Proj. 1

This is the page for Proj. 1 in Pratt 22/FA-COMD-460-04 - Emerging Practices: Uncreative Designing

Three Maltese, 2016

Sept 2: Please bring an object that is either unoriginal or inauthentic in some way. It should be portable—not too large or heavy. You should choose something you like because you will be making work about it, but not too sentimental that you will be heartbroken if it gets lost or destroyed. You will be letting go of this object for a full week. It is absolutely crucial that you bring something to class, so if you forget, you must improvise with what you already have with you. If you are unsure about what to choose, it is okay to bring more than one thing, and we can help you pick.

• Here is the Otter link: Class Recording
• Here is a transcript with light edits by me: File:Class Transcript.rtf

Sept 9: For today, you should replicate your new object exactly. The goal is to make a 1:1 replica. Take yourself out of your work and focus on the task at hand. If you can't resist your creative impulses, flush them out by making an "artistic" version. Then make a super-realistic version and bring both.

Perform your classmate's presentation in the next class using the provided transcript. You can use notes. You can also edit the transcript if needed. We are going for VERSIMILITUDE, so do everything you can to embody your classmate's performance.

If you're curious about versimilitude in performance...you might want to learn a bit about method acting. There is a famous song in A Chorus Line about a character's humiliations in a Method acting class where she was asked to "be a table." Nathan Fielder also creates his own Method in The Rehearsal. You don't have to listen and watch all that stuff by next week, but I'm putting it here in case you're curious. Maybe just google "method acting" enough that we can talk a little bit about it because there are parallels in the visual arts.

• Method
  • Ideas Podcast: The Real Actor, 2022
  • The Rehersal, Nathan Fielder, 2022
• Versimilitude
  • Sideserf Cakes

Sept 16: You now have four objects...your original, your copy, the copy of your original, and the original of your copy. In addition, you have two transcribed texts.

Use the time in class to make static two-dimensional representations of each object. You may use any method (photography, scanning, illustration) but aim for transparency. You are free to leave the room to make use of tools in other spaces.

Your assignment is to clearly describe all four objects on a two-sided poster no larger than 18 x 20 inches. Use the two sides to organize your objects into two conceptual groups. (eg. originals on one side, copies on the other.) It is not necessary to split them into pairs—but you should come up with an organizational strategy that makes use of the poster's two-sidedness. Your poster must have typography on it somewhere, but you may not write any original text. Instead, you may freely sample from the transcribed class conversation or the recorded audio. The extent to which you edit and rearrange this text is up to you.

You may choose to fold your poster up into multiple panels. You may also make cuts to change its overall shape or to fold it up in a way that requires a cut. You may not, however, fasten it in such a way that prevents it from being unfolded and laid flat.

What you bring to class on Sept 16 should be a resolved piece in its final form. You will likely have to do a few drafts on your own. Next week I will introduce a new challenge that may orient you in a new direction. So, please take time this week to make something you are happy with.

Sept 23: Final Due