Course Syllabus

Course Information

ATEC 6331.001: Aesthetics of Interactive Arts

Tuesday 2:30 – 5:15 pm

Professor Contact Information

Dr. Mihai Nadin

ATEC Building, Office 1.618
(972) 883-2832
nadin@utdallas.edu
Office Hours: Mondays 2:15 - 4:15 pm or by appointment.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

This is a required graduate class. If an undergraduate student wishes to take it, ATEC approval is
required.

Course Description

Aesthetics is present in everything we do. It is the underlying “logic of senses,” and as such it is
expressed in the ways in which we perceive the world.

Students in this class will practice aesthetics as it relates to their educational focus. The outcome of this
class is expressed in:

a) Knowledge of aesthetics as it shaped, and continues to shape, our own activity

b) Aesthetic skills expressed in aesthetic value judgments and aesthetic innovation in the age of
interactive media and computational design.

The class will engage students in reading and reporting on foundational texts, in particular, informational
aesthetics. Students will also explore the aesthetics of innovation and the aesthetic experiment. Guest
lecturers will cover the “hot” topics of current developments (interactivity, immersion, virtuality, etc.).
New media is of particular interest to our explorations. You are asked to practice aesthetics. Students will
be encouraged to post class-work on the website conceived for this class. Given the many choices open to
students in ATEC, the class will also serve as an open forum for defining the students’ focus in the
program.

Course Syllabus Page 1

Required Textbooks and Materials

! Mihai Nadin, The Civilization of Illiteracy, Book IV, Chapter 1 (Language and the Visual),
Chapter 8 (Art(ifacts) and Aesthetic Processes), Chapter 10 (The Sense of Design), and Book V,
Chapter 1 (The Interactive Future: Individual, community and Society in the Age of the Web).
Additionally: The chapters “Language and the Visual” (pp. 321-352); “Science and Philosophy”
(especially pp. 511-524); “The Sense of Design” (pp. 590-611); and “A Sense of the Future” (pp.
729-767 will be discussed in class. This book is available in its entirety on the Web. A limited
number of copies will be offered for sale at the University Bookstore, at a discounted price for
students.

! Mihai Nadin, Anticipation—The End Is Where We Start From. Basel: Muller Verlag, 2003. It
will be offered for sale in the University Bookstore at a discounted price for students.

! Mercedes Vilanova and Frederic Chorda, A Mind at Work, Synchron Publishers, 2003,
pp. 7-32 and 167-197. The book will be offered for sale at the University Bookstore at a
discounted price for students.

! Mihai Nadin, Science and Beauty: Aesthetic structuring of Knowledge, Leonardo, 24/1, 1991.
The article will be made available to students.

! Mihai Nadin, Emergent Aesthetics. Aesthetic Issues in Computer Arts., Leonardo, Special Issue:
Computer Art in context, august 1989. The article will be made available to students.

! Malcolm Gladwell, The formula. What if you built a machine to predict hit movies? In The New
Yorker, 10/16, 2006. The article will be made available to students. It is also posted on the
website of The New Yorker.

! Gaut, Berys Nigel and Lopes, Dominic, The Routledge companion to aesthetics [electronic
resource], NetLibrary, 2005. Available as eBook at the McDermott Library of UTD.

! computer art. To be provided on line or print-out.

Suggested Course Materials

Storage (regardless of the procedure): Maintain a digital library of examples (painting, sculpture,
music, literature, computer art, interactive works, etc.) to be shared in class. Respect
strictly academic and intellectual property procedures when quoting a work or when
presenting it as an example.

Course Syllabus Page 2

Assignments & Academic Calendar

Week 1, August 26:

Introduction
Assignment 1: This assignment has 2 parts:
1) Take one of your own pictures (you decide which—baby, at graduation, a new photo,
everything is possible). Work on this picture until it represents your aesthetics. Show the
original picture along with the manipulated image.
Due next class (more precisely, September 2)

2) Select 1 of the 2 presidential candidates. If you wish, you can select even a candidate
from other parties. But a legitimate candidate. Pick an image and work on it until it
expresses what you want to say (good or bad) about the candidate. On Election Day, the
portraits will be hanging in the ATEC Building.
Due: Election Day, November 4th
Hang the Portraits in the ATEC Building. (Your signatures should be clearly readable. The
class will look at each Portrait.)

Reading: 1) chapter on history of aesthetics in Gaut, Berys Nigel and Lopes, Dominic, The
Routledge companion to aesthetics [electronic resource], NetLibrary, 2005. Available as
eBook at the McDermott Library of UTD.
2) Collins, Lauren. “Pixel Perfect,” The New Yorker, May 12,2008, pp. 93-103

Week 2, September 2:
Class presentation of first assignment. You can project or display the 2 images.
Aesthetics in the age of computation
Assignment 2: Write a report on the assigned reading. Try to define what has changed
since 1989. The report—maximum 1000 words—must be specific. Due next class
(September 9) Reading: Mihai Nadin, Emergent Aesthetics. Aesthetic Issues in Computer
Arts, Leonardo, Special Issue: Computer Art in Context, August 1989. You can find the
article on www.nadin.ws. or you can check out other locations using your preferred search
engine.

Week 3, September 9:
Is aesthetics deterministic?
Assignment 3: Can you imagine a machine that will generate aesthetic artifacts? Based
upon the purpose you define for your aesthetic machine, prepare a presentation to the class
of how such a machine will work and what kind of artifacts it will eventually produce. You
can use digital means (such as modeling, software, animation, interactive diagrams), or you
can use traditional means (clay, wood, or paper models). The project and your current
competence dictate the medium you will use; but you will have to justify your choice of
medium and explain how the machine yon conceived works. Within 2 weeks (by Sept
23), “make” an aesthetic machine: a program, a device, or an illustration. Show the input
variables, the machine state, the output Make a professional presentation of your machine.
Presentation in class: week 5, Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Reading: Malcolm Gladwell, The formula. What if you built a machine to predict hit
movies? In The New Yorker, 10/16,2006.

Course Syllabus Page 3

Week 4, September 16:
Information aesthetics: Foundation and Principles
Assignment 4: What is information aesthetics? How can it guide you in your work? Due:
week 7
Reading: 1) Arie Altena, Lucas van der Velden, Max Bense, Georg Nees, Frieder Nake (to
be provided).
2) Mihai Nadin, Negotiating the World of Make Believe: The Aesthetic Compass, in
Mercedes Vilanova and Frederic Chorda, A Mind at Work, Synchron Publishers, 2003, pp.
167-176

Week 5, September 23:

Presentation of your aesthetic machine. Each student will have 15 minutes for the
presentation. Each assignment will be graded by the class.
September 25-27: seesmic.com. Christi Nielsen, an ATEC doctoral student organized a
show at this site. You have 72 hours to “visit” the ongoing show. Write a 1-pager on the
show. Your comments should specify how such a type of show might be of interest to you.

Week 6, September 30:

We do not meet for class. You have to visit the Nasher Sculpture Center. Your visit is the
basis of your assignment.
Assignment 5: Choose 1 work from among those on display. Define its aesthetics. Remake
the chosen piece hi your own aesthetics. Due: week 8, October 14.

Week 7, October 7:
Defining your semester project: Aesthetics at work applied to your own interactive arts
focus. How do you define your academic goals? How will your graduate education
contribute to your long term professional goals? What role will aesthetics play? Start
defining this major project in class.

Week 8, October 14:

Guest lecture: Charissa N. Terranova. Students will meet Prof. Terranova at Centraltrak.
This is the UTD Artists Residency, 800 Exposition Ave., Dallas TX 75226. Prof. Terranova
will give you a tour of Centraltrak. The show at that time will be Ludic Space: Faith Gay
and Ruben Nieto. Your visit and her presentation will be the basis of your next assignment.
Charissa Terranova is Assistant Professor of Aesthetic Studies and Director of Centraltrak.
Assignment 6: What did you learn at Centraltrak? Should museums/galleries be only
repositories of past aesthetics or should they also stimulate new aesthetic experiences?
Due: week 11 (November 4)

Week 9, October 21:

Guest Lecture: Professor Frank Dufour, The Aesthetics of Music
Independent study: Check out the sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSt1KPLPM4Y and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmyE534nN7A
for a first idea on the next assignment). Check out YouTube postings from previous classes.

Course Syllabus Page 4

Week 10, October 28:
Class presentation of final project proposal (what you intend to do). Define the subject,
what the final product will be, evaluation criteria. In the second part of the class, your
YouTube project will be defined (Surprise! Will it be aesthetic inspiration or aesthetic
creativity?!
Due: week 13 (November 18)

Week 11, November 4:

Assignment 6 due.
How do we evaluate the aesthetics of interactive arts? As a future professional, you have to
be aware of the evaluation process. You have to develop methods that will allow you to
evaluate the aesthetic quality of your work and the work of those you will interact with.

Week 12, November 11:

Aesthetics in context. The difference between American, German, Japanese, etc. is the
result not only of cultural differences, but also of a context: differences in the practical
experience.
Assignment: Prepare examples characteristic of your own region and/or country. Doe:
week 13
Reading: “The Sense of Design” (pp. 590-611); and “A Sense of the Future” (pp. 729-
767) in The Civilization of Illiteracy.

Week 13, November 18:

YouTube assignment is due.
Presentation of examples characteristic of your own region and/or country.

Week 14, November 25:

FINAL Project Presentation and posting on the Web. By this time, all projects should
be uploaded on the class Website. First presentation of YouTube projects

Week 15, December 2:

FINAL Project Presentation and posting on the Web.

Course Syllabus Page 5