RISD Graduate Studies Term

Experimental Publishing Studio NewHive version of this syllabus here Dept: RISD Graduate Studies Term: Spring 2015 Course number: GRAD-206G-01 Classroom: AUD 522 Days / time: Wednesday 1:10PM — 6:10PM Instructor: Paul Soulellis [email protected] Office hours: By appointment Course Description Publishing has never been a fixed notion. “What is publishing today?” remains a relevant inquiry, but with an expanding field of response, as platforms, channels and modes of production mutate and multiply. Let’s begin with “the post,” exposing its origins as a physical note publicly nailed to a piece of wood. Its descendents persist today, plainly visible on the wall, in the feed and in the stream as traces of a deeper history of documents — the scriptural economy. Is posting (always) publishing? We’ll examine substrate, blankness and the possibility of saying nothing as a post-media publishing strategy. And as certain legacies recede (privacy, authorship, copyright), how is publishing still “making public?” Let’s unpack (and entangle) these and other ways to explore the public circulation of work in a post-digital space. We’ll draw trajectories to and from the emergence of the networked artist in the 20th century, into the last twenty years, and particularly around the last two, as self-publishing becomes more and more inseparable from the artist’s ambient practice (and work) itself. The semester will be devoted to the creation of our own “performing publishing” studio, disseminating work as a highly diffused, ongoing performance, rather than discrete events. The development of publishing manifestos and projects, working in public, research-based exploration, non-traditional tools and platforms, experimentation and collaboration will be encouraged. Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite is helpful but not a requirement. Courseware We will use a Facebook group and a tumblr to collect references to artworks and other case studies (TBD). Documentation You are strongly encouraged to select a primary channel for documenting your work (Tumblr, Twitter, New Hive, etc.) and to commit to publishing ongoing works-in-progress and presentations at least once a week throughout the semester. Course Objectives To investigate self-publishing as an essential part of an artist or designer’s practice; To discover new modalities, techniques and concepts in independent publishing; To engage with critical discourse around publishing in the context of networked culture; To provoke and extend this discourse forward with our own self-publishing experiments. Course Requirements Conversation, communication and critique will be crucial to the studio. All students will be expected to speak openly and contribute to an ongoing, shared, supportive dialogue throughout the semester. Students should be prepared and willing to share information and resources during the presentations and reviews. Students should be actively engaged in researching areas of interest that are introduced in the studio. This should be evidenced by sharing information through discussion, contributions to a studio blog and/or manifest in studio practice. Format This is a studio course that will emphasize rigorous making and critical visual thinking. Assigned readings and other activities supplement this work. Class time is mainly used for discussion of readings and concepts, critique of work and to introduce methods and theory. Everyone will be required to actively participate in studio discussion and critiques. Assignments 1 Substrate “What’s on your mind?” “What’s happening?” Set aside your ability to say anything at any moment and create a way to say nothing. It may be a one-off work, a series or a system. In saying nothing, explore the possibility of medium, substrate and frame to carry their own messages. Key works and concepts Noise Post-media “It’s not even typing at all…it’s publishing.” Aram Saroyan ©1968 John Cage Lecture on Nothing (1949) Language Removal Services Reynols Blank Tapes (2000) Nam June Paik Zen for Film (1962–64) Fiona Banner Luigi Amato Volume (2014) Texts information as material Nothing: A User’s Manual (2015) Craig Dworkin The Logic of Substrate (2013) Lev Manovich Post-Media Aesthetics (2001) 2 Versions “We’re on the same page.” Start with found material and create at least three new versions. Demonstrate how copies are both same and not same. Explore originality, difference and the nature of publishing as a series of repeating changes, however imperceptible. Key works and concepts Infrathin Oliver Laric, Versions 2009, 2010, 2012 Samizdat Mishka Henner _IMG01 Australian-troops-passing-014.jpg Texts Artie Vierkant The Image Object Post-Internet Lisa Gitelman Paper Knowledge (chapter 4 “Near Print and Beyond Paper / Knowing by *.pdf”) Dominico Quaranta “Interview with Oliver Laric” in In Your Computer (2011) The Impermanent Book (2012) 3 Dispersion “In what sense is posting—to Facebook, for example—publishing or making public?” Distribute a series to a network/channel. The series may include any content: messages, images, data or anything else. It may be new work or old work that you transform but you should be exposing it for the first time. Interrupt, complicate or somehow alter the conventions/expectations/algorithms of the network by circulating your project. Key works and concepts Amelia Ulman Excellences and Perfection (2014) (Ulman talk with Rhizome) (2014) Petra Cortright @wnd_go (2015) Eva and Franco Mattes Befnoed (2014) Numbered PDF distribution (post-inter.net) (2014) Wifi proposal by Konst & Teknik (2014) Texts Seth Price Dispersion (2002–ongoing) Mass Effect by Lauren Cornell and Ed Halter (2013) Dominico Quaranta “Petra Cortright” in In Your Computer (2011) 4 Transduction Using existing material, the Dispersion assignment or new work, translate from one channel, substrate or network to another. Translate once or multiple times. What is lost/gained? Distortions and artifacts may be amplified; previously hidden structures may be exposed. Key works and concepts hybridity circulationism the bruised image Printed Web #1 and #2 glitch Alessandro Ludovico “Networks as Agents in the Clash Between Personal and Industrial Post-Digital Print” (2014) Library of the Printed Web (2013–ongoing) Post-Digital Archive (2014–ongoing) Institute for Network Cultures, Hybrid Publishing Toolkit (2014) Sebastian Schmieg Books and Blankets (2012) Texts Hito Steyerl “Too Much World: Is the Internet Dead?” (2013) Orit Gat “To Bind and to Liberate: Printing Out the Internet” (2014) Orit Gat “Unbound: The Politics of Scanning” (2014) Olia Lialina Offline Art opening talk at xpo gallery, Paris (2013) Paul Soulellis “Performing Publishing / Infrathin Tales from the Printed Web” (2014) Alessandro Ludovico “Post-Digital Print: The Mutation of Publishing Since 1894” (2012) Domenico Quaranta Lost in Translation. Or, Bringing Net Art to Another Place? Pardon, Context. (2008) 5 Balconism “We publish, we get read. ok. Private publishing does not exist, we now know we always get read (hi). To select what we want to have read, and by whom, is our greatest challenge rly.” Publish a private space in public. Set up tensions between seen and unseen, forbidden vs permitted, known vs unknown. Demonstrate an understanding of how your intended audience engages with these different dimensions. Key works and concepts Constant Dullaart Jennifer in Paradise (2014) Constant Dullaart Treasure of Lima (2014) Metahaven Black Transparency (2014) Brian Droitcour Klaus eBooks Olia Lialina Summer (2013) Petra Cortright HELL_TREE ebook (2012) Texts Rachel Falconer “Jenifa Taught Me — Constant Dullaart Review” (2014) Constant Dullaart “Where to for Public Space?” in You Are Here—Art After the Internet (2014) Constant Dullaart Balconism (2014) Metahaven Research and Destroy (2006) 6 Manifesto (final project) Write a publishing manifesto and develop work based on your ideas. Demonstrate how your manifesto suggests a methodology, a series of works or some kind of ongoing production. Key works and concepts Dexter Sinister, The Serving Library La Bibliotèque Fantastique Texts The Serving Library Company, Inc. Statement of Intent Paul Soulellis “Search, compile, publish / towards a new artist’s web-to-print practice” Spring 2015 Schedule February 18 / Week 1 February 25 / Week 2 March 4 / Week 3 March 11 / Week 4 — guest artist / Interrupt conference at Brown March 18 / Week 5 March 25 / Break April 1 / Week 6 April 8 / Week 7 April 15 / Week 8 — Theorizing the Web conference in NYC April 22 / Week 9 April 29 / Week 10 May 6 / Week 11 May 13 / Week 12 (final critique) Evaluation Criteria Overarching principles Attendance Participation in discussions and critiques Timely production of work Open-mindedness and commitment to course assignments Development of personal knowledge, skills, and insights over the course of the term For each assignment Degree of visual and conceptual literacy evident in work Quality and depth of ideas, critical thought, and application to practice Tangible demonstration of focused observation, experimentation, and inquiry Willingness to take risks to produce original work Care and quality of execution of all projects and presentations Quality, effectiveness and appropriateness, of products in their final form Fulfilling specific objectives per individual assignment You are expected to be familiar with the Academic

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