This course consists of a series of three workshops, which explore contemporary positions in Communication Design, taught by specialists / working professionals from industry. Each workshop is 5 weeks long and examines a specific topic in detail. Topics include (but are not limited to) type in space; digital typography and prototyping; and design systems. Further details of the individual workshops will be posted soon. Students are expected to engage in all three workshops and must be present for the duration of the semester.

How would we use technology to imagine new ways of preserving potatoes? Or, if the spicy chili pepper goes extinct, how would technology remind us of the textures and tastes of a Sichuanese hotpot kitchen? Could you even imagine tacos in a world without corn? Immigrant Food Futures, a unifying evolution of gastronomy, aims to bring together cultural perspectives of how we can prototype new ideas behind the way we produce, package, transport, plate, cook, consume and dispose of food. In this course, students will understand the context and realities of immigrants and their food in the United States. Students will learn from topics like agriculture, farmers knowledge, climate change and the current political environment. Students will put into practice expressive points of view about the past, present and future of society in relation to food. In this course, students will be given short readings, podcasts, articles, documentaries and recipes as weekly assignments. There will be discussions, guest lectures, off-site cooking workshops and constant critique to inspire student concepts while improving their technical skills and design practice. Students will be expected to work on prototyping, development and deployment of their concepts.

What can a machine be beyond a rigid construction of minerals and metal? Traditional computation, industrial machines, cybernetics, and algorithms are all modeled on “dry” mechanisms expressed in the binary bit, the electrical on-off signal, and the grinding cog. Can a machine instead be a fluid and ecologically engaged entity, modeled from or connected directly to a living network? Inspired by the versatility of living forms found in nature, this course seeks to create sensitive, flexible, and sustainable machines. We will look at how machines can derive energy from renewable “clean” energy sources and focus on key properties such as growth, symbiosis, adaptation, self-organization, and decomposition. Through experimentation and hands-on workshops, students will research novel approaches to machine-making: soil, solar and wind-powered machines, machines that listen and talk to plants, fungi, and bacteria, wet and squishy circuits, and biologically-inspired forms. Practical skills covered will include: basic electronics and prototyping, computer programming and physical computing, mold-making, introductory soft robotics and biosensors, and fundamental biological techniques. Finally, students will become familiar with diverse practitioners (designers, artists, scientists, roboticists, etc.) operating at the forefront of biohybrid, biomimetic, and biologically-inspired machines. This is a making-focused and experimentally-based course. Students will personally choose and explore a subcategory of wet, soft, or biohybrid machines, culminating in a final machine design and fabrication. Final projects will be presented in a public group exhibition, demo, and research symposium.

How can something look political? How can something look feminist? How does propaganda create its audience? In this class we will examine aesthetic choices for their political meanings. We will deconstruct cultural artifacts including animated propaganda, advertising, feminist video, avant-garde film, and internet memes to discover tactics and concepts relating to their explicit or implicit politics, including labor & collaboration, technofuturism, anonymity, and handmade art & aura of authenticity. The course will be run like a lab—with students experimenting and producing projects at a fairly quick pace. Emphasis will be on critical engagement with ideas; we will read a variety of artist essays and philosophical manifestos relating to the politics of aesthetics including works by Marlon Riggs, Linda Nochlin, André Breton, Mira Schor, and Naomi Klein. Alongside studio projects, students will write short artists statements explicating (or obscuring) their aesthetic decisions.

“What if, rather than having no sense of a different future, we decided history hadn’t actually begun?” Aaron Bastani The effect of automation on labor is a central concern of our time; the fear of robots taking over our jobs inundate the media and threaten our survival as workers. Both classical and radical economics have recognized capitalism’s propensity to replace labor with machines. Theorists such as Peter Frase and Aaron Bastani have provided contemporary projections of post-work societies. Many others predict that there will never be a post-work future with the need for the reproductive work of maintaining the machines, and individuals. This course is about imagining the future of workers, when work itself ceases to exist. It is not about predicting what is to come with the extremity of automation, but about interrogating the ‘what if’. What are the values and belief systems in a post-work landscape? How are pleasure and leisure transformed? What will happen to social and biological reproduction? How will a post-work existence affect the relationship between humans, machines and environments? In this class, we will examine key cultural expressions of post-work societies in film, theory, and architecture, and attempt to narrate a new history of the world with the eradication of work as its genesis. Reading discussions, writing exercises, and prototyping will culminate in a final individual or group project which are critical, and yet ‘utopian’ in nature – a self-reflexive look at post-work futures that escape our current fears and anxieties of automation.

The efficacy of an artwork often depends on the successful transmission of an emotion, sensation, or idea between artist and audience. The same goes for the efficacy of artistic documentation. In this course, students will learn about experimental methods of documenting their artwork, ranging from physical objects to performances. What elements of an artwork should be documented? How do we preserve ephemeral artworks? Can documentation be an artwork in itself? How do we document artworks in non-visual ways? How does an artist’s intent inform a project’s documentation? This course will examine the role of memory in art by focusing on the importance of documentation throughout art practice. Students will learn about the role artistic documentation plays in the preservation of culture. Students will also learn how to document ideation processes, basic photography and lighting skills, audio documentation, creative mapping, and documentation methods for public space. In addition, students will learn how to express narrative through both visual and non-visual sensory methods as it applies to their own artistic practice.

Motion capture (mo-cap) is the technique of recording patterns of movement digitally. Mo-cap is used heavily in filmmaking, animation, video games, as well as other digital media, as it allows real-life movement to be used to animate a 3D model, perform position-tracking for large-scale VR, and more. This studio will briefly cover the history of mocap as well as the precedents in performance and movement-based arts. Projects will be concept-based, exploring technological affordances as well as artistic principles. By taking this course, you will learn how to use the professional motion capture equipment on D12 and how the resulting data can be used within Unity. Familiarity with Unity and a 3D animation program (Maya, Blender, Cinema 4D, etc) is strongly recommended. Use of other tools to manipulate and transform the data is encouraged but not required.

This course will introduce students to the subject of machine learning and its applications in the field of design, particularly for creating interactive web applications that enable the semantic exploration of datasets. Students will gain a top-level understanding of the history and current state of machine learning, as well as an understanding of the frontiers of data organization for image, text, and audio. Additionally, this course will explore the philosophical and moral implications of emerging machine learning technologies and their impact on society at large. Valid outcomes from the course may be tools, products, or art, and may focus on practical or conceptual/critical applications. This is a hands on technical course using Python, Javascript, HTML, and CSS. Students will be expected to keep up with the technical demands independently.