RTF 331R ACTLab Topic: Blackbox

Unique No. 07305

Faculty: Stone

Class Time: M 1-4

Room: Studio 4B (CMB 4.110)

Writing Comp: No

Comm/Culture Req: No

Closing Limit: 15

Cross-listed: RTF 390N

Prerequisites

For RTF majors, the following coursework, with a grade of at least C in each course: RTF 305; 318 or 319; and 6 additional semester hours of lower-division coursework chosen from RTF 309, 314, 316, 317, and 318 OR 319 (whichever has not already been taken). For others, consent of instructor on the first class day.

Consent requirements

This course does not require consent. Registration is open via the online registration system to all RTF majors.

First class day policy

Students who are not on time on the first class day will be automatically dropped.

Course description

This class is about how and why representation machines—cameras, paintbrushes, recorders Photoshop, Final Cut—become concretized or “blackboxed” into “tools” or “skills.” To do this, we study the uneasy and frequently incendiary relationship between humans and symbols. We'll trace the development of symbol formation from the prelinguistic (human and animal) on through sociocultural language production and on to the ways in which market, social, and pedagogical pressures force representation machines into the form of tools (blackboxing), and what is gained and lost when the black box is closed. We’ll look at what’s being blackboxed now, what will be blackboxed in the future, and open a few blackboxed things and examine their guts. From a theoretical perspective we’ll use semiotics and psychology (and a touch of linguistics for flavor), but no prior knowledge of these is required.

As with all ACTLab New Media courses, the main thrust is making. There are no written exams. Instead you will produce two mini-projects and one substantial final project during the semester. All our classwork has the goal of providing ideas and methods for these projects. Projects may be in any form: film, video, sound, performance, or other media or combinations of media, and incorporate the theoretical and methodological work of the semester