a course in technology for artists

Leonardo

A Course in Technology for ArtistsAuthor(s): Lee RosenthalSource: Leonardo, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Winter, 1974), pp. 27-29Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1572733 .

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Leonardo, Vol. 7, pp. 27-29. Pergamon Press 1974. Printed in Great Britain

A COURSE IN TECHNOLOGY

FOR ARTISTS

Lee Rosenthal*

Abstract-The author describes the curriculum of his course in technology specifically designedfor artists and art students. It is based on a number of courses in technology that he has taught to both art students and students in other non- technical disciplines.

The assumption on which the course is predicated is that the operation and application of much of modern technology (including, for example, lasers and holographic equipment) are no more difficult than the use of a motion picture camera or a film projector. The image of difficulty associated with modern technology has arisen from the necessity of specialized education for research and design engineers.

Structurally, the course is built around a set of broad technological topics, including the scope and impact of technology, energy, materials, information handling and systems concepts. These topics are explored and illustrated in a variety of examples. Some of the illustrations include the man-machine interface, electricity and magnetism, computers, fiber optics, lasers, holography, simulation and control.

The assignments and projects are chosen to encourage the students to apply various aspects of technology in the art of their interest. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on their contact with technological resources and personnel both within the university and without.

I. INTRODUCTION

Modern technology, as has been pointed out in numerous articles in Leonardo, offers many new challenges to artists in the realms of subject matter, of concepts for presenting the subject matter and of media and techniques of execution.

One of the interesting characteristics of the work of artists who utilize nontraditional technology is its interdisciplinary nature. For example, in a project involving the use of alpha brain waves an artist will need the help of an electronic engineer and of a physiologist. Artists and technologists in the U.S.A. are becoming increasingly aware of the ways in which they might cooperate and contribute to each other's perceptions, understanding and work [1]. In this connection readers will especially find of interest the recent articles in Leonardo by Preusser [2] and by Knepler [3].

I find that artists are often dissatisfied with the limitations of collaboration with technical specialists and that they themselves wish to have some direct knowledge of technology. In response to this desire I have become involved in the development and teaching of interdisciplinary courses to art students.

* Associate Professor of Engineering Technology, Fair- leigh Dickinson University, 1000 River Road, Teaneck, N.J. 07666, U.S.A. (Received 26 February 1973).

At Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, I developed and taught (with the assistance of John Pai and Robert Fiala) a course in the undergraduate curriculum called 'Phenomenology'. This was followed by a course called 'Technics', which I taught as a part of the graduate Fine Arts curriculum [1].

The course described below developed from ideas and experiences gained from courses I have given at Pratt Institute and also from two courses for non- technology students, 'Aspects of Technology' and 'Basic Concepts and Applications of Technology', that I have given in New College, an innovative and experimental part of Hofstra University in Hemp- stead, New York.

II. THE COURSE IN TECHNOLOGY FOR ARTISTS

1. Underlying philosophy Since the course is an introduction to modern technology for art students and artists, emphasis is placed on the operation and utilization of technology and not at all on advanced skills in theory and design. For example, it requires no more special training to operate a laser and to use it in the making of holograms than to operate a motion picture camera or a film projector.

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Lee Rosenthal

The course is based on a number of topics that are fundamental to technology, including those of information on the scope and impact of technology, energy, materials, information handling and systems concepts. The examples used for illustration are chosen particularly for their possible applica- bility to the arts and also for their characteristics that can stimulate student interest in technology.

Wherever possible in the course, emphasis is placed on ways of seeking out and communicating with technologists and of using technological products and published material on them.

2. The syllabus

The course syllabus outlined below is primarily designed to develop and retain the interest of students. Its goal is also to demonstrate that a non- specialist can obtain a grasp of the basic underlying aspects of modern technology and an ability to apply it for his own purposes.

A. Introduction 1. Brief historical perspective of the development of

technology; 2. Professional roles of scientists, engineers and

technicians; 3. Interaction of technology and society.

B. Man-machine interface 1. Bionics (the science of systems whose function is

based on living organisms or whose function resembles the functioning of living organisms);

2. The human senses and their bionic analogs; 3. Artificial intelligence and the brain; 4. Environmental control and life support systems; 5. Ecology.

C. Energy 1. Concept of energy; 2. Generation and conversion of energy; 3. Storage of energy; 4. Power; 5. Specific topics.

a. Magnetism (1) Magnetic materials; (2) Permanent and electromagnets; (3) Magnetic fields and their applications.

b. Electricity (1) Generation and storage of electricity; ,(2) Basic electric components and circuits.

c. Electronic music (1) Basic characteristics of sound; (2) Methods of producing and recording sound

(oscillators, tape recorders); (3) Experiments in synthesizing sound (oscillo-

scopes, recorders, Lissajous patterns, Fourier series analysis).

d. Lasers and holography (1) Properties of laser light and optical principles

of lasers and holography;

(2) Experiments with lasers and with holography. (A suitable laser and holography kit is available for about $250 from Metrologic Instruments, Inc., Bellmawr, N.J. 08030, U.S.A.).

D. Information, communication and computers 1. Definitions and measurement of information (the

bit); 2. Coding systems and devices (binary coding); 3. Communication systems for transmitting infor-

mation (modulation); 4. Analog and digital computers (basic program-

ming); 5. Computer music (digital to analog conversion); 6. Production of animated film by computers

(printed and TV tube outputs).

E. Materials 1. Properties and characteristics of materials; 2. Experiments and projects involving chemicals,

magnetic materials and plastics (liquid crystals, fiber optics, etc.).

F. Systems concepts 1. Systems

a. Viewpoint and description techniques (block diagrams and signal flow graphs);

b. Characteristics of systems (open and closed- loop operation, positive and negative feedback, stability, adaptation and learning, auto- matic control);

c. Complete systems (biological, environmental, economic and social);

d. Projects involving the description and operation of systems;

e. Application of systems viewpoint and techniques to works of art (especially those involving feedback).

2. Simulation a. Description and examples (sketches for

sculpture, scale models, maps, block diagrams, computer simulation in design and prediction);

b. Projects involving simulation. 3. Transduction applications

a. Transduction (the process of converting or relating one thing to another);

b. Projects involving transducers such as motors, liquid crystals, photocells, musical instruments and an electroencephalograph (EEG).

4. Control of systems a. Digital switching control (switches, relays,

lights); b. Analog or continuous control (electric poten-

tiometers to control light, sound and motion). 5. Media conversion and control

a. Use of transducers to convert a message in one medium to a message in another medium;

b. Projects involving control of sound and of light in audio-visual systems.

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A Course in Technology for Artists

II. CLOSING COMMENTS

The syllabus outlined requires about one academic year or about 30 weeks of instruction. The aspects of technology considered, clearly, are not exhaustive of the subject. The particular topics chosen are my own preference, as influenced by students' expressed interests in previous courses I have given.

An advantage of a university setting for a course of this kind is that students have the opportunity to make use of large and varied kinds of laboratory equipment generally available and to consult faculty specialists on different technical subjects. In teaching the course I called upon guest lecturers. I also make liberal use of films and of demonstrations of materials and devices, many loaned or contributed to the course by industries I approached.

The parts of the course that seemed most interesting to the students concerned systems concepts and devices such as lasers and holographs.

Suitable outside reading to supplement my lectures has not been easy to find. Many of the topics I include in the course are discussed in the references listed below. As regards the subject of bionics, Ref. 7 was especially useful to me.

REFERENCES

1. L. Rosenthal, Technics: A Course in Technology for Art Students, Eng. Ed., 281 (Dec. 1971).

2. R. Preusser, Relating Art to Science and Tech- nology: An Educational Experiment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Leonardo 6, 199 (1973).

3. H. Knepler, Engineering Education and the Humanities in America, Leonardo 6, 305 (1973).

SUPPLEMENTARY REFERENCES

4. The Scientific American. 5. Leonardo, issues published since January 1968. 6. Some More Beginnings. An Exhibition of Sub-

mitted Works Involving Technical Materials and Processes Organized by Staff and Members of Experiments in Art and Technology in Collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Catalog (New York: Experiment in Art and Technology, 1968).

7. L. Gerardin, Bionics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968).

8. D. M. Meadows et al., Limits ofGrowth (New York: Universe, 1972).

9. A. J. Toynbee et al., On the Future of Art (New York: Viking-Compass, 1970).

10. M. McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Exten- sions of Man (New York: Signet-New American Library, 1964).

11. L. Bertalanffy, General Systems Theory (New York: Braziller, 1968).

12. M. Tuchman, Art and Technology (New York: Viking, 1971).

13. J. Benthall, Science and Technology in Art Today (New York: Praeger, 1972).

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a course in technology for artists

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