| Spring 2009 Visual Studies Courses |
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VIS STD 180B (4) Thirty hours lecture and 90 hours studio per semester. Prerequisites: Environmental Design 11A-11B or consent of instructor; A is prerequisite to B. Projects in graphic form, color, and word-image relationships. Extended Course Description This is a studio class in which we explore the relationship between word and image. Points of departure include literature, history, autobiography, poetry and myth. Pictures, stories and the origins of meaning: Where do they come from? Where do we take them? The emphasis throughout is on creative work. Projects will involve a variety of media, including painting, drawing, and the handling of color, plus montage and the artist’s book. Writing will also be important here. The class works as follows: First, an initial reading (for example, a parable by Franz Kafka, a story by James Joyce, a classical myth as retold by Ovid, or a T’ang dynasty poem by Li Po), followed by discussion and in-class studio work. The central notion here is that of response. Room 491 will be your studio space for the semester; each student has a desk, and is encouraged to make use of the room beyond class sessions as well. Prerequisites: ENV DES 11A-B, or the equivalent fine arts courses, and upper division or graduate standing. Non-CED majors with at least some visual arts studio background are encouraged to apply. Students with an interest in writing also welcome. If you’re applying from outside the college, please meet with the instructor during office hours in the week preceding class. Bring examples of your work. VIS STD 181 (4) Thirty hours lecture and 75 hours studio per semester. Learn the classic methods of photography using film, paper, and the darkroom. The course will cover 35mm camera operation, black and white film, and print processing along with essential aesthetic considerations. There will be hands-on demonstrations, laboratory sessions, slide shows, and in-class critiques, all designed to facilitate progress of assigned projects. There will be an introduction to digital technology. Historical and contemporary issues in photography will be discussed. Each student will finish class with a portfolio of photographs. Extended Course Description This course is an intensive investigation of photographic technique and practice. Specific assignments will introduce students to the mechanics of the medium using 35mm cameras, black and white film and a wet darkroom. The final project will address concepts of representation, narrative and abstraction. The course format will include technical demonstrations such as studio lighting, lectures on historical and contemporary photographic work and class critiques. There will be brief intro to digital photography. Each student will finish the course with a portfolio of photographs on one theme. Students will acquire a strong visual vocabulary, learn how to communicate through images and how to read images from a variety of sources. Students from all disciplines benefit from becoming visually literate. There are no prerequisites for this course. VIS STD 185X (1-4) Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Prerequisites: Environmental Design 11A-11B.
What are the connections between song and place—visual, musical, and otherwise? How can we describe these connections--give them form? (1) Your Name (2) Where were you born? Where did you grow up? (3) Class Level (junior, senior, grad) (4) Major (5) Expected date of graduation (6) Musical background (7) Visual arts background (8) Tell me about your interest in this class (9) Also, create a drawing of what you imagine this class might be like, scan it and send it to me with your completed questionnaire! (10) Also attach 2-3 jpegs of your studio work (painting, drawing, etc.) Please send small-sized files (300k is fine), attached so that they open directly in your email. VIS STD 186A (1–4) Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Prerequisites: 181 or instructor approval. Fifteen hours of lecture/seminar or sixty hours of studio per unit per term for eight weeks. San Francisco Bay Download 186A Course Description Document [pdf] (4) This iteration of VS 186A will apply the techniques of documentary photography to develop visual narratives concerning the past, present, and possible future of the southern reaches of San Francisco Bay.
Over time my curiosity has become a sustained fascination. For behind the visual richness of these juxtapositions lie the South Bay’s interesting history and the active formulation, at this very moment, of bold initiatives for its future. For several years I have taken low-level aerial photographs over the South Bay salt ponds. That these images are often visually compelling is in no small part because they reveal remnants of an enigmatic past. It turns out that aerial images greatly reduce sky reflection from the salt pond surfaces thus exposing colors, textures and information hidden from normal points of view. Furthermore, the views exposed contain elements from a variety of historic layers as though layers of tracing paper on an architect’s desk.
Your class work will not involve flying kites or dangling your cameras in the air (although I would be delighted to demonstrate this technique during a field trip). Instead, I will ask you to frame a topic related to this landscape and initiatives associated with the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Funded by federal, state, and private sources, the project is the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the West Coast. When complete, the project will restore 15,100 acres of industrial salt ponds to a rich mosaic of tidal wetlands and other habitats. Opportunities abound to explore documentary photography while serving the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Under its umbrella you will find compelling threads of activity related to science, wildlife management, recreation planning, cultural geography, and a host of other topics. For instance, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is tracking every single Snowy Plover chick that fledges in the South Bay. The California Department of Fish & Game has recently opened 300 acres of former salt pond to tidal flow to join 300 acres that were connected to the tides in 2006. Closer to home, Berkeley scientists are engaged in an engaging investigation of hydrology and sediment deposition. On the recreation side of things the SBSPR Project is continually developing and opening new ways of accessing and interpreting the Bay wetlands. The periphery of these same wetlands host a range of stories associated with industry and former interventions in the landscape as well as manifestations of the elaborate dance between development and conservation. You can get a sense of these varied projects from the papers presented at last September's Annual Science Symposium for the South Bay Project. The Spring 2009 iteration of VS186A will investigate photography as a vehicle to develop these stories and connect them to a broader audience. Along the way we will discuss photography in general and documentary photography in detail. The semester will include additional brief exploratory exercises as well as research involving a variety of archival sources (e.g., map library, national archives, reports from non-profits). While students are encouraged to select and apply the still media of their preference, the course should yield both physical (prints) and electronic (WWW) summaries of the semester’s work. On the electronic media front, the class will explore collaborative geo-annotation as a vehicle for organizing and disseminating visual narrative. We will cover options for assembling an online portfolio. The course requires off-campus travel to locations around South San Francisco Bay and associated exposures to that rich environment (water, wind, wildlife, muck, trains, salt, detritus, etc.). Note that this VS 186A does not cover basic photographic techniques in a systematic fashion as this coverage is provided by the VS 181 prerequisite. I expect all students to arrive with the capacity to expose, focus, print, and mount a competent 8” x 10” print. Students in all CED photography classes incur expenses related to the production and display of their work. A ballpark estimate for materials is $200/semester. The lab fee for the Wurster Hall Darkroom is $60/semester. Class Meetings/Week Instructor Final Examination Evaluation of Student Work Student Hours/Week VIS STD 186B (1–4) Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Prerequisites: 181. VIS STD 186B SEC 1 VIS STD 186B SEC 2 VIS STD 187A (1–4) Course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisites: Environmental Design 11A-11B. Extended Course Description The emphasis in this course is on developing greater facility, awareness, and self-expression in freehand drawing. Aspects of composition will be stressed throughout the course. We will work from a variety of subjects, including architecture still life, landscape, and the model. A variety of drawing media will be employed such as pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, pastels, grease media, felt tip, etc. The work of a variety of artists and practitioners throughout history, who have used drawing as a primary means of expression, will be shown in books and in slide presentations. There will be weekly out of class assignments. Class critiques of work done both in class and as home work will be part of each session. A portfolio consisting of in and out-of-class assignments will be submitted for review at mid-term and at the end of the semester. VIS STD 187X (1–4) Course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisites: Environmental Design 11A-11B. Design, Drawing and Painting This class is for those who wish to deepen their design studio practice through cultivating their drawing fluency and skills, inspiration and inner vision. So as to expand these fields, we will experience architectural design through short projects that also involve film production design, lighting design, industrial design, furniture design, graphic design, landscape, fashion design & body art, airship design and installation art. For each weekly design project we will use different media such as watercolor, gouache, color pencil, collage, pastels, acrylics, pencil powder, airbrush, scratch board & digital rendering. The class assignments and critiques are designed to open us up to our unlimited drawing ability; develop our vision of volumes; widen our sources of inspiration; test and refine our sensibility to beauty, form & light; trust and unify our instincts, feelings, body and thoughts; articulate our own position in regards to design principles and aesthetics; realize and unify our role as teachers, and last but not least work with our vulnerability while bringing joy, humor and trust to our work, design & life however remote this may appear to be. Admission to this course is by the consent of the instructor. Your
position on the waitlist does not guarantee you admission to the
course. The list of accepted students will be available a day or two after the first class meeting. To check some of the areas of interest and production of the instructor as they relate to this class see: www.jeanpaulbourdier.com VIS STD 197 (1–4) No more than 4 units allowed each semester. Course may be repeated for credit. Grading option: Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis. Supervised experience relevant to specific areas of design in off-campus organizations. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required. See General Catalog regarding unit limitation toward the degree. VIS STD 198 (1–4) No more than 4 units allowed each semester. Course may be repeated for credit. Grading option: Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis. Studies developed to meet needs. See General Catalog regarding unit limitation toward the degree. VIS STD 199 (1–4) Course may be repeated for credit. Grading option: Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis. Enrollment is restricted by regulations listed in General Catalog. Studies developed to meet individual needs. VIS STD 280 (1–3) Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Fifteen hours of lecture/seminar per unit per semester. Prerequisites: 181,186. Advanced work in visual studies and photography. Extended Course Description Graduate Seminar / Word and Image This is a class about imagination and ideas. A road trip, perhaps—or a voyage. We begin each week with a theme—often a single word—as point of departure. Everyone in the group does a project in response—a drawing, a painting, a collage—the medium is open. In the following class we look at the work, and a conversation ensues. And then, a new word. The endeavor here involves a kind of opening—not just in terms of skill (although this can play a part), but more in finding the right (visual) language to give form to one’s feelings about and understanding of the surrounding world. A challenge that carries over into any of the design fields—and beyond… Students from all departments welcome. A good place to explore your initial ideas about the master’s thesis. Also, for graduate students interested in teaching drawing (as GSIs in ENV DES 11A) this course is a strongly encouraged. VIS STD 298 (1–5) No more than 5 units allowed each semester. Course may be repeated for credit. Special group studies on topics to be introduced by instructor or students. VIS STD 299 (1–5) One unit will be assigned for each 4 hours of student effort per week. Credit option: Course may be repeated for credit. Individual studies including reading and individual research under the supervision of a faculty adviser and designed to reinforce the student's background in areas related to the proposed topic. |
Songs and Places
I am repeatedly drawn to the exuberant, otherworldly landscape of South San Francisco Bay. There, depending on the mood of a Sunday, I can bring binoculars to bear on the still abundant wildlife, explore diverse halophilic microorganisms with a field microscope, hike out to ponder early engineering interventions scattered across the Bay shallows, or (my favorite) launch a kite-lofted camera to photograph juxtapositions in the landscape from above. And juxtapositions abound – dendritic marsh channels as foils for the straight lines of infrastructure; wild openness confronting the confines of encroaching capitalism; salt ponds, vividly colored by the aforementioned halophiles, constrained by subtly hued mud and marsh; derelict, forgotten engineering works faintly echoing their former functions.
My most recent work documenting the Bay has occurred in the context of the Hidden Ecologies Project, an effort that involves a collaborative, geo-annotated Internet-based map as a vehicle for interrogating the Bay landscape from multiple vantage points with the goal of gaining insight into cultural and natural dimensions of place. The project started during a stint as an Artist in Residence at the Exploratorium and represents in spirit the approach that underpins this iteration of VS186A. The