ART HISTORY 3512 | New Media Earthworks • Sticks,
Stones, Bits, Bytes
Instructor • Tiffany Holmes • MI 608 • Tuesdays
1-4pm
class 1 | September 5, 2006
topic: New Media Earthworks: History and Context, 1806—2006
screenings for class and to view on your own:
- Christo
and Jean Claude, Surrounded Islands, Miami, FL, 1980-83
- Aziz + Cucher (Synaptic
Bliss-Villette)
- offshore (neuroTransmitter's
experimental radio practice)
- Wolfgang Laib, Pollen
from Pine, (1999)
- Jim Sanborn, Coastline
(1993), NOAA, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
- Betsy Damon, The
Living Water Garden, (1998), Chengdu, China
- Robert Irwin, Central
Garden, J. Paul Getty Museum (1992-present), "Concert
of Wills" portion screened, LA, CA, USA
- Sustainable,
Performance Art Bot, ASU (2006)
- Arts Catalyst (1993), art
and space, extreme environments, London, UK
- Char Davies, VR projects
- art and microscopy (http://eyeofscience.de/eos2/index2.html)
- Marius Watz: Universal Digest Machine, Installation. Java,
MySQL (2006)
- Jonah Brucker-Cohen, H2O/IP,
2002
field trip: Art Institute of Chicago
----------------------------
class 2 | September 12, 2006
topic: Earthworks and land art: 1960-1975
screenings for class and to view on your own:
- Robert Smithson, Tar Pool and Gravel Pit (1966, Philadelphia)
- Robert Smithson, Non-sites (1966-69)
- Robert Smithson, Asphalt Rundown (1969)
- Robert Wilson, Poles (1967-1968)
- Richard Long
- Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels, (1973-76)
- October 1968 exhibition "Earth Works" at the Dwan
Gallery in New York
- Hans Haacke, Grass Grows, in Cornell University's 1969 "Earth
Art" exhibit
- Michael Heizer, Double Negative (1969-1970)
- James Turrell, Art 21 video screening
- Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty (1970)
- Walter de Maria, Lightning Field (1974-1977)
- Newton Harrison, Making Earth (1970)-performance
- Joseph Beuys, Eine Aktion im Moor (Bog Action) (1971)-performance
-
extreme trees by Arborsmith Studios
- - Andy Goldsworthy, excerpt, Rivers and Tides, directed by
German filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer, DVD released 2004.
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Rachel Carson. "A fable for tomorrow," Silent Spring.
Riverside Press, 1962. Click
to read ONLINE exerpt.
Gary Kroll's Rachel
Carson's Silent Spring :A Brief History of Ecology as a Subversive
Subject. (online essay)
2-"Discussions with Heizer, Oppenhim, Smithson."
The Writings of Robert Smithson, edited by Jack Flann, University
of California Press, 1996, p.242-252.
3-Robert Smithson interview with Alison Sky, "Entropy
Made Visible." The Writings of Robert Smithson, edited
by Jack Flann, University of California Press, 1996, p.301-309.
Available
online here.
4-Online Wired Magazine article, "Carbon
Killers" from "Six Trends Driving the Global Economy"
----------------------------
class 3 | September 19, 2006
topic: Performance, Activism, and Geography
artists/activists:
- greenpeace.org (1971)
- Christo
and Jean Claude, Running Fence, CA, 1972-76
- Ana Mendieta performances
- earthfirst!
activist group (1979) and julia "butterfly" hill (CA,
USA)
-
flying spy potatoes
- Buster Simpson, Hudson
River Purge (1991)
- Thames
& Hudson Rivers Project: Marie Jose Burki, Constance
De Jong, Roni Horn, London, UK
- Trebor Sholz, 24
dollar island (2004), NYC, USA
- Site-sight
Jean Grant
- Matthew Ngu, Timbre,
(proposed for 2006, Switzerland)
- WALKING AS KNOWING AS MAKING, symposium,
(2006) U of I, Urbana-Champaign.
- Mary Miss's temporary memorials, Moving
Perimeter
- center for land use interpretation, project
page
- Hamish Fulton, walking projects + GrimsDitch,
- Borneo
Project (1991-present)
- Confluence
latitude/longitude mapping (1996-present)
- Jeremy Wood and Hugh Pryor, GPS
drawing , (circa 2000), Wired
Magazine
-
Hello/World project,Geneve, Switzerland (2003), Wired
Magazine
- Nina Katchadourian, Steven Matheson and Mark Tribe, car
park (1994), USA
- Esther Polak, Ieva Auzina und RIXC - (Latvia/Netherlands),
MILKproject.
- Layla
Curtis, Message in a Bottle, UK, (2004)
- one-pixel
boston performance mapping, steven holloway (2006)
- Nils Norman, Geocruiser
(2001)
- theyrule.net
(2004) and thisisthepublicdomain.org
(2003)
- Golan Levin, Axis Applet, Whitney
CodeDoc, 2002
- howstuffismade
project (UCSD)
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1- Reading Patricia
Watt's online article "Ecoartists: Engaging Communities
in a New Metaphor"
2- Lucy Lippard, "On and Off the Map," Chapter 7 in
Lure of the Local, the New Press, 1997, p.75-82.
3- Robert Smithson, Cultural Confinement, The Writings of Robert
Smithson, edited by Jack Flann, University of California Press,
1996, p.154-156. Available
online here.
4- Miwon Kwon, "From Site to Community in New Genre Public
Art, the case of "culture in action." One Place After
Another, Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, MIT Press,
2002, p. 100-137.
***position paper #1 due
----------------------------
class 4 | September 26, 2006
topic: Site-specific eco-art with a Chicago focus
artists and scientists working on ideas of sustainable home
bases:
- andrea zittel
- Biosphere II
- Roxy Paine's artificial
tree in Central Park, Bluff, 2002
- jackie brookner's biosculptures (http://jackiebrookner.net/biosculpture.htm)
- Jenny
Marketou (translocal), etc.
- Wandle-powered
St Joseph's school, (1993) from Platform
London, Jane Trowell and James Marriott (art with renewable
sources of energy)
chicago-specific:
- community gardens + art, South
Chicago Art Center
- Dan Peterman, Experimental Station
- Christo
and Jean Claude, Museum of Contemporary Art Wrapped,
1968-69
- Michael
Rodemer, About now in Chicago; about here, now, (1996)
- Frances Whitehead, Maps in the Garden (2004), article
field trip: TBA, Chicago
Center for Green Technology
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Cronin, William. Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great
West, WW Norton, 1991, p.5-19.
2-photo essay due, upload to SAIC portal (click TEMPLATES
for more information)
3- Downtime at the Experimental Station: A conversation with
Dan Peterman, By Dan S. Wang, click
to download online PDF
----------------------------
class 5 | October 3, 2006
topic: Live Animals in Art/Design: Clones, Capitalism, Biodiversity
artists:
- Joseph Beuys, Coyote. I Like America and America Likes Me
(1974)
- Henrik Håkansson, Let
Love In, (1998) and The
Monster of Rock Tour (1995)
-
Theo Jansen's plastic wind-walking animals
- myBio dolls + utility pets by Elio
Caccavale
- Colin Ives, webcam projects with suburban/urban dwellers
- Breeding
silkmoths to fly, Tera Galanti (1997-present)
- Sommerer/Mignonneau, A-Volve,
1993 – 1994
- Ken
Rinaldo, Delicate Balance, 2000.
- Karl
Simms, Galapagos, 1997
- Eduardo Kac, transgenic
works.
- Amy Wilson, projects
- Natalie Jeremijenko, OOZ,
2004, and other projects
- Paul Vanouse, Relative
Velocity Inscription Device (2002)
- Symbiotica in
Perth, AU
- Paro, the Mental Commitment Robot
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Critical Art Ensemble, "Transgenic
Accidents", Molecular Invasion, p.1-18.
2-Guardian article, "Faking
Babies," May 19, 2006
WorldChanging
Blog on Utility Pets and myBio dolls
3-David Garcia & Geert Lovink, online manifesto, The
ABC of Tactical Media.
***Photo essay due
----------------------------
class 6 | October 10, 2006
topic: Grow Green: Biotechnology, Plants, and Art
screenings for class and to view on your own:
- Joseph Beuys, 7,000 Oaks, "Documenta 7" (1982)
- Mateusz
Herczka, Life Support Systems - Vanda,(2004)
- Thomas Isler (Vietnam - Transgenic)
- Natalie Jereminjinko, One
Tree(2000-2003)
- Heather
Ackroyd and Dan Harvey (wearables + grass portraits)
- Laura Stein, Smile
Tomato, (1996)
- Laura Cinti, Cactus
Project, (2002-)
- Claire Pentecost, art
and writing
- Natalie Jeremijenko, One
Trees, (2000)
- Amy Franceschini, Photosynthesis
(2003) and DIY
Algae/Hydrogen Kit (2004)
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Shana Ting Lipton,
Ackroyd and Harvey, Wraparound Magazine (2003). ONLINE.
2-Critical Art Ensemble, "Introduction, Contestational
Biology" and "Chapter 2 The Promissory Rhetoric of
Biotechnology in the Public Sphere." Both
chapters are DOWNLOADABLE PDFs linked here.
----------------------------
class 7 | October 17, 2006
topic: Biodiversity, Reclamation + Recycling as Art
screenings for class and to view on your own:
- Lynne
Hull's Bird Barge (current proposal) + Scatter, hydroglyph,
carved sandstone.(1987), near Moab, Utah.
-Laurie
Lundquist's Skysweeper, 1989
- Henrik Håkansson, A
Thousand Leaves, 2000, Helsinki, Finland and The
Thin Line, (2000)
- Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison, Lagoon cycles
- Patricia
Johanson, habitat architecture projects, Read in Ecovention
online.
- seen:unseen (UK), collaboration
- Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Artist-In-Residence NYC Sanitation
Department
- Mel Chin, Revival Field (1990-), PBS
interview+video
- Noel Harding, Elevated
Wetlands (2000)
- Steve Bradley, ecopractice
- Shigeru Ban, Nomadic
Museum (2004)
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Robert C. Morgan, "Touch
Sanitation: Mierle Laderman Ukeles," online, originally
published in High Performance magazine, 1982.
2-Betty Beaumont, "Culture, Nature, Catalyst" in Grande,
John K., Art Nature Dialogues: Interviews with Environmental
Artists. State University of New York Press, 2004, p. 151-163.
3-Skim through Chicago
Recycling Coalition website online
4-ONLINE article Laurie Cohen and Dan Mihalopoulos, "City
Cooks Blue Bag Books," Chicago Tribune, March 20, 2006.
5-ONLINE article, Chrissie
Orr, Catching Magic in the Los Padillas Water Catchment Project
***position paper #2 due
----------------------------
class 8 | October 24, 2006
topic: Eco-visualization: Promoting sustainability through
creative information visualization
screenings for class and to view on your own:
- Hans Haake, Rhinewater
Purification Plant, (1972)
- Laurie
Lundquist's Marina Water Muse, 2004 (Tempe Town
Lake, Arizona)
- Stéphan Barron, Ozone
and Le bleu du ciel, (circa 1996)
- Brandon Ballengée and Dr. Stanley K., Pacific
Treefrog, 2001
- Natalie Jerimijenko, Stump (circa 2000)
- Biodiversity and art: plant
anima and
Michael Chang
- Oberlin College's Dorm
Energy Competition (2004-05)
- Philip Phelan, Snobby Toaster and other CO2nvert
products (circa 2000)
- Fionnuala Conway and Katherine Moriwaki, wearables, Urban
Chameleon, 2003
- Michael Mandiberg's Oil
Standard (2006)
- Andrea Polli, sonification projects
- Sabrina Raaf, Grower,
(2004)
- Tiffany Holmes, Floating
Point (2004)
- Beatriz da Costa, Pigeon
blog and AIR collaboration (2006)
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Natalie Jeremijenko,
"A Future-Proofed Power Meter" published summer
2001 in Whole Earth
2-Holmes' article in progress, New Media Earthworks: History
and Future of Environmental Art. I will post this temporarily
online in the portal
3-final project proposals due.
----------------------------
class 9 | October 31, 2006
topic: Art meets Science: Case Studies of Artists and Scientists
Collaborating. Does it work? Do the collaborations result in
art or science or neither?
screenings for class and to view on your own:
- Science magazine's 2004
VISUALIZATION CHALLENGE, winners
- William Devenport, Ideal
flow machine, (1998)
- ETHZ
Colab current research
- NCSA
tornado visualizations, press
release, (2006)
- NCSA CAVE
real-time data visualization, Chesapeake Bay (2002)
- Xerox Parc Artist-In-Residency program, CA, USA
-
Artists-In-Labs project, Switzerland, (2004)
-
Makrolab (1999-2007), mobile
- Arts Catalyst (1993), art
and space, extreme environments, London, UK
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics (2002 for english
translation by Pleasance and Woods), p.11-24.
MIDTERM QUIZ
----------------------------
class 10 | November 7, 2006 | Holmes in Zurich
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
-work on final projects (edit proposal)
----------------------------
class 11 | November 14, 2006
topic: Art and sustainability: can art really change behavior?
background: psychologist Stanley Milgram (article)
case study 1: Patricia Johanson and the Fair Park Lagoon (now
known as Leonhardt Lagoon).
case study 2: Peter Fend and the Three Gorges Dam conflict
**student presentations (5)
assignments to be completed PRIOR to class meeting:
1-Peter Fend: China Basin Plans: The River Dragon Breathes
Fire, and Stephanie Smith's overview of project in Ecologies
(2001), p.69-84.
2-Diane Ward, "Raging Rivers, Living in Floodplains,"
in Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst.
Riverhead Books, 2002, p.184-186.
event: Art and sustainability panel, 7:30pm, Jefferson Tap
and Grill (west loop)
----------------------------
class 12 | November 21, 2006
• no class work on final research project
• individual meetings with instructor in office, MI-405,
time TBA
----------------------------
class 13 | November 28, 2006
topic: student final presentations (final)
----------------------------
no class | December 5, 2006
• critique week December 4-8, no class meeting
----------------------------
class 14 | December 12, 2006
topic: student final presentations (final)
Course Evaluations
