Your answer to each question should be no longer than 4 sentences. Longer answers will not be counted. -------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Name and briefly explain 3 new visual communication techniques developed by modern artists as they are used in Man Ray's film "Emak-Bakia" (1926). examples of good answers (others are also possible): fast editing which juxtaposes diffirent subjects (can be also refered to as montage), diagonal asymmetrical compositions, unusual (for that time) points of view such as shooting from the moving vehicle (car), use of close-ups of objects and bodies (woman's legs dancing), repetitive cyclical motion, montage or collage in a single image (superimposition of diffirent objects in one frame), use of abstract forms -------------------------------------------------------------- 2.Both "Emak-Bakia" and "Playtime" use motion as a way to make statements about the contemporary society. Give one example of how motion is used diffirently in these two films and explain what the artist is trying to communicate to us about his society in each case. example of good answer: "Emak-Bakia" repeteadly uses repetitive movement as a reference to industrial machines which typically have parts moving in repetitive patterns. "Playtime" contrasts the military-like geometric movement of some characters with more random movement of others. In addition, the film moves from geometric movements in the beginning suggesting ordered and machine-like organization to a circular movement at the end suggesting joy, circus. 4.Why is Google's new campus can be considered an example of info-aesthetics? example of good answer (others are also possible):: In what kinds of spaces people who are engaged in information work - in this case, not simply using computers to do finance, research, etc. but actually developing new information tools - should do this work? Or: what spatial forms (i.e. architecture) is appropriate for office spaces where dealing with information processing machine, i.e. a computer, is a major activity? -------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Explain why the films "ITSU" by Plaid can be considered a good example of "media remixability" (as discussed in the chapter on After Effects). example of good answer: the film combines multiple media, typically within the same from: live video, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, typography. The film also repeatedly juxtaposes diffirent media temporally: the shots of animated charts are juxtaposes with the shots of the characters (video composited over graphic backgrounds). -------------------------------------------------------------- 6. How does After Effects interface make possible media remixability? After Effects interface makes possible "media remixability" in a number of ways - if a student writes just one of them, this constitutes a good answer: AE interface allows the designers to combine multiple media in one project (digital video, 2D design, 3D models and 3D animation, typography, photography, etc.). AE interface combines the tools and working methods from multiple media: animation, film editing/cinematography, graphci design. AE interface allows the designer to apply techniques drawn from multiple media to content in diffirent media (including content in media which these techniques could not be used on before). For example, Photoshop-style filters can be applied to video, graphic design, typography, etc. -------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Explain in your own words Kay and Goldberg' concept of computer as a "metamedium." example of good answer: Computer is a meta-medium because it makes possible for the creation of many new mediums. It also can simulate various previously existing media. -------------------------------------------------------------- 8. What are some of the effects of industrial revolution on social life? see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_revolution#Social_effects Other effects: emergence of big cities; new urban density of people and information; emergence of a nuclear family structure and corresponding gender roles and codes of behavior -------------------------------------------------------------- 9. How do Bauhaus building in Dessau by Walter Gropius (1925) and Pompidou Center in Paris (1977) by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers Pompidou (1977) reflect diffirent ideas about technology held by these architects and other artists in these two historical periods? Compare the ideas of one of these architects (i.e. Gropius or Piano and Rogers) to Rem Koolhaus ideas about Lagos (2005). On Bauhaus building: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Bauhaus.html example of good answers - students need to write only one these: Bauhaus building borrows from industrial architecture: ribbon windows, etc. Bauhaus building reflects fascination with technology on the part of Bauhaus faculty and other artists of that period. Bauhaus building is conceived by architect who seems to know exactly what people need and how they will behave. Pompidou Center is both a beginning of a "high-tech" architecture trend (associated with Richard Rogers) and an ironic commentary on how modern technology contributed to a mechanical machine-like society (also poked fun at in "Playtime"). Here an idea of a public building emulating a factory popular with modern architects is treated ironically: all building's infrastructure is put outside in an colorful, exaggerated, cartoon-like manner. Rem Koolhaus is interested in Lagos because it exemplifies a failure of traditional architecture and urbanism faced with the reality of early 21st century mega-cities. How something as big and chaotic as Logos functions? If Gropius plays the role of a master who prescribes how people would behave in his building, Koolhaus wants to learn from Lagos; he is respectful of improvised structures and situations which people develop to survive. ---------------------------------------------------- Write short essays (maximum 3 blue book pages) on each question below. A. Using projects (important films, buildings, etc.) presented and discussed IN LABS as examples, explain some of the diffirence in how the artists used technology in the earlier decades of the twentieth century (1900-1930) versus later decades (1960s-). Discuss at least THREE particular projects in your essay. B. Introduction to Info-aesthetics states that "In information society the design of forms becomes intricately linked with the design of interfaces." Using the projects discussed in lectures, lab sessions, and/or readings, discuss THREE diffirent examples of how the presence of interfaces affects the kind of forms being designed today. (Note: interfaces in this case refer both to interactive - such as screen and keyboard of a laptop or a cell phone - and non-interactive such as a public screen.) See corresponding part of my Introduction: In information society the design of forms becomes intricately linked with the design of interfaces. First of all, as I already mentioned, we need to give some visual form to what will appear on the screens of computers, mobile phones, PDAs, car navigation systems, and other devices Ð as well as to buttons, trackballs, microphones, and various other input devices. Therefore, human-computer interfaces which involve a set of visual conventions such as folders, icons, and menus (i.e., Graphical User Interface), audio conventions (as in voice recognition interface), physical interaction conventions (for instance, actions assigned to mouse buttons) and particular material articulations (such as the shape, color, material and texture of a mobile phone) represent the whole new category of forms which need to be designed today. Even more importantly, as computation becomes incorporated in our lived environment (the trend which is described by such terms as Òubiquitous computing,Ó Òpervasive computing,Ó Òambient intelligence,Ó Òcontext-aware environments,Ó Òsmart objects,Ó and others), the interfaces gradually leave the realm where they safely lived for a few decades Ð that is, stand-alone computers and electronics devices Ð and start appearing in all kinds of objects and on all kinds of surfaces, be it interior walls, furniture, benches, bags, clothing, posters, and so on. Consequently, the forms of all these objects that previously lived Òoutside of informationÓ have now address the likely presence of interfaces somewhere on/in them. This does not mean that from now on Òform follows interfaceÓ Ð rather, the two now have to accommodate each other. Beyond the traditional requirements that the material forms have to satisfy such as functionality and aesthetics Ð for instance, a chair has to be comfortable for sitting as well make an aesthetic statement Ð their design is now also shaped by new requirements. For example, at least so far, we are used to interact with text which is presented on flat and rectangular surfaces, and therefore if a screen is to be incorporated somewhere in the object, a part of it needs to be pretty much flat. Which is easy to do if an object is a table but not as easy if it is a piece of clothing or GerryÕs Disney Hall in Los Angeles specifically designed not to have a single flat area. (Of course, as new technologies such as Rapid Manufacturing may soon enable easy printing of an electronic display on any surface of any object while it is being produced, its possible that we will be able to quickly adjust our perceptual habits, so moving and change-shaping display surfaces will be accepted much easier than I can imagine. In fact, the computer-controlled graphic projections on the body of dancers as in Apparition by Klaus Obermair or in Interactive Opera Stage system by Art+Com already show the aesthetic potential of displaying information over a changing non-flat not-rectangular form, i.e. a human body. )