Courses

Required Courses for SIM Majors Only

MPSM276/286, MPSM376/386, MPSM476/496 Studio for Interrelated Media Major Studio
THUR 1:30 – 6:30 pm C. Bi, D. Moser, N. Sturiale, T. Yamamoto
This is a studio class in which individuals and groups present and discuss work in media of their choice such as audio, video, computer, performance, publishing, and production of events that interrelate media. Each week, student presentations of work are organized into performances, discussions, workshops, and exhibitions produced by students who select, schedule and technically support the presentation. This course repeats every semester and is required for all SIM Majors.  It is not available to non SIM Majors.

Every Semester SIM offers a variety of Open Electives that are open to any MassArt student from any department. See below for the current offerings.

FA23 Courses
MPSM-337 Electronic Projects for Artists I
MON 1:30 – 6:30 pm   D. Moser 

The purpose of this studio course is to provide skills and information that will be useful for artists who use electrical devices in their artworks. Examples will be shown to help students in incorporating/integrating electrical circuits and sensors in a variety of media including sculpture, installation and performance. This intro course covers AC/DC electrical current and how to work with it safely. We show how to use components like breadboards, resistors, capacitors and transistors, Integrated Circuits, read schematics and build electrical circuits. The ultimate goal is for artists to incorporate this knowledge in the production of projects of their own design.

MPSM357 Experimental Ensembles
MON 1:30 – 6:30 pm T. Yamamoto
Experimental Ensembles is an opportunity for students to collaborate in significant ways on works that involve various groupings of student ensembles engaging in collective actions that are both performance and non-performance based. The class explores the artistic practice of conducting, composition, and collaboration along-side the experience of following the direction of others in order to create an artwork that has a public impact.  Students will have the opportunity to use each other as actors, agents, units, and parts of their creative vision in varied environments and alternative spaces. Topics included the examination of historical works that have emerged from: the Fluxus art movement; happenings of the ‘60s; performative installation; live choral-based configurations; experiments with sound, light, motion, site, and performance; as well as, alternative genres such as live cinema. An ensemble can be a Flash mob, a gathering of organized movements and soundings on a park walk, mobile sculptural elements, or a series of instructions that a group or public is asked to follow. We will work in large ensembles and also experiment with smaller forms within the group.
MPSM-211 Interrelated Media Practice
TUE 8:00am – 1:00pm T. Yamamoto

This course is centered around explorations of you as an interrelated media artist with a special focus on space/place and creative interventionism. This course aims to deepen our intentionality in considering place and viewers when creating artwork. How can we – as artists – deeply observe the current conditions of a place and intervene in spaces to produce new, more desirable outcomes and futures? We will explore these themes through a series of group/individual projects, observations, artist talks, and site visits. This is an introductory critique studio course where students produce and present interrelated media artworks in progress and in final form in order to expand their artistic practice, interact with artists from other disciplines, and refine public speaking skills. Great option for non-SIM majors to explore interdisciplinary art practice.

MPSM-389 Art, Network, Interactivity
TUE  1:30 – 6:30 pm D. Moser

This course is an introduction to interactivity over networks (e.g. Local Area Networks, the Internet) using small programmable devices. Such devices (which include Arduino microcontrollers, custom boards and Raspberry Pi computers) are used in the creation of “”Smart”” objects and the technological development commonly referred to as “”The Internet of Things.”” The course provides software examples and development environments for students to write their own programs. Some experience with programming is helpful but not necessary. Networked, programmable devices enable audiences and artist-collaborators to have interactive experiences with a variety of media including text, image, sound and video.

MPSM-273 Intro to Sound Studio
TUE  1:30 – 6:30 pm  E. Freeman

Students study principles of electroacoustic and digital sound processing, including audio recording, editing, mixing, and signal processing techniques. Students are required to present “live” or recorded sound pieces. Sound studio includes analog and digital synthesis, analog and digital recording and editing systems, signal processors. Weekly assignments. No prerequisite. (fall term only)

MPSM-356 Installation Art as a Spatial Practice
WED 9:00 am-1:00 pm C. Bi

This course examines installation art as spatial practice and encourages students to consider content, contexts and approaches that may not fit within traditional definitions of art or display venues. Exploring advanced technologies, tools and processes ranging from sound, video-mapping, digital media, found objects, sculpture, photography, hardware and software, students will develop new art forms and investigate how conceptual, spatial and material needs define the language and application of installation art. Group discussions, lectures and presentations include relevant history and theory of installation art in the broader context of contemporary art.

MPSM-207 Interdisciplinary Video
WED 3:00 – 8:00 pm  A. Flackett 

This is a studio course in which students learn the basics of video production – from shooting to editing to the use of effects and finally publishing/screening final works. The class explores the inclusion of video in installations, live performance, and other experimental applications. The contemporary practice of video production is presented within the historical context of the moving image from silent films up to the modern Youtube era. Additionally, introductory video mapping technologies and video sound techniques are presented. The course combines lectures, demonstrations, workshops, visiting artists, and both collaborative and individual assignments.

MPSM-204 Light Lab
WED 3:00 – 8:00 pm M. Azanow

This is a hands-on course in which students will use lighting, dimming, and control units ranging from antiques to the newest L.E.D. fixtures available. Students will gain experience in safe working practices installing lighting systems that illuminate events, performers and objects. Students will work in teams to light visiting artists as well as experiment with color and light while they stage student-designed projects. Lighting and staging vocabulary, work procedures and methods will be introduced. This course is a must for sculptors, moving image-makers, stop-motion animators, performers and producers – or anyone that needs to light their artwork.

MPSM-336 Event Planning and Production
THUR 9:00 am-1:00 pm  N. Sturiale

This is the fall segment of a year-long course designed for those that are actively involved in organizing and producing ambitious events and exhibitions throughout the year. Open to any MassArt student that is actively producing on or off campus events. Required for Eventworks producers and Godine Family Gallery Managers. Registration is by permission of instructor. 

SP23 Courses

MPSM-311 Electronic Project For Artists 2 – Programming
MON 1:30-6:30 pm   D. Moser 
This course introduces students to computer interfaces for connecting interactive sculpture, performance and installation with software. Course content includes micro-controllers, electrical sensors, custom-made circuits and programming. No previous programming experience is necessary. Pre-req: MPSM337 suggested, but none required.

MPSM-211 Interrelated Media Practice
MON 1:30 – 6:30 pm C. Bi
This course is centered around explorations of you as an interrelated media artist with a special focus on space/place and creative interventionism. This course aims to deepen our intentionality in considering place and viewers when creating artwork. How can we – as artists – deeply observe the current conditions of a place and intervene in spaces to produce new, more desirable outcomes and futures? We will explore these themes through a series of group/individual projects, observations, artist talks, and site visits. This is an introductory critique studio course where students produce and present interrelated media artworks in progress and in final form in order to expand their artistic practice, interact with artists from other disciplines, and refine public speaking skills. Great option for non-SIM majors to explore interdisciplinary art practice.

MPSM-409 Mining Meaning (Contemporary Methods of Inquiry)
TUES 1:30 – 6:30 pm   E. Buckholtz 
This class focuses on the development of artistic practice and individualized research through multiple lenses. We will investigate deepening concepts through the lenses of history, philosophy, theory, and material and non-material culture. Practice-based Research is a form of research that aims to advance knowledge partly by means of practice. We will draw readings from the likes of Donna Haraway, Frances Stark, Vilem Flusser, Byung-Chul Han, Agnes Martin, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Juhani Pallasmaa, Kumagusu Minakakta, Theaster Gates, William Kentridge, Susan Sontag, and many others… Discussion, in-depth reading and written/visual/audio analysis regarding contemporary issues in art are a fundamental component of this course. This course is designed to familiarize the student with a wide variation of art practice approaches that share an extensive range of artistic research at their core.

MPSM-410 Immersive Experience Design – Virtual Worlds
TUE 1:30-6:30 pm   E. Freeman 
This course cultivates students’ ability to create immersive multi-sensory experiences through the lens of play, story-telling and world building. It explores the potential power innate in each of our senses and provides a framework upon which immersive artistic environments can be envisioned. The course presents examples of contemporary and historical immersive experience design as well as introduces interactivity, virtual and augmented reality technologies. Students are invited to do their own research, design and modeling of original immersive experience designs. The course prioritizes an experimental approach to the discipline and emphasizes the connections between the real and the virtual.

MPSM-402 Art, Life and Money
WED 8:00am – 1:00 pm   M. Taing
This course is targeted towards soon-to-graduate art students who are thinking about the practicalities of continuing life as an independent artist after college. Throughout the semester students will meet MassArt Alum as well as others pursuing unconventional artistic paths. Through discussion, presentations and field trips, issues surrounding the realistic struggles of maintaining life as an independent artist alongside the celebration of such a choice will be explored. The course will attempt to demystify copyright law, basic finance skills, resilience strategies, and professional networking. Students will interview artists as well as explore methods for balancing art, life and money after school. Students will also practice writing their artist statement and resume, giving an artist talk, and creating a personal five year plan.

MPSM-205 Stagecraft and Technical Production
WED 3:00 – 8:00pm M. Azanow
This course aims to demystify basic lighting, rigging, sound and staging practices. Technical workshops will be conducted during class time where students work in teams to complete assignments. Demonstrations and lectures also include site planning, power distribution, and safety in the workspace. For credit the students will prepare and present their own personal projects using the class as crew and SIM’s technology.

MPSM-207 Beat Research
WED 3:00-8:00 pm  A. Flackett
This is a studio course in which students will produce work that is influenced by the cultures of hip-hop and electronic music. Students will learn the techniques of sampling, sequencing, and drum programming using Ableton Live and other music-making software. Most assignments will involve the creation of music, but we will also go over the production of video and live performance.

MPSM-336 Event Planning and Production
THUR 9:00 am-1:00 pm  N. Sturiale
This is the spring segment of a year-long course designed for those that are actively involved in organizing and producing ambitious events and exhibitions throughout the year. Open to any student that is actively producing on or off campus events. Required for Eventworks producers and Godine Family Gallery Managers. Registration is by permission of instructor. 

MPSM-209 Light as a Sculptural Element
Friday 10:00 am-1:00 pm  E. Buckholtz
Includes 5 day trip to North Adams during spring break week and collaborative gallery installation. This course will look closely at the conceptualization and development of Installation Art in a small gallery context, The Installation Space, in North Adams, Massachusetts. This is an opportunity to work onsite to develop a collaborative work with other artists. Having the opportunity to develop an installation onsite is a crucial part of installation practice. We will learn how to read a space and respond to it based on the variables at hand. This work will be developed through the lenses of the writing, conceptualizing, reading a space, and finally constructing our Installation on site in a small gallery space in North Adams. We will frame this on site experience by investigating other precursors of Installation Art Internationally with a close look at several contemporary artists and their works. We will also examine spatial and sonic art forms in relation to digital media, site-specific works, dynamic landscapes, in the context of contemporary culture. A two-week on site work session is the capstone of this course, with visits to Mass MOCA, and other local galleries in the surrounding area. Currently, there is a lab fee of $300.00 to offset the costs of the trip, lodging, and installation supplies.  (In addition to the trip to North Adams, there will be 4 Friday 10 am -1 pm meetings before and 2 after the trip). 

Questions?  email nsturiale@massart.edu

Studio for Interrelated Media 2021-2022