MCS370.A
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TACTICS, MEDIA, & ART
Course Info
MCS370.A – Tactics, Media, & Art
MW 3:00 - 4:15pm Spring 2007
Ritter Center Rm. 149
Professor Gregory Scranton
Office: Ritter Rm. 119
Email: gscranton@ursinus.edu[1]
Overview
In an old joke from the defunct German Democratic Republic, a German worker gets a job in Siberia; aware of how all mail will be read by the censors, he tells his friends: "Let’s establish a code: if a letter you get from me is written in ordinary blue ink, it’s true; if it’s written in red ink, it’s false." After a month, his friends get the first letter, written in blue ink: "Everything is wonderful here: the shops are full, food is abundant, apartments are large and properly heated, cinemas show films from the West, there are many beautiful girls ready for an affair – the only thing you can’t get is red ink." (excerpt from “Welcome to the Desert of the Real” by Slavoj Zizek)
Somewhat akin to the Liar’s Paradox (“This statement is false” or “I am lying now”) the above text operates under a system of contradictions and deceptions. In this case we are privy to the coded signification of each ink color, thus enabling us to decipher the message. However, this may not always be the case, that is, knowing the conditions under which to operate or perceive a particular message, event, or choice.
“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” (Morpheus to Neo from The Matrix 1999)
In essence by enrolling in this course you have all chosen the red pill. It will be our goal to better understand why we perceive the way we do and how we may alter or change the perceptions of others through varying forms, mediums, and methodologies. Readings, writings, discussions, and practical exercises will be our portals through which to move and decode many of these perceptual mysteries.
Tactics, Media & Art will encompass a variety of different disciplines and will aim to weave together philosophy, art, politics, and new media. Within this complex network of intersecting genres we will uncover many of the founding concepts, developments, and cross pollinations to which the inter-disciplinary creation of what has come to be considered New Media Art can be attributed. Our journey of inquiry will begin with post-war 20th Century perceptual theory, move through modernism into post-modernism, and finish with contemporary “issue-oriented” new media art and theory. Our ultimate goal will be to identify the major historical movements in modern and contemporary art history, compare them with their prevailing cultural, socio-economic, and political climates, all the while examining the role that perception has played linking visual artists with revolutionary and political movements. While we will trace the trajectory of visual art in general, our focus will narrow over the course of the semester focusing specifically on tactical and/or media based works.
Texts
Assignments
Wiki Posts
- daily/weekly discussions stemming from the readings
Written Assignments
2 critical essays on specific readings and/or artists (5-7 pages)
Essay on Perception
(choose one)
Lemon and Honey
Aura and Simulation
Tactical Media Artists/Presentation & Paper
Using the artists' website as your primary resource you will present the major work(s) of the collective in a 10-15 minute presentation. Your presentation should include the following: artists involved (many of these collectives do not have individual names available, explain why you think this is so if it is the case) medium (again many are inter-disciplinary/hybrids), manifesto/objective of the collective and individual works, visual examples of the work.
click HERE for a list of artists
You will then be expected to write a 5-7 page critical essay on your chosen collective. This essay should address specific works by the artist(s), historical context/relevance, citations from any/all essays we've read thus far, as well as your personal critique of the work. However, unlike your first written assignment, this essay should not be written in the first person, in other words do not state your beliefs by writing "I think Critical Art Ensemble is a radical group..." but rather state it more formally as "Critical Art Ensemble is a radical group..." This will also help keep you from writing in a passive voice. This essay should therefore be written in a similar style to that of a research paper.
Presentations will occur during Week 10 (3/19 & 3/21) and the paper will be due in class on 4/2.
Collaboration
- 1 Intervention with accompanying video documentation of event and individual reaction paper (1-2 pages)
Final
- Intervention or Final Paper (7-10 pgs.)
The breakdown for the grading of these projects is as follows:
| Class Participation | 40% | (30% Discussion & Wiki / 10% Presentation) |
| Critical Essays | 20% | (10% x 2) |
| Intervention | 20% | (15% project / 5% reaction paper) |
| Final | 20% | (15% project / 5% reaction paper or 20% paper) |
College and Class Policies
Grading
Below are the standards by which you will be evaluated and graded in this course.
A 4.00
Represents achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.
B 3.00
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.
C 2.00
Represents achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect.
D 1.00
Represents achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements.
F 0.0
Represents failure (or no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an Incomplete.
College’s attendance policy
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In keeping with a strong liberal arts tradition that encourages active learning and complete participation in the education process, the college expects students to attend class. Specific attendance policies are set by individual instructors and indicated on the course syllabus at the beginning of each term. Warning slips will be issued by instructors for all students failing to meet the stated course attendance policies. Excessive absences by first year students and students on academic probation will be reported to the Dean’s office. Students may be dropped from a course with a grade of F for failing to meet the stated policy. |
If you are unable to attend a class session you must let me know at least one week in advance. You are allowed two unexcused absence without penalty. More than two unexcused absence could result in the lowering of your final grade by a third of a grade for each missed class. (e.g. upon a third unexcused absence an A would become an A-)
Please turn off your cell phones before class/lab begins. If you absolutely must take an emergency call please respect your peers and take it in the hall.
Inclement Weather
In the case of inclement weather please check your email to see if the college or I have written to inform you of a class cancellation but please assume that we will hold class as scheduled.
Schedule
This is a guide for the semester and should be used as such. I expect that you will be checking this page weekly if not daily as additional items will be added often. Please remain flexible with some of these dates as events will inevitably arise that require us to time shift the scheduled lesson plan for that particular day. Readings are to be completed for the class period immediately following the day in which they are assigned.
| Week | Monday | Wednesday |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 1/15 Introductions Syllabus Wiki Demo
| 1/17 Benjamin/Aura Deep Viewing Exercise @ Berman Museum
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| Week 2 | 1/22 Discuss wiki posts Merleau-Ponty/Phenomenology | 1/24 Perception cont. |
| Week 3 | 1/29 Modernism/Post-Modernism
| 1/31 Simulation/Hyper-realism/Disneyland |
| Week 4 | 2/5 Art/Activism | 2/7 Art/Activism cont. |
| Week 5 | 2/12 Battle of Algiers Chpts. 1-19 | 2/14 Battle of Algiers Chpts. 20-35 (CAA in New York City)
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| Week 6 | 2/19 Tactics/Strategies | 2/21 MEDIA Art/Activism |
| Week 7 | 2/26 Tactical Media Art | 2/28 Artists/Practitioners
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| Week 8 | 3/5 SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS | 3/7 SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS |
| Week 9 | 3/12 Choose Groups & Artists | 3/14 Artists Not Chosen |
| Week 10 | 3/19 Group 1 Presentations | 3/21 Group 2 Presentations |
| Week 11 | 3/26 Discuss Intervention | 3/28 Present Intervention Sketches
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| Week 12 | 4/2 Presentation Essay Due Making Change | 4/4 The Yes Men screening
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| Week 13 | 4/9 Alternative Media | 4/11
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| Week 14 | 4/16
Intervention Critique
| 4/18 COSA - NO CLASS
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| Week 15 | 4/23 Flexible/Mobile/Wireless | 4/25 TBD
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| COSA MAKEUP | 4/30 Intervention/Essay | x |
| Final Exam | 5/10 9 - 12pm | x |
Wiki Discussion Posts
Click on the "Discussion" tab at the top of this page or click HERE
Course Links
Tactical Media Practitioners
Brown, Brandon
Canas, Lauren
Chou, Felicia
Gonzalez, Sonia
Hammerman, Adam
Quinn, Caitlin
Repko, Jayson
Schulz, Christopher
Tracz, Alexandra
Wasserkrug, Joseph
