Introduction to Artistic Experimentation: Bootlegs & Bastards (Fall 2020)

4.301

Instructor
Marisa Morán Jahn
TA
Rae Yuping Hsu
Units
u 3-3-6
Lab Fee
$75
Credit
hass-a
Schedule
Tuesday, Wednesday, 2pm–5pm
Location
E15-207

This course is an introduction to artistic practice and critical visual thinking. Through hands-on and maker-kit demos (sculpture, mould-making, sewing, cold connections), quick brainstorms, readings, guest lectures, presentations, and project-driven explorations, students explore topics that interest them and that relate to the theme. Students will develop initial curiosities and interests through two final projects with iterations along the way. Seniors are invited to access labs and facilities for technical instruction, the creation of their projects, and feedback from course instructor and TA. Students from other years will receive Maker Kits to expand their facility with artistic production techniques and also supported through ample one-on-one feedback from the course instructor and TA. This course takes inspiration from the following:

  • According to the logic of the bootleg — the knock-off, simulacra, or pirated work — the greater the infidelity, degradation, and remove from the originary object, the more valuable the bootleg in fact becomes. Here, the new mark of authenticity becomes the messy trail of the bootleg as it wrests away from its signifier. Make way for versionhood.
  • Born from irregular or dubious origin, a bastard questions (il)legitimacy, (im)purity, and sanctity itself. Excluded from normative customs, a bastard operates via a different logic.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning 

  • The course meets twice a week for a total of 12 units of credit. A minimum of six hours per week outside class work is expected. The total 12 hours you allocate towards this class per week will be broken down as follows:
  • 3 synchronous hours on Tuesdays 2-3:30 pm and Wednesdays 2-3:30 pm  during which we will meet as a group, in smaller clusters, or one-on-one via Zoom (or in-person for seniors). Synchronous hours also includes guest lectures, debates, discussions, and student share outs of their work.
  • 3 asynchronous hours during which students will review media, reading texts, and respond to questions in your journals on your own time.
  • 6 asynchronous hours making either individual projects or completing technical assignments.
  • The division of these hours and type will shift over the course of the semester.
  • Seniors are invited to but not required to participate in-person from the start of the semester until Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, all coursework will take place virtually.
  • The presentation of content occurs throughout the semester but is typically frontloaded at the onset when each of the two modules is presented. Students will spend more time working independently towards the end of the semester, supported through smaller share outs and one-on-one feedback sessions between the instructor and student with additional support offered by the TA.

#bastard #bootleg #parafiction #knockoff #counterfeits #lossy #eviltwin #copycat #doubles #doppelganger #mongrel #versionhood #criticalcopyright #simulation #cargocult #otherlogics

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