LINA
2040

The Art of Information

Eugene Lang College Lib Arts: The Arts

The Art of Information
Spring 2019
Taught By: Tyler Coburn
Section: AX

Course Reference Number: 7150

Credits: 4

This course investigates how various arts fields engage the subject of information, from visual art and sound to dance and performance. We will spend our first weeks surveying definitions and histories of information, from pre-electronic forms of communication to the earliest models of the computer age. For the rest of the semester, we move from the 1960s to the present, studying the “administrative” aesthetics of conceptual artists; the rise of data visualization and design, exemplified by Edward Tufte; experiments with technology and choreography, from dancers like Merce Cunningham; experimental writing by Kenneth Goldsmith, which co-opts data protocols; and current debates around information privacy, as explored in film and sound by Laura Poitras and Lawrence Abu Hamdan. This class involves both scholarly and practice-based assignments, enabling students to work in art, design, writing, sound, and performance as they creatively and intellectually respond to the challenges of our informational age.

College: Eugene Lang College Lib Arts (LC)

Department: The Arts (LARS)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Seminar (R)

Max Enrollment: 18