Overview of the Course

Welcome to the University of Montana, School of Visual and Media Art’s (SVMA) Principles of Interactive Art course; MART 340.

In this hands-on course, students learn how to create interactive works and environments. We talk about what it means to create an interactive experience for general participants. Scale, space, and time are explored with reference to the body, while creating systems for real-time and time-based interaction. Software, electronics, and physical computing are discussed, with the goal of students’ creating physical projects. A variety of input and output mechanisms, networking, and best practices will be covered in lecture. Class discussions will cover readings about interactive art/music, design, space, and installation. Students are free to explore their own ideas through the lens of this course.

At the heart of all of these technical work will be discussions about interactive theory and technique.

Objectives

Through this course, students are expected to;

• Illustrate an understanding about interactive art and interactive theory
• Become versed in some of the tools and techniques available for the creation of interactive artworks, including;
  • real-time render development environments
  • real-time digital signal processing
  • data capture, including;
    • symbolic controllers (MIDI)
    • audio signals via microphones
    • physical computing (buttons, sensors, or basic electronics)
    • computer vision (edge detection, face recognition)
  • immersive environment construction
• Evaluate experience differences for various types of interactive works;
  • Web-based verse Physical-based works/experiences
  • time-dependent or input-dependent works/experiences
• Distinguish the difference between reactive, interactive, and dynamically changing systems.

Students are expected to bring ideas to explore these techniques. The goals of the projects are not simply about the successful application of the technical processes. Instead, the goal is to integrate these technical elements to make work that is meaningful.

This course will conclude with an intensive project. The goal of this artistic work is to incorporate the interactive theory, art, and concepts discussed during the first half of the course. The latter half of the course will be devoted to designing, composing, and building work. This will give students a real-world experience.

What to Expect

This course will force you to learn and adapt to new technologies, while also thinking about design, and content creation. Some weeks will lean more technical in nature, while others will lean more creative-based.

Just as the content focus will shift, so to will the work amount. Some weeks, especially those when new topics are being introduced, have a heavier workload. The goal of this is to make you practice with these new technologies and techniques. Other weeks will slow down and allow you to practice at a more exploratory pace.

You should plan;

• 3 hours a week to work through the course website content (what you are doing now).
• 3-9 hours a week to work on concepts, technical skills, studying, and practicing.

From a work perspective, students will develop a number of project-based artworks over the course of the semester. In addition, students will also prepare documentation and responses/reports about each of these projects.

Overview the Rest of This Week

The rest of this week will introduce the following;

• Information about instructors
• Syllabus
• Initial concepts about interactivity