Course Syllabus

Objectives and Content

This course will provide an introduction to genres of cultural artifacts particular to the network and the computer, specifically computer and network art, electronic literature, and computer games. Traditional conceptions of genre and categories of cultural artifact, such as art object, performance, novel, poem, and game are undergoing redefinition in the context of digital culture, and new genres of cultural artifacts are emerging, which require new models of textual analysis specific to the computational media and network context in which these artifacts are produced and distributed. This course provides an overview of these emerging genres, and an introduction to the models of academic discourse and analysis particular to them. Students in the course will learn to analyze contemporary digital artifacts on a textual and structural basis, within the general framework of genre studies.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge: After taking the course the student should have knowledge:

• of contemporary genres within digital and network-based art practice, electronic literature and computer games
• of central theoretical concepts relevant to digital and network-based aesthetic genres

Skills: After taking the course the student should be able to:

• Compare and contrast digital genres with each other and with related analog genres
• Apply narratological and ludological concepts in the analysis of digital works
• Describe digital artifacts such as computer programs and texts

General competence: The student can:

• participate in academic discourse in a secure and confident manner

Pensum

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media. Marie Laure Ryan, Lori Emerson, and Benjamin J. Robertson, eds. Johns Hopkins UP. Paperback. ISBN-13: 978-1421412245

Understanding Video Games. Simon Egenfeldt Nielsen, Jonas Heide Smith, Susana Pajares Tosca, eds. Routledge. Paperback, 3rd ed., 2016.

Digital Art (World of Art) by Christiane Paul. Thames and Hudson. Paperback, 3rd ed., 2015. ISBN-13: 978-0500204238

Other texts will be available in a short digital pensum and online.

Obligatory Course Activities and Assignments

Attendance and participation in class sessions and activities is required. Course participation will be approved by the course leader. Students missing more than 25% of meetings or activities will not be allowed to complete the exam except in case of documented medical emergency. Course participation includes lab sessions and participation in online discussion as well as physical presence at the lectures.

Students will be required to complete 1 mandatory written assignment about 800 words in length. The assignment will be marked approved or not approved. If the assignment is not approved, students will have the opportunity to resubmit. The assignment must be approved in order for students to take the exam.

Students will be required to pass a multiple-choice midterm exam by correctly answering 70% of the questions on the exam. If the midterm is not approved, students will have the opportunity to resubmit. The midterm must be approved in order for students to take the exam.

Lab Sessions and Online Discussions

Lab sessions are for the most part intended to provide students with an opportunity and scheduled time to experience and interact with the digital works that are the core focus of the class. Each lab session will involve a short online discussion component which is part of the obligatory activity. For the most part lab sessions will not be supervised. Students may use the computers provided in the lab or may use their own computers, but some works will only be available on the lab computers.

Final Exam and Evaluation

Evaluation will take the form of a home exam approximately 4000 words in length. Students will have 7 days to complete the exam. The exam will include several short essays questions addressing different aspects of the course content. All required questions must be completed for the exam to be given a grade. One grade will be given for the whole exam. Students may write in English or Norwegian.

Schedule of Course Activities

Week 3: Introduction

Texts:

• Manovich, Lev. "Database as a Symbolic Form" http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/database-as-a-symbolic-form
• Slides with notes from The Language of New Media.
• Aarseth, Espen. "Ergodic Literature" and "A Typology of Textual Communication" in Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. Pages 1- 23 and 58-75. (Digital Pensum)
• Montfort, Nick, and Ian Bogost. "Platform." Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media 393-395.
• Pressman, Jessica. “Old Media/New Media.” JH Guide 365-367

Creative works:

• My Body, a Wunderkammer by Shelley Jackson http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/jackson__my_body_a_wunderkammer.html
• Zork by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/5zyoqrsugeopel3ffhz_vq/zork
• Clement Valla “Postcards from Google Earth” http://www.postcards-from-google-earth.com/

Unit 1: Electronic Literature

Week 4: Hypertext

Texts:

• Rettberg, Scott “Electronic Literature” JH Guide 169-173, “Collaborative Narrative” 78-79
• Engberg, Maria “Digital Fiction” JH Guide 138-142, Enslinn, Astrid “Hypertextuality” JH Guide 258-265, “Nonlinear Writing” JH Guide 360-362, Rau, Anja “Storyspace” 477-478.

Creative works:

• afternoon, a story by Michael Joyce (installed in computer lab). Note: while the full version is only available in the computer lab, there is a partial online version at http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/pmaf/hypertext/aft/ which will work after some java setup.
• Patchwork Girl by Shelley Jackson (installed in computer lab)
• Composition #1 by Marc Saporta (print edition available in lab or iPad App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/composition-no.1/id449507414?mt=8 )
• Bringsværd, T. Å. (1971): Faen, nå har de senket takhøyden igjen. Må kjøpe nye knebeskyttere. I: Jon Bing og Tor Åge Bringsværd (red.). Sesam '71. Oslo: Gyldendal, s. 1-11 (on http://litteraturkiosken.app.uib.no) 

Week 5: Online discussion of hypertexts

Creative works:

• These Waves of Girls by Caitlin Fisher http://www.yorku.ca/caitlin/waves/
• Sunshine '69 by Bobby Rabyd (Robert Arellano)  http://www.sunshine69.com/noflash.html
• The Last Performance by Judd Morrissey http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/morrissey_lastperformance.html

Week 6: Digital Poetry

Texts:

• Flores, Leonardo “Digital Poetry” JH Guide 155-161
• Engberg, Maria “Word-Image” JH Guide 526-529
• “New Media Poetics: As We May Think/ How to Write” by Adelaide Morris in New Media Poetics: Contexts, Technotexts, and Theories 1-46 (available online at ebray through UiB Library).

Creative works:

• “The Dreamlife of Letters” by Brian Kim Stefans http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/stefans__the_dreamlife_of_letters.html
• “Strings” by Dan Waber http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/waber__strings.html
• “Sweet Old Etc.” by Allison Clifford http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/clifford_the_sweet_old_etcetera.html
• “Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot” by Stephanie Strickland: http://www.stephaniestrickland.com/sandsoot
• “Sooth” by David Jhave Johnston http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/johnston_sooth.html

Week 7: Combinatory Poetics

Texts:

• Salter, Anastasia “Writing Under Constraint” JH Guide 533-535
• Philippe Bootz and Chris Funkhouser “Combinatory and Automatic Text Generation” JH Guide 83-84
• Paul, Christiana “Database” JH Guide 127-129

Creative Works:

• Raymond Queneau “Cent mille milliards de poèmes” (original available in lab, online adaptation: http://www.bevrowe.info/Queneau/QueneauRandom_v4.html)
• Montfort, Nick PPG 256 poems http://nickm.com/poems/ppg256.html
• Montfort, Nick et al., “Taroko Gorge” poems http://nickm.com/poems/taroko_gorge.html
• Carpenter, JR. “And By Islands I Mean Paragraphs” http://luckysoap.com/andbyislands/
• Coover, Roderick, Nick Montfort, and Scott Rettberg “Three Rails Live” (installed in lab)
• Coover, Roderick and Scott Rettberg “Toxi*City” (installed in lab)

Assignment 1 (due Feb. 23): Talk-through video of a work of e-lit plus 800 word script.

Unit 2: Computer Games

Week 8: Serious Games and Game Risks?

Chapters 8-9 of Understanding Video Games: Serious Games, Video Games and Risks. Guest lecturer Mary Flanagan.

Supplemental reading: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/01/22/0146167213520459.abstract

Games for discussion:

• Spent (2011) —http://www.playspent.org
• Half the Sky Movement: The Game (2012) (note: requires Facebook)— https://www.facebook.com/HalftheGame
• Smorball (2015)— http://smorballgame.org
• Dumb Ways to Die  http://dumbwaystodie.com (mobile)
• Unmanned (2012) -- http://unmanned.molleindustria.org

Week 9: Game Contexts and Histories

Intro & Chapters 1-4 of Understanding Video Games: Studying Video Games, The Game Industry, What is a Game?, History.
Week 9 meeting only March 1st, March 3th is fagkristisk dag.

Games for discussion:

• Minecraft
• Angry Birds
• The Sims
• SimCity
• DOS-Box / other emulations of classic video games (see list on p. 117)
• Most classic games discussed will be available at: https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary?&sort=-downloads&page=2

Week 10 & 11: Game Aesthetics, Culture, and Narrative

Chapters 5-7 of Understanding Video Games: Video Game Aesthetics, Video Games in Culture, Narrative.

Games for discussion:

• World of Warcraft
• America’s Army
• Counter-Strike
• BioShock
• Façade
• Silent Hill 2

Week 14: Obligatory Midterm Exam due Tuesday April 5th at 12:00

Unit 3: Digital Art

Week 14: (Thursday April 7th only): History and Context of Digital Art

Introduction, Digital Art.

Artworks: 

CYRIAK. “Cows & Cows & Cows” 2010.
http://cyriak.co.uk/blog/?p=145

Lazzarini, Robert. “Skulls” 2000.
http://www.robertlazzarini.com/skulls/

Redl, Erwin. “Benchmark” 2010.
http://paramedia.net/installationpage/benchmark.php

Vasiliev, Danja and Gordan Savicic. “120 Days of *Buntu”
http://120buntu.com/

Levin, Golan et al. “Dialtones (A Telesymphony)” 2001.
http://www.flong.com/projects/telesymphony/ 

 

Week 15: Digital Technology as Tool and Medium

Chapters 1 & 2, Digital Art

Artworks:

Smith, Paul. “Artists Rifles” 1997.
http://www.paulmsmith.co.uk/portfolio/artist-rifles/artist-rifles.html

AES+F. “The Feast Of Trimalchio”
http://aesf-group.com/projects/the_feast_of_trimalchio/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3MgDS5Jetk&feature=related

 Rees, Michael. “Ghraib Bag” 2008.
http://michaelrees.org/?tag=converge%3A+ghraib+bag

Sommerer and Mignonneau. “Interactive Plant Growing” 1992.
http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/WORKS/FRAMES/FrameSet.html
http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/WORKS/CONCEPTS/PlantsConcept.html

Rinaldo, Kenneth “Autopoiesis” 2000.
http://www.kenrinaldo.com/portfolio/autopoiesis/

Galloway, Kit and Sherrie Rabinowicz’ Hole in Space. 1980
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/hole-in-space/

Goldberg, Ken “Telegarden” 1995-2004
http://goldberg.berkeley.edu/garden/Ars/

Kac, Eduardo. “A Natural History of Enigma” 2004-08.
http://www.ekac.org/nat.hist.enig.html

Stelarc. “Ear on Arm” 2008-
http://stelarc.org/?catID=20242

Franke, Daniel and Cedric Kiefer. “Unnamed Soundsculpture”
http://daniel-franke.com/unnamed_soundsculpture/

John F. Simon, Jr.’ “Every Icon” 1996
http://numeral.com/appletsoftware/eicon.html

 

Week 16 & 17: Themes in Digital Art

(Week 17 class meets Tuesday April 16 only)

Chapter 3, Digital Art

Artworks: 

Oliver, Julian and Danja Vasiliev. “Men in Grey” 2009-2014
https://criticalengineering.org/projects/men-in-grey/

Teran, Michelle. “Buscando al Sr. Goodbar” 2009-
http://www.ubermatic.lftk.org/blog/?p=225

Scenocosme “Urban Light Contacts”
http://www.scenocosme.com/urban_lights_contacts_e.htm

Bartholl, Aram. “Dead Drops” 2010-
https://deaddrops.com/ 

Anarchy Dance Theatre. “Seventh Sense” 2011.
http://anarchydancetheatre.org/en/project/seventh-sense/

Davies, Charlotte. “Ephemere” 1998
http://www.immersence.com/ephemere/

Blast Theory. “Can You See Me Now?” 2001- 

http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/can-you-see-me-now/

Mattes, Eva and Franko Mattes. “No Fun” 2010.
http://0100101110101101.org/no-fun/

 Lazano-Hemmer, Rafael. “Body Movies: Relational Architecture#6” 2001.
http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/body_movies.php

Week 18: Conclusion and Review

(Tuesday May 3rd only): Pre-exam review session.

Week 20: Home Exam

Take-home exam questions will be given to students on Thursday May 19 at 10AM

Week 21: Home Exam

Home exam is due Thursday May 26 at 12:00 (noon)