email, or give me a phone call so we can solve any problem before the class.

Grading

There will be several mini projects throughout the course, including papers, miniprojects, and others. Each one of them will be a part of the final 60% of the grading. If necessary I will do some pop quizes, depending on the students' participation and motivation, and depending on how certain classes work, I might add an extra work not listed in the syllabus. The final project will be 40% of the grade.

Attendance

NO EXCUSES, more than 4 absences you will have the chance to withdraw the class - if allowed by the academic calendar - or you will get an F.
I really consider that punctuality and assistance are the most important parts of a class. If you miss a class, you will never be able to experience that class again. I use the word "experience" because not all the information given during the class can be put in paper, or even videotaped. Classes are a question of communication, and communication implies many different ways of exchanging information, the feeling, the laughters, the collective experience... An absence for any reason is an absence. It is your responsibility to initiate and maintain communication with me in case of an unusual circumstance."



Students

ARAFILES, VICTOR | vic1

ARAVANIS, GEOFFREY | ag2

BROOKS, KYLE | brooks4

IANNACCI, ANTHONY | ant1

LIT, WAI | wlit2

MAESER, JASON | jmaeser1

MOONEY, MICHAEL | smooney1

PALENCIA, ANNE | apa1

PEREGRINA, EDWIN | epereg1

POTOTSCHNIK, JOSEPH | jpotot1

TA, JERRY | jerryta1

TURTON, ANN | annt1


GRADING TABLE
A 100 > 90
B 89 > 75
C 74 > 55
D 54 > 40
F 39 > ...

WEEK Date Description
Assignments
1 Wed, Sep 01 Introduction - Syllabus, goals of the class, required readings, general presentation of the students. Evolution of electronic elements in their sociopolitical environment: Century of Lights, Industrial Revolution, XXth Century. Telegraph, Telephone, Wireless CB, Radio, and Television. Readings:
History of the Internet, Internet for Historians
Personal computer milestones
Rachel Greene | INTERNET ART
2 Wed, Sep 08 VACUUM TUBES, ENIAC, From analog to digital. 1/0 . BIT/BYTE. Transistors. The first computers.. ASCII Art. History of the web from cold war paranoia to homeland security. Arpanet, Evolution of the web. Definition of CLIENT/ SERVER side. Applications and examples. TEXT as the base for all Internet creation. SSH, SFTP, FUGU, Fetch, FTP. Basic HTML, structure, theory, open source. More Basic HTML, definitions, syntax, examples, text coding, browser particularities. CSS: Fonts, sizes, colors. Images.

Digital ASCII art: each student has to present 3 pieces of digital ASCII art, both printed and on their website. Due Monday Sep 13th.

Explore:
http://www.w3schools.com
http://www.asciimation.co.nz/
http://www.chris.org/ascii
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/

3 Mon, Sep 13
Wed, Sep 15
Digital Ascii Art Critique
Advanced HTML: display of information, CSS, font control

Explore:
Cascading Style Sheets
http://academ.hvcc.edu/~kantopet/css/index.php

Using strict XHTML+CSS, transform your original digital ascii creations into interactive css creations, or if you prefer, you can create at least 3 new ascii projects
Due Monday Sep 20th
4 Mon, Sep 20
Wed, Sep 22
Digital Ascii Art to CSS Critique
Divisions, tables, images, transparent gifs, absolute and relative positioning

Visual Poem Project: transform your favorite poem/text ( at least 20 lines ) into a visual html project, using basic CSS, images, tables, fonts, colors
Due Monday Sep 27th

5 Mon, Sep 27
Wed, Sep 29
Visual Poem Critique
Advanced HTML: Iframes/frames. Advantages and disadvantages. Embedding Applets, SWF, DCR, QT movs. Sounds and animation.

Explore:
www.wired.com/animation

Using XHTML/CSS and any editor of your choice, create your own extended family tree, using frames, images, sounds, animations. You will show all the relations between the different members of your extended family. embed at least one applet ( dcr, swf, mov... ) . Due Monday Oct 04th

6 Mon, Oct 04
Wed, Oct 06
Extended Family Tree Project Critique
XHTML DTDs, examples, definition, design, pre-production. Applied XHTML

Explore:
www.rhizome.org
www.whitney.org/artport
www.artmuseum.net
www.moma.org
www.zkm.de
www.aec.at/en/index.asp
http://plexus.org/

7 Mon, Oct 11
Wed, Oct 13
Client side programming for the web. Javascript: DHTML

Explore:
http://devguru.com/home.asp

Create a mini site that will explore the possibilties of Dynamic HTML, rollovers, motion, alteration of content, resizing, randomness, etc... - Open topic. HAVE FUN!
Due Monday Oct 18th

8 Mon, Oct 18
Wed, Oct 20
DHTML Project Critique
Javascript. notions of variables, functions, usage, examples: form verifications, random images, time and date. DHTML

Reading:
I of the Vortex, Rodolfo Llinás

Based on Llinás's reading, create a minisite exploring the links between the web and our own memory creation process, such as a quiz or a memory game, using DHTML, XHTML and Javascript
Due Monday Nov 1st
9 Mon, Oct 25
Wed, Oct 27
DHTML applications. Javascript. Form verification via JS.
Memory Project Workshop

10 Mon, Nov 01
Wed, Nov 03
Memory Project Critique
Server side programming / includes. SECURITY ISSUES on the Server. Handling of information via PHP -

11 Mon, Nov 08
Wed, Nov 10
PHP Syntax and examples, $_GET and $_POSTPHP exercises 1, hidden buttons in forms, dynamic display. PHP and Databases, Understanding DBs, example of tab delimited text db.

Explore:
www.php.net

1) Activate a webmail form in your website.

2) Create your own personal BLOG. Use it!

Due Monday Nov 15th
12 Mon, Nov 15
Wed, Nov 17
Blog / Email presentation
PHP Syntax and examples

Community project: create a mini site where a specific target community will be able to exchange information about any given topic of their interest, using XHTML, JS and PHP.
Due Monday Nov 29th
13 Mon, Nov 22
Wed, Nov 24
PHP Structure, templates, organization.
Community Project Workshop.

14 Mon, Nov 29
Wed, Dec 01
Dynamic PHP, web services, XML, wireless connectivity, real interactivity, DataBases.

Explore:
www.phpclasses.org
www.microsoft.com/net/


Public presentation of Final project ideas with timeline and workflow, open topic. The Final project must be a server side based website, including XHTML, DHTML, Javascript, PHP/MySQL. Open topic! NO PORTFOLIOS.
15 Mon, Dec 06
Wed, Dec 08
Final project workshop
16 Mon, Dec 13
ADVISING
17 Mon, Dec 20
FINAL PROJECTS





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