Michael
Cook, Professor of Art
Michael Cook's Website
In essence this course is an examination of what one
considers to be reality. What is a primary and essential
experience? How is experience percieved in the highly
mediated environment that is western society/culture
at the beginning of 21st century? What part does technology
play in this perception of experience? What is your
relationship to Nature? What is your realtionship to
Nature as an artist? What impact has technology had
upon Nature and your understanding of your relatioship
to it? How does technology shape that vision? What is
the impact of native culture? What is New Mexico?
These questions and many more are the basis for this
seventeen-day intensive field study workshop. We will examine
such subjects as cultural and physical displacement,
resource depletion, environmental crisis, and the simulation
of nature that surrounds us.
The course structure will consist of daily readings
and studio production accompanied by an evening show
of videotapes. There will be outings to a number of
sites of interest and several rigorous hikes.
The primary medium for the course is video. No prior
experience with video is required. You will learn the
basics of this medium in an intensive "hands on"
experience from the taping of original material to the
editing of that material. All work is produced on non-linear
digital editors, computers.
The course will have as its main objective the production
of a group videotape, the production of an individual
work, and familiarity with a collection of readings
that shape the experience of the workshop. Tools used
will be audio and video recorders, Polaroid photography,
drawing, and materials and processes that are specific
to the individual work of each participant. Students
are encouraged to think in advance and bring any other
tools they deem appropriate. See instructor for further
details. |
