Summary of the proposed course:
This course is intended to explore the increasing role of the computer in the creation, production, distribution, and consumption of all the arts. For the purposes of this proposal, the terms "arts," "art," and "works of art" are meant to include all visual and performing arts, as well as multi-media or interdisciplinary combinations.

Students will utilize computer arts software and the Internet as the primary tools for assessing the impact of technology on the role of arts in their lives. Students will apply their knowledge of these tools to find, retrieve, analyze, manipulate and disseminate art works in a computer environment. Students will be offered a wide range of choices in computer projects so that they may take advantage of whatever skills or interests they might have acquired in one or more of the arts. In addition, they will be encouraged to apply a personal frame of reference to controversial issues arising from computer art.

An essential feature of the course will be providing a framework for criticism of computer art. Students will utilize the basic foundation and literacy skills they have learned in previous courses and apply them to aesthetic, moral, and ethical judgments as well as analysis of a wide range of current issues.

Background on a revolution:

"If I were a 13-year-old and I wanted to create subversive art, I wouldn't go out and buy an electric guitar. I'd get myself a personal computer."
- Thomas Dolby as quoted in the Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1994.

The revolution in society that has happened (and is continuing to happen), as a direct result of mainstream use of computers, is mirrored in the arts world. Artistic disciplines are increasingly relying on the computer, not only as enabler, facilitator and tool, but as source, canvas and exhibition hall (or gallery, concert hall, theatre). Digitization of art forms are becoming commonplace in photography, theatrical design, music composition, dance notation and many other areas, including the burgeoning multi-media "interdisciplinary" discipline.

The most significant source of computer arts and information on computer arts is the World Wide Web. According to the Lycosª catalog of the internet (on 9/28/95), of the WWW pages that they have categorized (which can be only a portion of the total), a sampling of just a few key words in the arts yields an extraordinary number of referenced documents: art (63,789), arts (43,531), dance (12,176), music (4,610), photo (30,307), photography (12,134), photos (16,537), painting (5,120), sculpture (2,609), theater (6,420), theatre (8,404). "The traditional bureaucracies of the art world are being challenged by the decentralization of the tools of production, and the evolution of artist-controlled distribution systems. Nearly everybody who buys a computer gets a paint program free; some turn out to be artists although they may not have been inclined to pick up a sketch pad or paints. Composers of multi-instrumental music are now able to hear their work performed on their own MIDI synthesizers, while artists of all kinds are establishing virtual galleries on the Internet... could this be the beginning of anarchy in the arts?" - from the web page introduction to The 14th Annual Symposium on Small Computers in the Arts, sponsored by the Small Computers in the Arts Network, Philadelphia, PA. (http://sunsite.unc.edu/ranjit/scan94.html)

A significant task in the arts is to develop, in the consumers of arts, critical tools and the ability to make aesthetic judgments based on personal perspectives. In computer arts this becomes even more important because of the uncontrolled access that is part of the nature of computers. Virtually anyone can create a work of "art" and can even disseminate it to a worldwide audience of millions, leaving the arts consumer without the "guides" (curators, directors, conductors, etc.) that assist in the analysis of traditional art forms. This makes it even more important to a general education for students to develop their critical thinking skills in this area, so that they can include the world of computer arts in their lives within a framework of informed opinion and aesthetic judgment.

Computer arts in a general education:

Not only does the revolution in computers make it important for an analysis of computer arts to be offered as part of a general education (as demonstrated above), but it also makes it possible. The software that now exists makes it possible for students to be involved in active application of critical disciplinary tools Ñ actually using the tools (in an elementary way) that are utilized to create, modify, analyze and disseminate technologically advanced works of art. In addition, the student projects will be specifically designed to be completed without formal training in the arts (eg. students will not have to be able to read music), and yet to give them an understanding of arts which will help them to be consumers of arts.

At the same time, those students who discover a stronger career interest in the field will be further developing important critical skills which will help them as they continue on in technical, studio and disciplinary knowledge courses.

Building on the Foundation to explore the Quality of Life:

The students' work in earlier courses to "identify and critique the broader, diverse, and often conflicting, disciplinary perspectives" will continue in their analysis of computer arts as they deal with conflicting views as to what defines art within the computer context, as well as issues of aesthetic quality. As they have explored "the current and future moral and ethical dimensions of [an] issue" in Foundations, they will then be able to apply these skills to the moral and ethical dimensions relating to computer arts, including such controversial topics as undefined and conflicting copyright issues (in terms of dissemination of art works in a new medium) as well as ownership issues in the creation, manipulation and altering of computer art works.

The students will also continue their work in the Literacy (Language) courses, through analytical writing assignments, and oral and computer presentations.

In earlier course work, they will "learn to appreciate critically different perspectives on various issues of importance to their growing understanding of themselves and of the world in which they live." Art adds to the quality of life as it holds the mirror up to the world and to the individual. For many students, knowledge of the art world will come from computers, and the benefit they receive from this "quality of life" will come from their ability to "appreciate critically different perspectives" within the field.

In addition to continuing the process of learning the tools in the inner core courses, this proposed course could not exist without the groundwork of the Foundation and Literacy courses. In order to effectively deal with critical analysis of computer art forms, the student must already have basic computer literacy, oral presentation skills and writing ability -- tools which are provided in the earlier courses. These tools will also assist the student in expressing critical thought relating to art forms and engaging in discussions relating to differing perspectives that will exist in the class in terms of the role of the arts in general, and computer arts specifically, in society and in their lives.

Faculty involvement:

It is anticipated that faculty will be guides in the course, providing road maps to begin the exploration of the arts on the internet, teaching the use of disciplinary tools (including software), and focusing and channeling the critical process. They will keep the discussions going and encourage looking at issues from differing perspectives.

Student involvement:

The students' work will include a combination of:

• exploring computer arts on the internet, including finding various works of art that have a personal relevance to the student, retrieving those works and presenting them to the rest of the class
• preparing reports (oral and written) critiquing found works of art in the context of where they reside, and discussing the relation of works to such issues as creation, computer-as-enabler, copyright, ownership, aesthetic quality, and social relevance.
• actively participating in peer discussion and debate relating to the issues above
• exploring in further depth computer arts within an artistic discipline (or specific combination of disciplines) that is of interest to the student
• learning and using basic tools for creating, modifying, and disseminating computer art works (see "Materials" below for more specific examples)
• completing projects in which all of these basic tools are used within their chosen disciplines or set of disciplines (most likely these projects would be then made accessible to the public through the ORAT site on the World Wide Web).

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on the basis of their progress in applying critical thinking to computer arts, on their oral and written skills in analyzing the art works and surrounding issues, on their participation in debate and discussion, on their facility with the disciplinary tools, and on the quality of their final projects.

Structure:

Although some variations are likely, the course would probably involve a combination of:

• class sessions with a faculty computer station and projector to demonstrate the beginnings of the process and teach the use of the software. These class sessions would also be used for students to present their findings and their work, as well as for discussion and debate.
• lab sessions in a fully-equipped computer lab with internet connection and arts software with instructors helping the students in their explorations
• extensive required computer time outside class time for students to explore, retrieve, create, modify and disseminate art works.
• written and computer assignments would be turned in electronically

Topics/Assignments:

Topics for discussion as well as specific assignments would be heavily based on current issues in arts technology and issues arising from items discovered by the students as those items relate to the students' personal interests. Listed below are examples of some possible topics and assignments:

1. Original vs. Copy
"The work of art in the age of digital reproduction is physically and formally chameleon. There is no distinction now between "original" and "reproduction" in virtually any medium based in film, electronics, or telecommunications. As for the fine, printed and hand-applied arts, including calligraphy, the distinction is eroding, if not finally collapsed. The fictions of "master" and "copy" are now so entwined with each other that it is impossible to say where one begins and the other ends, resembling lovers folded together in ecstasy."

from "THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL REPRODUCTION
An Evolving Thesis/1991-1995" by DOUGLAS DAVIS
( http://www.awa.com/artnetweb/views/davis/davis.html)
Assignment: Find this site on the internet and read the full text. Be prepared to discuss in class the implications of the text in terms of arts consumption and ownership.

2. Assignment: Prepare a written critical commentary on Peter Gabriel's interactive CD-ROM. Discuss the implications to the popular music industry and the future of how people listen to music.

3. Assignment: Using the internet, find, retrieve, and examine a video with computer-generated "performers." Discuss how this development could affect the status of live performers, as well as the quality of the experience to the audience.

4. Assignment: Using the internet, find, retrieve, and show in class copyrighted works of art. Discuss the moral and ethical implications of possessing these works and the controversies relating to how they may be used.

5. Project: Using the tools learned in class, create a computer art site, installation or presentation. Utilize combined and manipulated "found" works of art in artistic disciplines of personal interest to create an original project which articulates an artistic point of view. The project could be structured as an interactive web site or multi-media presentation, or the computer art work could be taken from the computer and presented in a performance art or other "live" structure. Defend the project in terms of the personal relevance and social significance of the art work that is presented.

6. Additional topics for discussion:

• Discuss the significance of how various computer art forms are created and disseminated
• Discuss how perception and sensation are affected by the use of the computer for art forms
• Discuss the economics of computer arts, including the commercialization of computer arts, the significance of ease of dissemination, and the financial relationship between the artist and the consumer
• Discuss the cultural implications of the non-geographic-specific nature of computer arts, and relate them to what the consumer is expected to know in order to appreciate arts on the computer, as well as any responsibilities the artist may have to make the arts relevant or appropriate to a wide audience.

Class size:

The structure of the course requires an intimate class size partly due to technical limitations. Supervised labs are limited to the number of stations available in the laboratory. In addition, the dynamics of class participation and debate dictate a small class. It is conceivable that a larger version could be taught in some future where there is a large completely computerized classroom, with teaching assistants to help supervise and the ability to break up into small groups for discussion and projects. At this time, however, the class size would probably need to be around 15-18 students.

Materials:

Since the field is changing so fast, this area would need to be constantly adjusting. Students in this course must have access to computers, the internet, and basic arts retrieval and conversion software in much the same way that they would be required to have paper and pen today. Fortunately, much of the basic software is available to any students at no charge, and more students are coming to college with their own computers and are getting internet connections so that not all students will need to rely limited computer lab space and resources. Examples of software that could be included are: Netscape (for exploring the World Wide Web and retrieving items), JPEGView and GIFConverter (for viewing and converting images), Simple Player and Sparkle (for viewing video), Sound Machine (for listening to and converting sounds), Eudora (for communicating with others in the arts world and for turning in assignments) and basic HTML editing software for creating and modifying web pages as part of final projects. In addition, it is possible that students may learn some additional software in the discipline of their interest, such as Band in a Box (to print a simple piece of music), General Midi (to orchestrate found pieces of music, or basic graphics software (to manipulate images). As software development continues, there will be additional low-end software available for areas such as dance notation, theatre design, etc.

College and departmental support for this project:

The College of Fine Arts, as well as the Departments of Art, Music and Theatre are in strong support of this proposal. This course could not happen if it was not for the fact that the College of Fine Arts is a leader in arts technology in education nationwide. The framework and expertise already exist (due largely to the Office of Research in Arts Technology at Illinois State as part of the College of Fine Arts), so that all that is needed is university support to expand the resources to handle the demands of the course.

Further course development:

Because the field is so new, there is very little available in terms of specific prepared educational materials. Significant preparatory work would be needed to create basic materials such as "road maps" to begin the exploration and tutorials on the tools, as well as preparing the lab and faculty machines appropriately. Development funding would be essential. The preparation is essential to allow the course to go beyond the "nuts and bolts" and quickly get into the important critical analysis.