GRADE BREAKDOWN

MAME Cab Video + Essay (25%)
Digital Kunstkabinett + Essay (40%)
Seminar Presentation + Notes (15%)
Blog (10%)
Participation & Attendance (10%)

MAJOR ASSIGNMENT 1: MAME CAB VIDEO + ESSAY (Video 15% + Essay 10%) - 25%

Iteration 1 Due February 1
Final Iteration and Essay Due February 8

First of all, this project requires you to build a MAME cabinet with your assigned group. Next, you will produce a short video for the cabinet that embodies a concept or concepts covered in course readings. The video will have to follow a series of creative constraints, provided in class. You will also write an essay discussing how and why your video embodies concepts from the readings. This assignment is the first step toward creating a MAME cab project that will be showcased at THEMUSEUM and other locations in the spring of 2011, sponsored by Libro Financial. These are the basic details. The rest will be figured out through a collaborative effort with the rest of the class.

You will be graded on the originality of your video concept, your use of proper videography techniques (composition, sound, lighting, transitions), and the appropriateness of the content within the context of course readings. The essay (5-7 pages) will be graded according to the following criteria: 1) whether your essay clearly describes the project in the context of course readings; 2) your effective use of course readings in direct quotes and paraphrase; 3) technics (grammar, spelling, formatting, organization). Be sure to use proper MLA annotation.

UPDATED DETAILS: Your video should be based on the following tow parameters: Theory (cybernetics) and Materiality (the cabinet). Specifically, you are asked to create a video that embodies the concept of cybernetics, designed to be "operated" by the cabinet's control panel. The video must last NO MORE THAN 1 minute. Consider these the first of your creative constraints. Your essay should clearly outline how this video would appear if played on a perfectly functioning cabinet.

Post your video to your group blog.
Submit your essay via e-mail in .rtf or other editable format.

MAJOR ASSIGNMENT 2: DIGITAL KUNSTKABINETT (Group Project 25% + Individual Essay 15%) - 40%
Iteration 1 Due March 22
Final Iteration Due March 29
Project Exhibition March 31 in Critical Media Lab
Final Essay Due Friday, April 5

As noted for the first project, your major assignment for this term is to create a digital kunstkabinett that embodies the readings covered in class. Students will be required to write a descriptive essay about the project (8-10 pages), justifying its design by making reference to course readings. Alternatively, the essay might present an original argument, using the cabinet(s) as an object-to-think-with. Further project details will be shaped collaboratively over the course of the term, based on studio sessions, seminar discussions, and creative brainstorming.

Submit your essay via e-mail in .rtf or other format.
Document your project construction on the group blog.

SEMINAR PRESENTATION + NOTES - 15%

Each student will prepare a presentation based on the reading(s) for that week covering key points, terms, and points of contention or discussion. Your presentation should be as attentive to stimulating discussion as it is to the theatrics of powerpoint. This is not simply a summary of the reading, although you must give a comprehensive overview of the text; instead, the goal of the presentation is to "translate" the weekly reading so that it is relevant within the context of previous and future course readings and assignments. You should make use of audio/visual materials of your choice to enhance the quality of the presentation. Don't just present the text (and most especially, don't just read notes from a page) -- engage your colleagues in a discussion of the issues.

In preparation for the presentation, each student will write and submit a set of reading notes based on the instructions below. Ideally, you should be taking notes like this for each course reading (see my interview with Stiegler on ACE to find out why). The readings in this course are not meant to be forgotten at the end of the term. You should leave the course with key concepts that you can employ in writing, design, and thinking for the rest of your life. Taking notes ensures that the readings have a better chance to be stored in your internal hard drive, where they participate actively in your individuation.
My recommended note-taking method is as follows:
1. Do the reading.
2. As you read, underline or outline passages that you feel are of significance. What is significant? Anything that will help you explain the reading to others, anything that reminds you of other readings, anything that coincides with popular culture and current events.
3. Transcribe the significant passages in a text document, along with bibliographical information and page number.
4. Under the transcribed passage, write a comment about why it is significant (see #2, above).

You will be graded primarily on the substance of your comments, but the form of the notes (bibliographical information, proper transcription) will also be taken into account.

Post portions of your notes to the blog if you want feedback from your colleagues (and a better participation grade).

Grade Breakdown:
Comprehensiveness (did you cover the most important parts of the article?): 5%
Relevance (did you relate the reading to other course readings or current events?): 5%
Notes (based on critera above): 5%

PARTICIPATION - 10%
Class Discussions | Workshops | Attendance

This is an hands-on course that combines theory and practice in a studio envrionment. It won't work unless students participate in discussions and critiques, contribute to their blogs, and take an active role in class workshops.