- Autumn 2024
Syllabus Description:
SYLLABUS
Micheal Rakowicz paraSITE. 1998 - ongoing. Plastic bags, polyethylene tubing, hooks, tape. Various urban sites in New York City, Boston and Cambridge MA, Baltimore MD, Chicago
Welcome to RADICAL MAKING: Reconnecting Post-industrial Manufacturing to Nature, Culture, and Community!
“It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what descriptions describe descriptions, what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.”
― Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene
This joint studio class, co-taught by IVA and Design programs, considers experimental and conscious ways of making for the 21st century. Students may enroll in the ART or in the DES section, depending on their individual credit needs. Course content, assignments and grading are identical, meetings will be held jointly.
Classrooms: art207 (home base, making projects)
Additional studios: Advanced Concepts Lab + Wood shop + Loop space + The Room
Meeting times: TTh 12:30-3:30
Instructors:
Dominic Muren (he/him)
Teaching Professor, Industrial Design and Interaction Design, Division of Design dmuren@uw.edu
Timea Tihanyi (she/her)
Teaching Professor, Interdisciplinary Visual Arts, Division of Art timea@uw.edu
Week by Week Schedule of Topics and Assignments is to be posted
Course Description
The class is built around three central questions:
1. How do we, as artists and designers, bring artifacts into the world that are both physical and social?
2. What is the relationship we (artists and designers) seek with nature? How do we build on traditions of sustainable living with nature and explore new materials with the help of this knowledge?
3. How does culture arise from our products of artistic and design production?
Our course considers making as RADICAL because we acknowledge that creating is an entangled web of ideological and material/skill-based considerations, which connect to how we see ourselves in the world and how we acknowledge other actants, both human and non-human (animal, plant, fungi, mineral, etc.).
We will focus our material explorations on foraged and found natural resources originating from the farm, market, and a wide-variety of wild and domesticated landscapes. We will contemplate how individual and communal production originate from these considerations, and we will see how the process and products of making come to form the basis of cultures.
This course is co-taught by the Interdisciplinary Visual Arts program and the Design program.
The Art and Design course numbers have identical content, assignments, and grading rubrics.
Students can expect teamwork in addition to the pursuit of their individual research directions under shared guidance by both instructors.
Class meetings consist of discussions, short lectures, skill-building workshops in various making studios, team check-in times, instructor consultations, and some work time. Outside of class meetings, additional work time and team interaction can be expected, including one Saturday field trip on October 19th 9-11am (save the date). See Tentative Course Schedule for details.
Course fee of $50 is used to invite guest artists/designers and knowledge holder, to provide access to some of the workshops and some basic materials for the class to use. Please expect $10-40 additional materials cost, depending on your project.
Course Goals
- Gather a toolkit of making strategies through practice and experimentation.
- Explore the potential of untraditional raw materials.
- Practice problem solving while conceptualizing, designing, and building an artifact for each project.
- Understand the artifact’s life span from cradle to cradle, including its resources/materials, tools and processes, its use, repair, and possible obsolescence.
- Develop working strategies for working in the public space, activate a project, successfully engage the public, including soliciting participation.
- Share your knowledge. Develop your ability to work as part of a team.
- Discuss, evaluate, and critique existing models of radical making. Conceptualize viable alternatives and guiding principles.
Grading
Artist/Designer Examples
Our guest artists this quarter:
Emily Endo https://www.highdesertobservatory.com/emily-endo
Janelle Abbott https://janellerabbott.com/
Additional artists:
Theaster Gates https://www.theastergates.com/
Lily Hope https://www.lilyhope.com/
Neri Oxman https://oxman.com/
Cecilia Vicuña http://www.ceciliavicuna.com/
Thomas Hirschhorn http://www.thomashirschhorn.com/
Hella Jongerius http://www.jongeriuslab.com/
Campana Brothers https://www.nodusrug.it/en/blog/campana/
Michael Rakowitz http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/
Amy Franceschini https://www.futurefarmers.com/
Andrea Zittel https://art21.org/artist/andrea-zittel
Ronald Rael https://rael-sanfratello.com
Project Descriptions
Project #1: Glasses that change how we see the world
In this individual project, each student will conceptualize and create a pair of glasses to wear which actually alter how they perceive the world.
From low- to high-tech solutions, this project is open to any materials and any processes. Consider your glasses not only from an aesthetic point, but also functionally. How they are to change, shape, or alter the view or your outlook? What it is like to be wearing them for an hour, a day, a week, a month?
Deliverables: 1 pair of functional glasses (also available others to try) + 1 page summary of your intentions, research, description of making process, and conclusions after wearing.
Project #2: The Ink and The Bowl: Cultural Meaning and The Material Intelligence of Everyday Objects
In this project, pairs of students will focus on a single ingredient found or foraged from the farmer, market, or landscape. This ingredient is a material resource. Our goal is to understand the potential of this material resource for makers, while also researching it's place in nature and culture.
Students will commit to a single ingredient for this entire project and will deconstruct and use this resource 3 different ways:
- Part 1: By breaking it down to its smallest chemical/mineral ingredients, we will explore its pigments, which will make a batch of ink/dye.
- Part 2: By disintegrating it into pulp, we will explore its cellular structure and develop a malleable substrate, which can be formed into shapes.
- Part 3: By reevaluating the potential of the whole plant (roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds), students can choose any or all part and fashion it into a new product.
Deliverables:
Part 1: One measuring cup of ink/dye, which we will communally use in class for coloring paper, yarn and textiles + written recipe.
Part 2: One appr. 6x6x6inches simple vessel-object (anywhere from a coster to a bowl/cup) made of your material + written recipe.
Part 3: Object/experience of your choice made exclusively from your chosen material + all research about this material collected into a 1 page document, including references as hyperlinks.
Students are asked to consider their chosen materials from as many angles as possible, thinking across geographies, cultures, time periods, crafting and making practices, use-values, environment impacts, etc., exploring both poetic and mundane potentials of these materials.
Project #3: Creating Community, Creating Culture. Creating RADICALLY.
Working in teams of four, the students will leverage their research and material experimentation knowledge from previous assignments and will conceptualize, design, build, and field test in the public space a product of their choice.
Utilizing a deeper understanding of the complexities of the natural origin and cultural meaning of materials and tools of making, the project’s goal is to create a novel system that considers relationships of MATTER, PROCESS, and COMMUNITY. In other words, we are considering not only what is being made, but also how it is being made, used, and disposed.
Students are asked to document the entire life cycle of the project from research and inspiration to material tests, to broader environmental, social, cultural implications of their work. Field test with the SOA+AH+D community during week 9 will help you envision your product's impact on a larger scale. Note: Teams will be asked to use various techniques of documentation (product photography, rendering, animation, AI, poetry, audience surveys, etc.) to visualize and present this envisioned ecosystem of resourcing, making and using, including highly speculative ones.
Deliverables: Documentation of your speculative or actual ecosystem of RADICAL MAKING (presented using sketches, prototypes, material tests, visual/video/sound/data charts/etc.) in 2 formats:
1. Design Prototype + activation plan (bring equipment for documentation) + all that your team needs to create a "booth" (form of project identity) at the two day Maker Fair field test presented in the SOA+AH+D main lobby on Mov 19th & 21st. Due: November 19.
2. 10 copies of a DIY Manual in a zine format (8-10 pages, including images and descriptions that explain the project to outsiders) for distribution in class. This document needs to stand on its own, and needs to be easy to follow so that your project may be recreated. This is a form of passing on knowledge. Due in class for critique and exchange: Dec 5th. (Draft is due for peer feedback on Nov 26th)
FACILITIES AND WORKSHOPS
We are planning to use the following studios and sites as our workspaces:
- 207 (basic tools, a blender, hot plate, tea kettle, sewing machines are available. No plaster and clay are allowed. No toxic or solid materials down the drain. Please practice recycling.)
- SOA+AH+D Woodshop
- SOA+AH+D Advanced Concepts Lab (3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining)
- IVA LOOP Space (yarns, 3D printing, looms, sewing and tufting machines)
- UW Center for Urban Horticulture, the UW Farm, UW Greenhouses and Medicinal Herb Garden
- U District Farmers Market (Saturdays 9am-2pm)
- Beacon Food Forest
- Optional studio spaces (please make your own arrangements)
-
- UW Makerspaces (3D printing, laser cutting, computer embroidery, etc...)
- 3D4M Ceramics and plaster studios (only available to 3D4M registered students)
- 3D4M Metal shop (only available to 3D4M registered students)
Learning Goals and Requirements in the Skill-Building Workshops
We are offering short "a la carte workshops" (e.g. tools in the woodshop, Loop space, 207, and advanced materials lab, sewing, etc.) during the quarter. Each student is required to select and take at least 3 different workshops from these options. The workshop itself teaches the basic equipment use and safety. At the end of the workshop, participants fill out user acknowledgement and safety quizzes, which will allow them to use the shop and the tools on their own. Students without workshop user acknowledgement and safety quizzes are not allowed to use the shops for making.
Guest artists workshops are for the whole class. There is an expectation that each student will pick up skills useful in current and upcoming projects.
Workshop skills may be used in either of your projects, including team projects. Additional tutorials and demos are available upon request. Please plan ahead and contact instructors/technicians early. Expect extra time for scheduling and getting help.
Readings will be from the following books
Bennett, Jane. Vibrant Matter : a Political Ecology of Things. 2010. Duke University Press.
Haraway, Donna. Staying with the Trouble : Making Kin in the Chthulucene. 2016. Duke University Press.
Adamson, Glenn. Fewer, Better Things : The Hidden Wisdom of Objects. 2018. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Art Library Resources
Research is hard! Whether you’re completely new to art research or have experience, the library is
here to help at any stage. Have a library question? Ask Us via our 24/7 chat service!
○ UW Libraries Undergraduate Research Tutorials
○ UW Library: How to Cite & Write About Art (includes recommended, easy to read books on
the topic available at the Art Library)
○ UW Libraries Odegaard Library Writing Center
○ Make a research help appointment with the Art Librarian
Art Building After Hours Access
● The Art Building is open from 8 AM to 6:20 PM on Monday through Friday.
● After Hours building access for students via Husky Card may be requested by completing a
form available on the school website https://art.washington.edu/general-policies
Lockers
● Student can rent lockers for $12/quarter to store their tools, supplies, work in progress, and personal items.
● Students can pay for lockers using husky card or credit/debit card via the School’s online
storefront and should visit ART 102 to get their locker assignment finalized.
Voicing A Concern
● At some point in your experience as a student in the School of Art + Art History + Design, you may have a problem that requires help. Please see https://art.washington.edu/voicing-concern for guidance
about whom to consult in different situations.
Student Health + Wellness Resources
● UW Counseling Center offers multiple options for students seeking help coping with stress
and mental health concerns. Open M - F, 8am - 5pm. Contact: 206-543-1240
https://www.washington.edu/counseling/
● SafeCampus is dedicated to supporting anyone at the UW dealing with potentially dangerous situations including, but not limited to: resolving conflict, addressing prohibited behaviors, suicide / self harm, relationship violence. Contact SafeCampus with any issues of concern 24/7 at 206-685-SAFE
http://www.washington.edu/safecampus
● Urgent Help Options for mental health are available to students through UW and
several off-campus organizations: https://wellbeing.uw.edu/mental-health/urgent-help/
● Call 911 in emergency situations.
Disability Accommodation
To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Student
Disability Services, 011 Mary Gates Hall, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY) or
uwdss@u.washington.edu prior to the first day of class. After requesting your accommodations with SDS, instructors receive an email outlining your academic accommodations. Please discuss these directly with one of us to ensure that we can help you with your needs.
Religious Accommodation
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student
absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized
religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is
available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-
accommodations-request/)
Expectations
If you have any questions or concerns about the class, its content or your progress, please schedule a time via email to talk to one of us.
If you need to miss a class meeting, let both of your instructors know as soon as you can. Offer a plan to make up lost course work and catch up. 3 or more absences could be severely impacting your progress in the course. There is no make up for lost in class participation.
If you need an extension on an assignment or a homework exercise, reach out to let us know. Reasonable time extension requests are being honored as long as you also propose a sensible plan and time-line for making work up.
Please be aware that late assignments without prior agreement result in point deduction, -10%/day.
Protecting yourself against Covid
- Stay home from class if you are sick, including with respiratory or COVID-19 symptoms, and follow the UW COVID-19 public health flowchart.
- Take a COVID-19 test if you have symptoms or have been exposed. Rapid tests are available for free on UW campuses, and can be ordered at no cost through a federal government program. Both rapid and PCR tests are also available locally.
- Stay up to date on recommended vaccines. This includes the updated COVID-19 vaccines and your annual flu shot. If you are at risk, talk to your health care provider about the new RSV vaccines. The UW will be offering COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots for students and personnel. Information about the vaccine clinics can be found on the COVID-19 vaccination webpage. Vaccines are also available at UW Medicine and local clinics and pharmacies.
- Face masks are currently optional in most settings. Use common sense when you are being exposed but asymptomatic or when in large group indoor settings.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using the creations, ideas, words, inventions, or images of someone else in your
own work without formal acknowledgement or permission. This applies to written papers and
research as well as to art, design and architectural images. Please check with one of us if you have questions about what constitutes plagiarism.
More information about reporting academic misconduct: www.uw.edu/cssc/report-it/
Class Participation
First day policy: Instructors assume that if you are not present for roll call on the first day of a
studio art class you have decided not to remain enrolled. If you miss the first day without
permission, it is your responsibility to drop the course. You may contact the instructor in advance
and ask for permission to be absent on the first day.
Participation is essential to learning and success in all classes. If you miss class due to illness
or emergency, notify your instructor and set up a timeline to complete missed assignments and
exams.
For the complete list of SOA+AH+D Policies please see this document: Policies 2023-24.docx