This course investigates the potential of coding as a form of self-expression. The dominant forms of computationally-driven digital media operate by defining our identities for us and mining our selves as data. This course seeks to evaluate and experiment with the potential of code and the interface as media for self-definition and artistic practice. Artists and writers throughout history have explored the means by which their art forms construct, deconstruct, subvert and disseminate individual and group identities. Through readings, discussions, writing and project-building we will explore how code, the interface and the Internet create engines, visions and networks of the self and selves. Readings will engage a variety of creative and critical perspectives on representations of the self and identity from contemporary poetry, fiction, history, critical theory, and visual art. We will study how writers and visual artists harness their chosen forms to represent and imagine individual, lived and collective experience. We will read critical texts that situate the "I" within computational media, and examine how data and computation drive our culture, and by extension our sense of self. The central question of this class we be: what does it mean to have a voice as a writer of code? How can a program or application express and include new perspectives and point-of-views through its programming, data architecture and visual design? All acts of coding reflect the assumptions, biases, experience and ideologies of the coder on some level, often leading to outcomes that are termed unconscious, unintended or unexpected. This class will seek to bring these biases and ideologies to the direct and conscious level, and collectively develop approaches for building more inclusive and polyvocal forms of code, data, visual and interactive experience. The basics of code will be introduced through Processing/P5js and we will embark on projects that speculate on, represent, express and imagine the possibilities of coding new voices and perspectives.

Are you a designer? Then you have to know how to make great videos! From Google to IDEO, video documentation and evaluation became the standard practice throughout their design projects. It is extremely crucial for the creative persons to utilize videos and filmmaking in their creative process from the ideation, iteration, experimentation to presentation. Students will learn how to use videos as a TOOL to help elevate a simple idea into a successful project. They will experiment with various types of creative videos such as video sketches, video prototype, video documentation to a pitching video. It will be scrappy, fast pace with hacks and short-cuts that get the students into making great videos. The class will cover the essentials and fundamentals of filmmaking, then introduce you to the more advanced cinematic techniques and storytelling. All levels are welcome, 99% making, in class demos and professional guest lectures.

Through a close historical analysis of branding systems, set design, fashion, language and character construction, students will investigate the manner in which Black and African-American identities appear in popular film, television and music. We will compare the visual complexities surrounding cultural representations in shows such as: The Jeffersons, A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Insecure and Lovecraft Country, while also identifying their significance in mainstream culture. We will unpack the ways popular media can guide our visual and material choices and provide a basis for our conceptual thinking and social critique in relation to people, places and objects. In this hands-on-studio course, students will investigate the history of imagery, typography, color and pattern displayed in Black visual culture. Students will be encouraged to develop work across media and explore new tools, methods, and techniques in the creation of digital and print-based responses. As we proceed throughout the semester, we will explore the following questions: What are the photographic and illustrative depictions of Blackness? What is African American vernacular? What are the differences in sitcoms versus serious dramas? How can sound be used to reinforce aspects of representation? What is our understanding of Black identities?

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..

This class will look at emergent systems both in research and applications, covering cellular automata, artificial life, and simulations. We will examine how emergent behaviour relates to games and machine learning as well as the natural world. Using examples like pandemics in World of Warcraft, Conway's Game of Life, and Ian Cheng's live simulations, we will model our own agents and examine their behavior in game engines and other platforms.

Can artists and designers use technology to simulate life? Through software, can we capture and re-create the unpredictable and emergent properties of the living world — it’s structures, dynamics, colors, patterns, and textures? Algorithms describe the mathematical principles governing our physical world, while also allowing us to imagine and build parallel digital worlds. This class centers around the idea of using computational tools to digitally “sketch” and animate lifeforms and ecosystems. Students will combine traditional methods such as photography and found footage with novel techniques such as photogrammetry and machine learning to generate a unique personal archive of natural textures, shapes, and patterns. Using AfterEffects, students will learn how to animate their personal archive with organic motion graphics, focusing on effects such as noise, turbulence, and particle systems. Through coding tutorials students will study the “algorithmic beauty” of various natural phenomena (plant growth, shell structures, animal behaviors, etc.) and learn basic programming strategies behind computer simulations of natural systems. Programming topics covered will include vector-based movement, genetic algorithms, and cellular automata. Finally, through a series of guest lectures, students will become familiar with diverse practitioners (designers, artists, creative technologists, etc.) exploring the forefront of artificial life, bio-simulation, as well as the aesthetics and poetics of algorithmic media. This is a hands on technical course that will introduce a broad range of digital tools, including AfterEffects, Runway ML, Houdini and Processing/p5.js. A general familiarity with 2D animation or code is encouraged, but not required. No specific software prerequisite is required.

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..