Week 1 – Begin an Obsession - (Jan 7)

In-Class Activities:

• Course overview
• Lecture and discussion on next week’s readings

Homework:

• Readings (due by next week): Available at https://artgamedev.com/media.html
• Artistic Framework Development: The Artistic framework you build will serve as the lens through which you observe and interpret experiences, guiding your creative process throughout the course. Begin gathering materials and experiences to activate or deepen your artistic sensibilities. Below are suggested steps to guide this process:
  • Step 1: Identify a Body of Inspiration
    Identify an unfamiliar and thought-provoking source of inspiration—it could be anything, such as an emerging subculture, a disruptive technology, mysterious forces in your basement, taboo, asymmetrical warfare, first kisses, last kisses, a futurist whose work challenges your assumptions. Engage deeply with this source, seeking to uncover unexpected connections that can inform your artistic framework. Reflect on what fascinates or unsettles you, and explore how these reactions can fuel your creative momentum.
    Example:
    Duncan Trussell’s exploration of esoteric knowledge, including contemporary conspiracy theories, informs his creative work, particularly in his animated series, Midnight Gospel (YouTube link). Note the critical distance between the subject matter and his personal beliefs. You do not need to adopt the viewpoints of your chosen body of inspiration, but aim to uncover something personally revealing.
  • Step 2: Explore Emerging Artistic Insights
    Document your reflections and evolving artistic framework. These can be based on abstract concepts or grounded experiences. Allow wildly disconnected thoughts to surface and give them unusually earnest attention. Both moments of existential dread and eureka are equally valid. Follow your intuition to iteratively seek, collect, lurk, play, dwell, or commune in ways novel to you.
    Example:
    Jodorowsky’s theories on the transformative power of fantasy in the film Jodorowsky’s Dune (YouTube link) illustrate how personal artistic frameworks can develop from specific hunches or ideas.
  • Optional Suggestions:
    • Create an alternate persona and social media accounts to engage more freely with your chosen interest. Anonymity may help you experiment more boldly. Restart yourself from scratch, build it up differently, playfully. Become the kind of person who can make the art that YOU want to make.
    • Compile a digital collection (e.g. instagram likes on a new account where you only follow teacup makers, or a Google Drive of images from) of media, artists, movements, and other inspirations that invigorate your artistic framework. Aggregate fodder with which to build a way to creatively see and feel the world anew. For some this is a like a mood board, for others its like making a tarot deck out of found objects. What will it be like for you?
    • Explore the tools or material structures relevant to your artistic framework, such as a quirky game engine, textile craft, AI, blockchain, or even biotech - why not. Understanding these technologies may deepen your engagement. For some, learning new technologies might be like communing with alien planes of existence. Game engines hold unique material spaces for exploration and play. AI is akin to alien life landing on the planet. LLMs, image models, and audio models all exhibit forms of intelligence that invite deeper engagement. Our technologies are always speaking back to us. What insights are these digital spirits whispering to us?
    • You may choose to keep your Artistic Framework entirely private if it emboldens you to take meaningfully daring risks. Engaging with art-making independently can help foster a more authentic, experimental process. Strive to awaken your latent artistic drives and sensibilities. Share what you feel comfortable with.

Week 2 – Immerse in Process (Jan 14)

In-Class Activities:

• Lecture and discussion on assigned readings
• Overview of the main class project

Homework:

• Continue developing your artistic framework from Week 1. In-class examples will help orient and inspire your process.

Week 3 – Gather up Hunches (Jan 21)

In-Class Activities:

• Lecture and discussion on assigned readings
• Optional Sharing: Students may share aspects of their developing artistic framework.
• Class Discussion: Explore how to translate artistic frameworks into projects.

Week 4 – Shape Artistic Framework (Jan 28)

In-Class Activities:

• Lecture and discussion on assigned readings
• Project Progress Sharing: Present project progress, receive feedback, and guidance.

Weeks 5 – 10: Flesh out Body of Work (Feb 4 - Mar 11)

Students are invited to share progress or experiences with the class when they determine it is helpful. It could be informal discussions about choices they have to make regarding the direction of their work. It could be a playest where they want to see people experiencing their work. Any structure students want to use to engage the class with their work or process is fine. The structure of class time will adapt based on class progress. Some additional lectures and discussions on topics relevant to the work being done will shape these class dates.

Week 11 – Share Body of Work (Mar 18)

This is the final day to share your work, process, and yourself in this class context. Every student will have time to shape how they want to engage the class and share their work. It could be a light-hearted play session, or it might be an avant-garde performance, or anything you feel will help people connect with your work. Consider how best to invite the class into your artistic world, fostering meaningful engagement and discussion around your work’s experience or force.