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::: SPRING 2005
::: ART 388
::: ADVANCED ART ON THE INTERNET

::: Mon & Wed 4:30pm - 6:20pm ::: 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

CHRZANOWSKI, KATE | chrka1

DINH, THUY | tdinh2

KATZ, HEATHER | hkatz1

KLINK, JAMES | james3

LINEHAN, CARA | linehan1

MERCADO, FELIX | fmerca1

ROYER, JOHN | johnroy1

SCHULTZ, GRETCHEN | gretch1

SHER, ROWAN | rsher1

YEUNG, ANNA | ay1

YOUSSEF, JASMINE | jasmine1

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

WEEK Date Description
Assignments
1 Mon, Jan 31
Wed, Feb 02
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 Mon Feb 07
Wed, Feb 09
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 Feb 14th.

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

3 Mon, Feb 14
Wed, Feb 16
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 Feb 21st
4 Mon, Feb 21
Wed, Feb 23
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 Feb 28th

5 Mon, Feb 28
Wed, Mar 02
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 Mar 07th

6 Mon, Mar 07
Wed, Mar 09
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, Mar 14
Wed, Mar 16
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 Mar 28th

8 Mon, Mar 21
Wed, Mar 23
SPRING BREAK
9 Mon, Mar 28
Wed, Mar 30
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 Apr 11th
10 Mon, Apr 04
Wed, Apr 06
DHTML applications. Javascript. Form verification via JS.
Memory Project Workshop

11 Mon, Apr 11
Wed, Apr 13
Memory Project Critique
Server side programming / includes. SECURITY ISSUES on the Server. Handling of information via PHP -
12 Mon, Apr 18
Wed, Apr 20
PHP Syntax and examples, $_GET and $_POST. PHP 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 Apr 25th
13 Mon, Apr 25
Wed, Apr 27
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 May 09th
14 Mon, May 02
Wed, May 04
PHP Structure, templates, organization.
Community Project Workshop.

15 Mon, May 09
Wed, May 11
Community Project Presentation
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.
16 Mon, May 16
Wed, May 18
Final project workshop
17 Mon, May 23
FINAL PROJECTS





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