Advanced CP/SIS: Urban Intervention

Catalog description

This course introduces students to theories, practices, and communities for critical investigation of urban spaces and play within them. The course unfolds along two parallel trajectories: research (literature review, lectures, readings, demonstrations) and design (three iterated individualized projects and a fourth larger scale final project). The first half of the course will introduce students to a wide range of theories and techniques within urban intervention that draw from fluxus, the situationist international, activism and hacktivism, as well as public policy, philosophy, psychology and economics. Students will study theoretical and practical frameworks for artistic intervention into public urban spaces, while concurrently researching actual sites and communities within Pittsburgh for experimentation. Students are required to conceptualized projects on larger (urban) scales, and find ways to implement their projects safely and legally by pursuing the necessary administrative, social, technical, financial steps required to create meaningful interventions in public spaces. This class will specifically explore three media for urban intervention: Sound Outdoor video projection Robotics, Autonomy and Mobility in the way of remote control vehicles (e.g. cars, quad-copters, etc.). For each theme, students are required to produce one project that is iterated twice or more. The undergraduate (60441) and graduate (60741) sections of the course meet concurrently and follow the same syllabus and assignments. In addition to the coursework documented in the syllabus, Graduate level students are expected to write a research paper suitable for submission to a notable relevant academic conference. This process includes a rough draft, revisions and a completed and formatted paper ready for submission