University of Maine at Farmington 2021-2022 Catalog

 
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Art
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  ART 112A - Digital Imaging

This class serves as an introduction to digital image-making for print, web and time-based media. This class focuses on the meaning of the constructed image as well as composition, color and visual balance. No experience or drawing skills are necessary, and all skill levels are welcome. Examples of software used: Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. At least once a year.



Credit: 4

  ART 115A - Drawing I: Drawing Outdoors

An introduction to the basic principles, techniques and materials of drawing. Emphasis on drawing as a means of seeing and recording the physical world. The role of drawing in visual communication and creative exploration will also be emphasized. Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 119A - Introduction to Sculpture

This introductory course explores the fundamental design principles, building strategies, and concepts of contemporary sculpture. Students will experiment with materials, techniques, and construction methods related to wood, cardboard, plastics, plaster, mold making, found objects, and improvised alternatives. Students will apply their own creative thought process to hands-on projects that will cover themes including material-as-metaphor, space, time, form, composition, and ephemerality. Reading, writing, discussion, and presentations will cover historical movements and contemporary topics in sculpture. No previous art experience is necessary. All skill levels are welcome. Prerequisites: None. Offered every Semester.



Credit: 4

  ART 120A - C.R.A.P.P (Creative Relationship of Art and the Personal Politic)

It's ART. It's Boot Camp. It's Total Immersion. It's food. It's sound. It's text. It's politics. It's experimentation. It's social interaction. It's performance. It’s culture and IT IS ART.  This class will examine art that lives on the fringes of traditional definitions. How does one define art beyond the language of medium or material?  Painting, sculpture, and printmaking are a few of the traditional forms of art that we recognize, but art expands to include much, much more. In this course we will investigate art as communication, interaction and mediation. When we make and exhibit art we are engaging in a cultural conversation that has been evolving throughout the centuries. Understanding art and contextualizing our own practice means understanding what art is and what it can be. To understand a movement in art one must understand how it is influenced by the social, political, and theoretical climate of the time. Through a series of projects, readings, and material investigations this class will examine the social, political, and theoretical climate of our contemporary times and the visual conversations being formed in response to it. By investigating a variety of ways of working, students will learn to identify their own interests in making and acquire an understanding of ART and its cultural context.  No Prerequisites. Offered Every Year.



Credit: 4

  ART 121A - Painting I

Introduction to painting fundamentals and techniques working with acrylic or water-based oil paints. Emphasis on color theory, creative design and expression. Through discussion, demonstration and practice, the student becomes acquainted with the physical and conceptual problems of traditional and contemporary painting. The student must acquire necessary materials. Suggested sophomore level. Offered every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 163A - Improvising Sound and Music

This course explores the ideas, practices, and techniques of improvising with sound or/and music. Any kind of aural improvisation will be accepted as valid coursework, and students will be rewarded for their willingness to experiment and innovate.  This class is open to all and no prior music or sound experience is needed. Students have the option of signing up for this course under MUS 163A but may only receive credit for one. Prerequisite(s): None. Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 177 - Topics in Art

The visual arts offer a variety of exciting and dynamic topics classes every semester. They range from interdisciplinary experiments like the making of a zombie movie, to a class on art and surrealism that produces the wildly popular "Surrealist Salon." Be sure to click on "View Class Sections" and then click on the section number of the course for a description of each offering. Varies.



Credit: 4

  ART 209A - Installation Art I

Installation art is fundamental to contemporary art practice. Installation art could be be made from anything and is often constituted from an interdisciplinary use of material, media, and space. This course introduces issues, methods, and concepts surrounding installation art and will explore current shifts in the definition of installation as it relates to contemporary art-practice. Contextual significance of place and site will be explored through concepts such as immersion, performance, life=art and site-intervention. Installation art often uses a diverse use of media to demonstrate a concept or an idea. Students will be encouraged to create site-specific works and to explore various strategies, methods and materials that range from everyday found objects, sculpture, drawing, painting and new media such as video, sound and performance.  All are welcome. No previous art experience is necessary. Prerequisite: None. Offered every 3 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 219A - Sculptural Experiments I

This course will explore the experimental aspects and peripheral processes of contemporary sculpture. Could an interaction between a light-bulb and an app on your mobile device constitute a sculpture? What could be inventive about a community garden or a climbing wall?  This course is devoted to making sculptural work on the fringe.  We will work with unusual material and unorthodox building methods. We will collaborate with other course offerings  to build sculptural projects on campus and in the Farmington community. This course will be an experiment  in community building and interdisciplinary making. Prerequisite: None. Offered every 3 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 220A - Film: A Cultural Affair

Film is a fantastic tool for social critique, and it is a tool that has been used for this purpose since its inception. This class will focus primarily on contemporary film makers within a strong theoretical context. We will view a variety of contemporary video shorts and full feature films while reading texts that offer a contemporary cultural critique. We will discuss how these complex ideas are investigated through the creative forms of moving image.

This class will cover theorists as varied as Umberto Eco, Edward W. Soja and pop philosopher Slavoj Zizek. Through the lens, provided by these texts, we will analyze the works of international filmmakers such as Godfrey Reggio, Roy Andersson, David Cronenberg and Jerzy Stuhr. These readings and films investigate ideas as diverse as literary theory, geography, political science, and sustainability, and combine to paint an image of our contemporary landscape that will resonate as a surreal representation of our current social economic and political climate. This course will count as part of the film minor.  No prerequisites; Sophomore standing or above recommended.



Credit: 4

  ART 223A - Robotic and Kinetic Art

This course will focus on kinetic and interactive sculpture and installation-art. As technology develops, artists employ the lo-tech and hi-tech approaches found within the DIY (do-it-yourself) culture to explore new avenues of dialogue and visual effects. By employing electronic devices, motors, and micro-controllers such as Arduino and Teensy, students will learn to hack objects and program open source electronics. Students will create projects that combine everyday junk with the technology of physical computing. All are welcome. No previous art experience is necessary. A basic understanding of computers is recommended but not required. Prerequisite: None. Offered every 3 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 224A - Surrealism: The Permanent Revolution

This class will explore the revolutionary politics and radical aesthetics of Surrealism – perhaps the most long-lived and resilient of all the Modernist traditions – in the context of contemporary art and culture. Using the various Manifestos of Surrealism as our primary texts, this studio course will allow students to produce contemporary Surrealist works in various media, and will explore the ways in which such works can be extended into social networks, both actual and virtual. No prerequisites.



Credit: 4

  ART 225A - Painting II

This class will examine a variety of painting traditions in the context of contemporary cultural theory, with particular emphasis on the ways in which social, political, and visual systems create, support, and inform each other. Students will be encouraged to approach their own work from a critically informed position, and technical skills will be developed in tandem with functional analytical strategies.



Credit: 4

  ART 226A - Painting off the Wall

Like most disciplines, painting can no longer be defined by its material, nor can it be held to a two dimensional plane. In fact a painting doesn't need to include paint at all. So what is painting when it doesn't involve paint and it isn't held to a two dimensional plane? In this class we will investigate the language of painting through sculpture, installation, and new media. How do we define painting when it breaks out of the frame, crawls down the wall and envelops the viewer in a variety of materials including light and perhaps even sound? Through establishing an understanding of its historical concerns we will set out to stretch the definitive perimeters of painting, using objects as paint and space as canvas. No prerequisites.  Offered every three years.



Credit: 4

  ART 228A - Space and Place

This is an interdisciplinary course that examines space and its many manifestations and functions. We will examine physical space, pictorial space, political, social, psychological and cerebral space. Using Gastron Bouchard’s book The Poetics of Space in addition to other readings, we will investigate the ideas of the miniature, the gigantic, the hidden, the shared, the personal, and the public space. We will investigate the ideas of intimate space versus social space. We will examine image and object as space. What space do these things occupy in the construction of meaning and what space do they designate in the physical world. What happens when you change this designation? A series of projects will help us to further understand these ideas and share them with a broader audience. There will be a focus on the ideas in this class and projects may be constructed in a variety of media from painting to text , digital media, sculptural forms, performance, and social practice. Prerequisites: None



Credit: 4

  ART 229A - Digital Photo

This introductory course presents digital photography as a meeting place of images and ideas. Students will learn how to operate a DSLR digital camera, develop basic skills with Adobe Photoshop editing software, and explore ideas through visual language. Throughout this course, students will be challenged to apply formal design and technical knowledge to create concept-driven projects. Readings and lectures will introduce students to artists working in lens-based media and fuel class discussions regarding topics of contemporary photography and visual culture. Every other year.

 



Credit: 4

  ART 234A - Interactive Web Media

This course is an introduction to web based interactive media. Students will learn basic composition and interactivity as well as the construction of content and the principles of visual language. The class is designed to introduce students to web based technology while researching artists that use the web as a means of expression. (Examples of Software used: Flash, and audio programs). Every two years.



Credit: 4

  ART 239A - Animation

This class is an introduction to 2D digital animation for broadcast, video and web. Students will learn the basics of image construction, keyframe animation, digital sound and building content in time-based media. No experience or drawing skills are necessary, and all skill levels are welcome. (Examples of software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe AfterEffects) Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 241A - Video I

This fundamental video class introduces students to the basics of video & time-based media production and aesthetics. The course includes screening of video works, in-class demonstrations of equipment and techniques, discussions, and assignments of time-based media concerns in the creations of images and sound track for video and other media. Using digital video equipment class members produce works that pursue fine art and experimental directions. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing and knowledge of the Macintosh OS. Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 244A - Creative Imaging
An exploration of visual language designed to make use of advanced techniques in image manipulation, digital photography and multiple-page composition. The course is presented in an open format emphasizing experimentation, creative uses of the program and professional practices. Software used: Photoshop, InDesign. Every other year. $30 Course Fee.


Credit: 4

  ART 260A - Language of Performance

This course challenges students to develop a greater understanding of the “language” of performance by exploring the numerous prisms (e.g. sound, image, space, language, text, etc.) through which performativity is/can be refracted.  Does a sound carry meaning?  What is the difference between space and place?  What does the presence of stillness suggest?  What does a piece of clothing reveal about its wearer?  How does light shift our perspective?  In order to foster a corporeal interrogation of these questions and others, this course will be run as an interactive workshop and seminar in which we will: engage in various forms of play; analyze and critically evaluate our ideas, arguments and points of view; and learn to apply course material to improve our own performance practices. Students have the option of signing up for this course under SPV 260A, ART 260A, MUS 260A, or THE 260A, but may only receive credit for one. Prerequisite(s): None. Every two years.



Credit: 4

  ART 264A - Art and Social Change

This course challenges us to foster a historical, comparative, and tactile understanding of the relationship between art and social change.  How do artists address social issues?  Can art transform lives?  How can art serve as a force for encouraging ethical dialogue and action within the public sphere? How do we make our ideas and revelations actually matter within our collective place and space? Through lectures, discussions, presentations, and projects we will set about to engage ourselves with the work of contemporary artists who have addressed issues related to the environment, racial and cultural identity, human rights, healthcare, and social justice.



Credit: 4

  ART 277 - Topics in Art

The visual arts offer a variety of exciting and dynamic topics classes every semester. They range from interdisciplinary experiments like the making of a zombie movie, to a class on art and surrealism that produces the wildly popular "Surrealist Salon." Be sure to click on "View Class Sections" and then click on the section number of the course for a description of each offering. Varies.



Credit: 4

  ART 309A - Installation Art II

Installation art is fundamental to contemporary art practice. Installation art could be be made from anything and is often constituted from an interdisciplinary use of material, media and space. This course will address advanced methods and concepts surrounding installation-art and will explore current shifts in the definition of installation-art as it relates to contemporary art-practice. This 300 level course will further expand on the students’ use concept driven decision making and research based practices. Students will be required to write project and artist statements and lead class discussions. Students will be encouraged to create site-specific works and to explore various strategies, methods and materials that range from everyday found objects, sculpture, drawing, painting and new media such as video, sound and performance. Students will be expected to apply material and media practices relative to their prerequisite experience. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level. Prerequisite: ART 209A, ART 219A, or ART 241A. Offered every 3 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 319 - Sculptural Experiments II

This course will explore the experimental aspects and peripheral processes of contemporary sculpture. Could an interaction between a light-bulb and an app on your mobile device constitute a sculpture? What could be inventive about a community garden or a climbing wall?  This course is devoted to making sculptural work on the fringe.  We will work with unusual material and unorthodox building methods. We will collaborate with other course offerings  to build sculptural projects on campus and in the Farmington community. This course will be an experiment  in community building and interdisciplinary making. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level. Prerequisite: Any 200 level studio art class. Offered every 3 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 320A - Contemporary Theory and Practice

A truly interdisciplinary course that will examine advanced problems in creative practice and production that respond to and incorporate relevant contemporary social and cultural theory. With a focus on the relationship between author/producer and audience/reader we will investigate notions of truth, the real, the spectacle, the authentic, the utopian, and the post human. We will contemplate the meaning and purpose of our own practice in a post-structural society through reading presentations and the productions of a personal body of work. This course is open to students working in a variety of disciplines and a body of work extends to include writing in all forms from political essays to poetry as well as varieties of media in the arts from performance to new media. Prerequisite: Junior standing. Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 323 - Robotic and Kinetic Art II

This course will expand on the students knowledge of  kinetic and interactive sculpture and installation-art. As technology develops, artists employ the lo-tech and hi-tech approaches found within the DIY (do-it-yourself) culture, to explore new avenues of dialogue and visual effects. By employing electronic devices, motors and micro-controllers such as Arduino and Teensy, students will learn to hack objects and program open source electronics. Students will create projects that combine everyday junk with the technology of physical computing. This 300 level course will further expand on the students’ use concept driven decision making and research based practices. Students will be required to write project and artist statements and lead class discussions. Students will be expected to apply material and media practices relative to their prerequisite experience. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level. Prerequisite: ART 223A. Offered every 3 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 324 - Surrealism II

This class will explore the revolutionary politics and radical aesthetics of Surrealism – perhaps the most long-lived and resilient of all the Modernist traditions – in the context of contemporary art and culture. Using the various Manifestos of Surrealism as our primary texts, this studio course will allow students to produce contemporary Surrealist works in various media, and will explore the ways in which such works can be extended into social networks, both actual and virtual. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level. Prerequisite: Any 200 level studio art class.



Credit: 4

  ART 325 - Painting III

This class will examine a variety of painting traditions in the context of contemporary cultural theory, with particular emphasis on the ways in which social, political, and visual systems create, support, and inform each other. Students will be encouraged to approach their own work from a critically informed position, and technical skills will be developed in tandem with functional analytical strategies. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level. Prerequisite: Any 200 level studio art class.



Credit: 4

  ART 326 - Painting off the Wall II

Like most disciplines, painting can no longer be defined by its material, nor can it be held to a two dimensional plane. In fact a painting doesn't need to include paint at all. So what is painting when it doesn't involve paint and it isn't held to a two dimensional plane? In this class we will investigate the language of painting through sculpture, installation and new media. How do we define painting when it breaks out of the frame, crawls down the wall and envelops the viewer in a variety of materials including light and perhaps even sound. Through establishing an understanding of its historical concerns we will set out to stretch the definitive perimeters of painting, using objects as paint and space as canvas. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level. Prerequisite: Any 200 level studio art class.  Offered every three years.



Credit: 4

  ART 328A - Space and Place II

This is an interdisciplinary course that examines space and its many manifestations and functions. We will examine physical space, pictorial space, political, social, psychological, and cerebral space. Using Gastron Bouchard’s book The Poetics of Space in addition to other readings, we will investigate the ideas of the miniature, the gigantic, the hidden, the shared, the personal, and the public space. We will investigate the ideas of intimate space versus social space. We will examine image and object as space. What space do these things occupy in the construction of meaning and what space do they designate in the physical world. What happens when you change this designation? A series of projects will help us to further understand these ideas and share them with a broader audience. There will be a focus on the ideas in this class and projects may be constructed in a variety of media from painting to text , digital media, sculptural forms, performance, and social practice. This is a 300 level offering of this course, and students will be expected to work at this level.  Prerequisites: None



Credit: 4

  ART 334A - Introduction to Interactive Web Media

This class explores web as a medium for intellectual and artistic expression. This course will explore techniques ranging from basic website construction to podcasting to virtual presence to "whatever comes next." The class is designed to introduce students to web-based technology while researching artists using the web as a means of expression. Examples of software used: Dreamweaver, Flash, and audio programs. Experience with the Macintosh is suggested. Offered every 2 years.



Credit: 4

  ART 339A - Animation II

This course is designed as an advanced level compliment to ART 239A Animation I and continues both technical and conceptual study in the field of animation. Stop animation, frame-by-frame animation, rotoscoping and composting will be introduced, and keyframe animation will be investigated at an advanced level. Examples of software used: Final Cut Pro, Adobe AfterEffects, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator. Prerequisite: ART 239A Animation I. Offered every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 341 - Video II

An intensive video production course that utilizes the green screen, prop building, advanced shooting, and post-production techniques. Ideas and concepts associated with time-based art and video will be examined. Students will make their own short videos while researching contemporary artists who use video as a means to create art. Examples of software and techniques used: Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Soundtrack, green screen, props. Prerequisites: ART 241A. Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 344A - Creative Imaging II
This course is designed as an advanced-level complement to ART 244A Creative Imaging and ART 234A Interactive Web Media. The curriculum continues both technical and conceptual study in the field of digital print and interactive web media. Sequence, color, photography, concept, composition and technique will be investigated. Examples of software used: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator. Prerequisite: ART 244A Creative Imaging or ART 234A Interactive Web Media. Offered every year. $30 Course Fee.


Credit: 4

  ART 377 - Topics in Art
The visual arts offer a variety of exciting and dynamic topics classes every semester. They range from experiments like the making of a zombie movie, to a class on art and surrealism that produces the wildly popular "Surrealist Salon." Be sure to click on "View Class Sections" and then click on the section number of the course for a description of each offering. Varies.


Credit: 4

  ART 397 - Independent Study in Art

Provides an opportunity to select and study, with individual guidance from a faculty member, a topic of mutual interest in art. A description of the project must be developed and submitted to an Art faculty member of the student's choice. May be repeated up to a maximum of 8 credits. Prerequisite(s): Acceptance of the student proposal and permission of the Division Chairperson. Varies. 



Credit: 4

  ART 420 - Senior Seminar and Studio Practice

The emphasis of this course is on understanding aesthetics of contemporary art and applications to a personal body of work. An initial portfolio will be developed for ART 430 along with discussion of each student's philosophy and aesthetic influences in relationship to his/her art. Academic and professional options for life post-B.A. will be explored. The readings, class discussions, and writing assignments will focus on the contemporary art processes, theory, and criticism. Prerequisites: Art major and senior standing. Every year. 



Credit: 4

  ART 430 - Senior Project and Studio Practice

Preparation and installation of artwork for public exhibition. In this course students will continue to develop an artist statement along with readings, class discussions, visiting artist critiques and group critiques on individual bodies of work. The student is responsible for securing an appropriate exhibition space and other needs contingent to the exhibition of his/her work. Prerequisite(s): Art 420, Art major, and senior standing. Every year.



Credit: 4

  ART 441 - New Media

This is an advanced studio course for students who have already developed a skill set in new media. Students will take on large projects in their respective area of interest with the help and support of the instructor. Each student will work with the instructor to develop an individual plan of study with conceptual, formal and technical development as the final goal. Prerequisite: ART 339, ART 344 or ART 341. Every year.

 



Credit: 4

  ART 477 - Topics in Art

The study of a specialized topic not offered in the usual curriculum. Varies. 



Credit: 2-4

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