Covering a wide range of disciplines and intellectual interests reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of our program, the faculty at the University of Chicago are internationally celebrated artists working at one of the premier research universities in the United States. Along with numerous visiting artists the faculty and staff of the Department of Visual Arts are committed to the rigorous production and investigation of art. Below are a variety of courses offered regularly by DoVA faculty throughout each academic year.
On Art and Life
This multidisciplinary studio/seminar orbits around the symbiotic relations between art and cultural life. Utilizing contemporary culture as a framework, the class asks questions of ways in which art forms connective tissue with the worlds that happen outside of an artist's studio. Visual art is by nature a social form. This class looks to the repository of our culture(s) as a material, subject and palette. Put simply, how, why and in what ways do the things we call art produce or hold social values and ideas within its form?
Instructor(s): G. Oppenheimer
Untidy Objects
In this experimental course, students will use the lens of "untidy objects" to unravel the relationship between self and other, self and world. The concepts we normally use to think tend to take for granted, on the one hand, tidy objects, and on the other hand, tidy subjects coming to know tidy objects. We will undertake to challenge distinctions between subject and object through a multi-faceted set of sculptural and horticultural practices that bring us into close contact with plants and trees.The aspirations of this project are to question the conceptual ground from which we think about environmental justice and politics with an emphasis on practices of proximity to living others. Through readings, guest speakers, discussions, and practicum, this course and project provide an opportunity to re-habituate ourselves and lean differently into the world, to perceive, conceptualize, and represent living processes in ways that are oblique to common-sense.
Instructor(s): A. Ginsburg
Introduction to Printmaking
An introduction to basic printmaking techniques, including monoprint, intaglio (drypoint), planographic, and relief printing. Printmaking will be explored as a "bridge medium": a conduit between drawing, painting, and sculpture. Emphasis will be placed upon investigating visual structures through "calculated spontaneity" and "controlled accidents," as well as on the serial potential inherent in printmaking, as opposed to the strictly technical aspects of this medium.
Instructor(s): K. Desjardins
Art & Machine Intelligence
Artists have long used autonomous processes to aid in the creation of their work. From 18th century parlor games to contemporary visual culture, creators have applied stochastic methods, automation, and simulation to generate music, text, and imagery. In the last five years, as machine learning has matured into broadly applicable artificial intelligence, artists have turned towards neural networks as a new frontier for creative practice. This studio course will explore the history and uses of autonomous creative tools and focus, more specifically, on leading edge artistic applications of AI. Students will receive exposure to a breadth of methods in this domain and produce multiple projects engaged with these topics. Software development experience is not required, though it may be useful.
Instructor(s): J. Salavon
Advanced Problems in Sculpture
This course is open to all manifestations of sculptural practice broadly defined, including performance and film/video. A particular focus of the course will be considering issues of presence/the index, material histories, economic determination, and societal legibility. Readings on sculptural history from the 19th through the 21st century will be used to illuminate contemporary concerns and issues.
Instructor(s): G. Oppenheimer
Painting
Presuming fundamental considerations, this studio course emphasizes the purposeful and sustained development of a student's visual investigation through painting, accentuating both invention and clarity of image. Requirements include group critiques and discussion.
Instructor(s): M. Eastman
Experimental Animation: Exploring Manual Techniques
Individually directed video shorts will be produced in this intensive studio course. Experimental and improvised approaches to animation and motion picture art will focus on analog and material techniques, with basic digital post-production also being introduced. Early and experimental cinema, puppetry and contemporary low-tech animation will be presented as formal and technical examples.
Instructor(s): S. Wolniak
Introduction to Black and White Film Photography
Photography is a familiar medium due to its ubiquitous presence in our visual world, including popular culture and personal usage. In this course, students learn technical procedures and basic skills related to the 35mm camera, black and white film, and print development. They also begin to establish criteria for artistic expression. We investigate photography in relation to its historical and social context in order to more consciously engage the photograph's communicative and expressive possibilities. Course work culminates in a portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium. Field trips required.
Instructor(s): E. Hogeman
Drawing Concepts
This course will focus on expanding the definition and practice of drawing. Studio work will engage traditional, spatial and process-oriented mark making in order to materialize thematically driven projects. Emphasis will be placed equally on the formal concerns of subject, material, and technique as well as the ability to effectively convey one's concept. Projects will include weekly and longer-term assignments, in addition to critique. Participation in field trips is required.
Instructor(s): B. Collins