Art + Technology
Graduate Seminar:2024
Learning about each other, what we value, and how that might be embodied in art practice.
sample from Grandmother by Holly Herndon
Years taught: 2006 - 2024
- UF Catalog
Readings, discussions, and/or studio exploration of various art issues.
- Course Description
ART 6933 Art + Technology Graduate Seminar is a revolving topics graduate-level course. Topics in the past have focused on Interface (2006), Relational Aesthetics (2007), Embodiment (2008), Subjectivity (2009), Politics (2010), Critical Utopia (2011), Nothing (2012), Technogenesis (2013), Sociation (2014), Disaster (2015), Whatever (2016), Privilege (2017), Power Failure (2018), Art and Class (2020), and Full Luxury AI (2021).
For Fall 2024 I am glad to have you in my LAST Graduate Seminar at UF; I QUIT!
Our course plan will be collaborative, shaped by your interests and my guidance. I'm reading a book by Bifo Berardi called Quit Everything: Interpreting Depression. This personally significant book reflects a sentiment I've noticed among artists in the past decade, especially now. Berardi's theory is accessible, and I'm here to guide you through it. We can use a wealth of contextual information, film, and media to enrich our understanding of his thesis. And, of course, we'll continue our tradition of critique this semester. I assure you, we won't let the semester become depressing!
You can find Quit Everything: Interpreting Depression everywhere, but here's the description from the publisher, Repeater Books:
Depression is rife amongst young people the world over. But what if this isn't depression as we know it, but instead a reaction to the chaos and collapse of a seemingly unchangeable and unliveable future?
In Quit Everything, Franco Berardi argues that this "depression" is actually conscious or unconscious withdrawal of psychological energy and a dis-investment of desire that he defines instead as "desertion". A desertion from political participation, from the daily grind of capitalism, from the brutal reality of climate collapse, and from a society which offers nothing but chaos and pain.
Berardi analyses why this desertion is on the rise and why more people are quitting everything in our age of political impotence and the rise of the far-right, asking if we can find some political hope in desertion amongst the ruins of a world on the brink of collapse.
Franco "Bifo" Berardi (born 2 November 1949) is an Italian Marxist philosopher, theorist and activist in the autonomist tradition, whose work mainly focuses on the role of the media and information technology within post-industrial capitalism. Berardi has written over two dozen published books, as well as a number of essays and speeches. - Wikipedia
- Course Details
Credits: 3; Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and graduate program adviser.
Jack Stenner, Ph.D Associate Professor Office: New York, NY Office Hours: Th 11:30am-12:30pm 352.213.0997 stenner@ufl.edu Graduate: ART 6933 Area Methods: Rotating Topics Class: VIRTUAL Time: T 11:45 AM - 2:45 PM Website: http://jackstenner.com/teaching/grad-seminar-24 Listserv: Class contact will be made UF email and via Discord (evite to be provided).
Objectives
Over the course of the semester, the goal is to help you develop your art practice in the following ways:
Analysis
Analyze and evaluate works from an informed point-of-view.
Materiality
Recognize the role of tools and their impact on meaning.
Criticality
Engage in meaningful discussion, develop a sense of criticality.
Research
Investigate new techniques and methodologies.
Praxis
Successfully link concepts, expression, and medium.
Growth
Learn to integrate useful suggestions by others.
- Attendance
Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies that can be found at:
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx. - Grades
A graduate seminar is a group activity that depends on member participation. You are expected to constructively criticize your peers. Constructive criticism is considered a part of your class participation. You are also expected to show and discuss your work, whether it is complete or not. This too, is part of participation. Over the course of the semester, depending on how it develops, there will likely be assigned readings to which you will be expected to post a written reflection. These will be evaluated for the care with which they approach the subject, but will not be treated as "English" papers.
Detailed, specific info on grades and grading can be found at:
https://catalog.ufl.edu/UGRD/academic-regulations/grades-grading-policies/Instructor’s evaluation of student’s interest, motivation, attendance, proficiency and overall development or improvement during the semester will be taken into consideration in determining the final course grade. This syllabus is subject to refinement and development throughout the semester based on feedback and class interaction. Policies and grading criteria are absolute and will not change. Any substantial changes will be discussed with the class prior to implementation.
Grading breakdown:
Presentation of your work = 40% Contribution to critique = 40% Attendance = 20%
- Evaluation
Students are encouraged to provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing online evaluations at https://evaluations.ufl.edu. Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three weeks of the semester, but students will be given specific times when they are open. Summary results of these assessments are available to students at https://evaluations.ufl.edu/results/.
- Materials/Fees
Required materials will depend on the proposed projects submitted by students. Students will design projects and set budgets based on the goals of the work. See the Schedule of Courses for any attendant fees related to this course.
- Readings
I highly recommend Quit Everything by Franco Berardi. Additional readings will consist of .pdfs and URLs available on the class website.
- Policies
Be sure to read the University of Florida Policies regarding academic honesty, the honor code, accommodations for students with disabilities, wellness, computer use and acceptable use policy, disruptive behavior, health and safety, email and communications, and late work policy.