Author: System Admin

Dead Media Remix is a series that gives new life to old media through remixes, mash-ups, and assemblages. DMR001 will be a projected Super8 film excerpt of Star Wars (1977), accompanied by live voiceover acting and sound effects. March 4, 2015, Free Period in the ModLab (FA215). Lunch will be served.

“Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May 25, 1977 in fewer than 32 theaters. It earned $461 million in the United States and $314 million overseas, totaling $775 million. It surpassed Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film until E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1983.

Star Wars debuted on Betamax, LaserDisc, Video 2000, and VHS between the 1980s and 1990s by CBS/Fox Video. The final issue of the original theatrical release (pre-Special Edition) to VHS format occurred in 1995, as part of “Last Chance to Own the Original” campaign, available as part of a trilogy set and as a standalone purchase.” — Wikipedia

Each semester, the DSC hosts a series of Well Played events during which students, faculty, and staff discuss and play videogames. These events are based on the ETC Press journal Well Played and they encourage close readings of game mechanics and narratives. Well Played sessions are free form, collaborative, and interactive. All are welcome to attend, regardless of expertise or familiarity with videogames. All attendees are invited to join in by both playing and discussing games. Well Played sessions take place in the ModLab. Keep an eye on the DSC Calendar for announcements about future sessions.

Digital Studies Fellow Chinghsin Wu will be teaching a Digital Humanities course in Spring 2015, Chinese Art: Traditional and Digital Approaches (the course is cross-listed between Fine Arts 50:082:363 and Art History 56:606:609:01). The course introduces students to the arts and architecture of China from ancient through contemporary times, with an emphasis on the impact of digital techniques on this field. The class will investigate and critique various digital resources established in recent years as tools for understanding Chinese art. At the end of the course, the students will use online tools and the facilities of the Digital Studies Center to curate their own virtual exhibition of Chinese art. The course meets Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 to 12:20.

 What does the artist, historian, or literary scholar have to say about the computational platforms and formats that shape our lives? “Introduction to Digital Humanities” will address this question by treating digital technologies as both expressive media and as objects worthy of humanistic study. The course will provide students with a space to use digital tools to create things (such as art, electronic literature, and games) and also to develop critical vocabularies for analyzing digital objects. We will examine a number of digital formats and platforms, from the MP3 to the Atari 2600 videogame system. No technological expertise is required, and students will be encouraged to experiment and tinker with a variety of platforms. The class will take place in the Digital Studies Center CoLab, a collaborative learning space in the Fine Arts building.

Required Texts:
Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System, Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost
MP3: The Meaning of a Format, Jonathan Sterne
Flash: Building the Interactive Web, Anastasia Salter and John Murray

The class will also examine a number of videogames, works of electronic literature, and a range of other digital objects.

Visit the course web page for more details.