Art, Culture and Technology
4.301 Introduction to Artistic Experimentation
 ( ) 
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Introduces artistic practice and critical visual thinking through three studio-based projects using different scales and media, for instance, "Body Extension," "Shaping Time," "Public Making," and/or "Networked Cultures." Each project concludes with a final presentation and critique. Students explore sculptural, architectural, performative artistic methods; video and sound art; site interventions and strategies for artistic engagement in the public realm. Lectures, screenings, guest presentations, field trips, readings, and debates supplement studio practice. Also introduces students to the historic, cultural, and environmental forces affecting both the development of an artistic vision and the reception of a work of art. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
L. Anderson Barbata
4.302 Foundations in Art, Design, and Spatial Practices
( )
Prereq: 4.02A or 4.021
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: TR9.30-12.30 (E15-207)
Develops an introductory foundation in artistic practice and its critical analysis, and develops artistic approaches and methods by drawing analogies to architectural thinking, urbanism, and design practice. Covers how to communicate ideas and experiences on different scales and through two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and time-based media in new genres. Uses artistic methods that engage the public realm through spatial, sculptural, performative, and process-oriented practices. Instruction components include video screenings, guest lectures, visiting artist presentations, and field trips. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Lab fee required. Limited to 18; preference to Course 4 majors and minors.
T. Putrih
No required or recommended textbooks
4.307 Art, Architecture, and Urbanism in Dialogue
 ()
(Subject meets with 4.308)
Prereq: 4.301, 4.302, or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Initiates a dialogue between architecture, urbanism, and contemporary art by focusing on the work of practitioners who intertwine the three disciplines in a critical spatial practice. Investigates themes and works ranging from early modernist practices to the contemporary and research based. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions with guests and faculty contribute to the development of group and individual projects and their presentation. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.308 Art, Architecture, and Urbanism in Dialogue
 ()
(Subject meets with 4.307)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Initiates a dialogue between architecture, urbanism, and contemporary art by focusing on the work of practitioners who intertwine the three disciplines in a critical spatial practice. Investigates themes and works ranging from early modernist practices to the contemporary and research based. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions with guests and faculty contribute to the development of group and individual projects and their presentation. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.310 Introduction to Screen Printing
(, )
(Subject meets with 4.311)
Prereq: None
Units: 0-3-3
Lecture: W2-5 (E14-151)
Exposes students to the technical skills needed for successful screen printing. Students produce single and multicolor prints on paper and fabric using a variety of methods. Covers an introduction to preparing and reclaiming screens, creating handmade and digital cut stencils, use of screen positives and photo emulsion, mono prints and editions, registration, and more. Lab fee required. Additional work required of students taking for graduate credit. Limited to 10 total for versions meeting together.
Fall: G. Yeager
Spring: G. Yeager
No required or recommended textbooks
4.311 Introduction to Screen Printing
(New)
(, )
(Subject meets with 4.310)
Prereq: None
Units: 0-3-6
Lecture: W2-5 (E14-151)
Expose students to the technical skills needed for successful screen printing. Students produce single and multicolor prints on paper and fabric using a variety of methods. Covers an introduction to preparing and reclaiming screens, creating handmade and digital cut stencils, use of screen positives and photo emulsion, mono prints and editions, registration, and more. Lab fee required. Additional work required of students taking for graduate credit. Limited to 10 total for versions meeting together.
Graham Yeager
No required or recommended textbooks
4.314 Advanced Workshop in Artistic Practice and Transdisciplinary Research
() 
(Subject meets with 4.315)
Prereq: 4.301, 4.302, or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. Offers opportunity to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of technology, to build bridges between industry and culture, and to challenge the boundaries between public and private, and human and non-human. Provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology. Supports the development of individual and collective artistic research projects. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Matej Vakula
4.315 Advanced Workshop in Artistic Practice and Transdisciplinary Research
()
(Subject meets with 4.314)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Examines artistic practice as a form of critical inquiry and knowledge production. Offers opportunity to develop art as a means for addressing the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of technology, to build bridges between industry and culture, and to challenge the boundaries between public and private, and human and non-human. Provides instruction in evaluating models of experimentation, individual research, and collaboration with other disciplines in the arts, culture, science, and technology. Supports the development of individual and collective artistic research projects. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Matej Vakula
4.316 Culture Fabric: Art, Fashion, Identity
()
(Subject meets with 4.317)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Focuses on the concept of "fabric" both as a medium and as a framework to explore the complex cultural histories, meanings, and functions of clothing and wearable technologies. Guides students in an exploration of ways in which clothing signals one's belonging to a group and reflects the degree of one's conformity with established social or cultural norms as well as ways in which clothing and fashion may provide insights into broader cultural codes, societal politics, and processes of transformation. Additional work is required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.317 Culture Fabric: Art, Fashion, Identity
()
(Subject meets with 4.316)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-3
Focuses on the concept of "fabric" both as a medium and as a framework to explore the complex cultural histories, meanings, and functions of clothing and wearable technologies. Guides students in an exploration of ways in which clothing signals one's belonging to a group and reflects the degree of one's conformity with established social or cultural norms as well as ways in which clothing and fashion may provide insights into broader cultural codes, societal politics, and processes of transformation. Additional work is required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.318 Toxic Textiles/Fashion Fables
()
(Subject meets with 4.319)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Critiques the widespread phenomenon of fast fashion and considers the notion of "toxic textiles" to explore the cultural, social, political, economic, and environmental footprint of clothing. Examines the storytelling capacity of the textile medium as an artistic and critical response to the world's pressing concerns. Introduces experimentation with textile art and fashion design, informed case studies in contemporary art, decolonizing fashion, performative and wearable technologies, experimental preservation, and fabric upcycling. Students exhibit one studio-based final project at the end of the term. Sewing skills beneficial but not required. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.319 Toxic Textiles/Fashion Fables
()
(Subject meets with 4.318)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Critiques the widespread phenomenon of fast fashion and considers the notion of "toxic textiles" to explore the cultural, social, political, economic, and environmental footprint of clothing. Examines the storytelling capacity of the textile medium as an artistic and critical response to the world's pressing concerns. Introduces experimentation with textile art and fashion design, informed case studies in contemporary art, decolonizing fashion, performative and wearable technologies, experimental preservation, and fabric upcycling. Students exhibit one studio-based final project at the end of the term. Sewing skills beneficial but not required. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.320 Introduction to Sound Creations
()
(Subject meets with 4.321)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Develops a critical awareness of how sound art as a field for artistic exploration is performed, produced, and distributed. Explores contemporary and historical practices that emerge outside of purely musical environments and investigates specific compositional developments of post-war modernity and electro-acoustic music, as well as non-musical disciplines related to the psychophysics of hearing and listening. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions with guests and faculty contribute to the development of group and individual projects. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.321 Introduction to Sound Creations
()
(Subject meets with 4.320)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Develops a critical awareness of how sound art as a field for artistic exploration is performed, produced, and distributed. Explores contemporary and historical practices that emerge outside of purely musical environments and investigates specific compositional developments of post-war modernity and electro-acoustic music, as well as non-musical disciplines related to the psychophysics of hearing and listening. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions with guests and faculty contribute to the development of group and individual projects. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.322 Introduction to Three-Dimensional Art Work
()
(Subject meets with 4.323)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: TW2-5 (E15-235)
Explores three-dimensional art work, including sculptures and installations, from design to model to finished piece. Addresses challenges associated with design and fabrication, process, context, and relationships between objects, the body, and physical or cultural environments. Lectures, screenings, field trips, readings, and debates supplement studio practice. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
L. Anderson Barbata
No required or recommended textbooks
4.323 Introduction to Three-Dimensional Art Work
()
(Subject meets with 4.322)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Lecture: TW2-5 (E15-235)
Explores three-dimensional art work, including sculptures and installations, from design to model to finished piece. Addresses challenges associated with design and fabrication, process, context, and relationships between objects, the body, and physical or cultural environments. Lectures, screenings, field trips, readings, and debates supplement studio practice. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
L. Anderson Barbata
No required or recommended textbooks
4.324 Artist, Architect, Tinkerer, Engineer: How to Collaborate Across Disciplines
()
(Subject meets with 4.325)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Seminar connecting the arts and sciences by exploring methodological similarities and differences across the arts, architecture, engineering, and social sciences. Through targeted reading and exercises, each student develops a collaborative project that engages directly with another discipline. Projects are iterated over the course of the term. Readings, visitors, and lectures expose students to a wide range of practitioners across different fields. Students interrogate the underlying methodologies that unite and separate their disciplines. Presents best-practice models for cultivating collaboration through the use of case studies. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult J. Barry
4.325 Artist, Architect, Tinkerer, Engineer: How to Collaborate Across Disciplines
()
(Subject meets with 4.324)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Seminar connecting the arts and sciences by exploring methodological similarities and differences across the arts, architecture, engineering, and social sciences. Through targeted reading and exercises, each student develops a collaborative project that engages directly with another discipline. Projects are iterated over the course of the term. Readings, visitors, and lectures expose students to a wide range of practitioners across different fields. Students interrogate the underlying methodologies that unite and separate their disciplines. Presents best-practice models for cultivating collaboration through the use of case studies. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult J. Barry
4.328 Climate Visions
()
(Subject meets with 4.329)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Presents artistic intelligence and modes of creative production as ways to contribute to and critically engage with climate science. In conversation with local stakeholders, students develop hybrid projects of art and design that negotiate between pragmatics and fiction to envision solutions to the climate crisis. Case studies and class participation examine dialectics between aesthetics and scientific knowledge related to environmental care and repair. Includes prototyping and publishing spatial, digital, and material experimentations to generate new work individually and/or collaboratively by way of diverse media explorations. Visiting speakers and field trips accompany lectures, readings, class discussions, and presentations. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
Consult G. Urbonas
4.329 Climate Visions
()
(Subject meets with 4.328)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Presents artistic intelligence and modes of creative production as ways to contribute to and critically engage with climate science. In conversation with local stakeholders, students develop hybrid projects of art and design that negotiate between pragmatics and fiction to envision solutions to the climate crisis. Case studies and class participation examine dialectics between aesthetics and scientific knowledge related to environmental care and repair. Includes prototyping and publishing spatial, digital, and material experimentations to generate new work individually and/or collaboratively by way of diverse media explorations. Visiting speakers and field trips accompany lectures, readings, class discussions, and presentations. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
Consult G. Urbonas
4.330 Documentary Production
()
(Subject meets with 4.331)
Prereq: None
Units: 1-2-6
Presents the basics of capturing documentary footage and sounds in real world scenarios, while navigating the ethics of capturing "reality," depicting real people, and representing "truth." Investigates methodologies of editing for production: for film or alternative media such as interactive, web, installation, and location intervention. From Robert Flaherty (silent era) and John Grierson (British model) to Morin & Rouch (cinema verite) and George Stoney (community engagement) to Errol Morris (epistemological interview) and Adam Chris (journalistic essay), considers the history and context of documentary and the various ways people have attempted to represent the real world, including newer hybrid forms that mix fiction, nonfiction, and nonlinear interactive works. Students produce a documentary short on the subject and in the medium of their choice. Additional work required of graduate students. Lab fee required. Limited to 10 total for versions meeting together.
Consult G. Dolan
4.331 Documentary Production
()
(Subject meets with 4.330)
Prereq: None
Units: 1-2-6
Presents the basics of capturing documentary footage and sounds in real world scenarios, while navigating the ethics of capturing "reality," depicting real people, and representing "truth." Investigates methodologies of editing for production: for film or alternative media such as interactive, web, installation, and location intervention. From Robert Flaherty (silent era) and John Grierson (British model) to Morin & Rouch (cinema verite) and George Stoney (community engagement) to Errol Morris (epistemological interview) and Adam Chris (journalistic essay), considers the history and context of documentary and the various ways people have attempted to represent the real world, including newer hybrid forms that mix fiction, nonfiction, and nonlinear interactive works. Students produce a documentary short on the subject and in the medium of their choice. Additional work required of graduate students. Lab fee required. Limited to 10 for total versions meeting together.
Consult G. Dolan
4.332 Introduction to Interactive, Participatory, and Generative Art Making
(, )
(Subject meets with 4.333)
Prereq: None
Units: 0-3-3
Students create art projects that interact with participants and/or environment using a variety of code and hardware-based solutions including MAX/MSP/Jitter, a graphical object-based coding environment, and Arduino physical computing technologies. Students use sensors or generate data to control or interact with lights, speakers, video, audio, motors and much more. Final projects are presented in "n/tr.ACT," an interactive art show in the ACT Gallery. Lab fee required. Additional work required of students taking for graduate credit. Limited to 8 total for versions meeting together.
Gearoid Dolan
4.333 Introduction to Interactive, Participatory, and Generative Art Making
()
(Subject meets with 4.332)
Prereq: None
Units: 0-3-6
Students create art projects that interact with participants and/or environment using a variety of code and hardware-based solutions including MAX/MSP/Jitter, a graphical object-based coding environment, and Arduino physical computing technologies. Students use sensors or generate data to control or interact with lights, speakers, video, audio, motors and much more. Final projects are presented in "n/tr.ACT," an interactive art show in the ACT Gallery. Lab fee required. Additional work required of students taking for graduate credit. Limited to 8 total for versions meeting together.
Gearoid Dolan
4.341 Introduction to Photography and Related Media
(, )
(Subject meets with 4.342)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: MW9.30-12.30 (E15-054) or MW2-5 (E15-054)
Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Fall: H. Membreno-Canales, J. Willis
Spring: H. Membreno-Canales
Textbooks (Spring 2025)
4.342 Introduction to Photography and Related Media
(, )
(Subject meets with 4.341)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Lecture: MW9.30-12.30 (E15-054) or MW2-5 (E15-054)
Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
H. Membreno-Canales, J. Willis
Textbooks (Spring 2025)
4.344 Advanced Photography and Related Media
()
(Subject meets with 4.345)
Prereq: 4.341 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Fosters critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Covers a range of experimental techniques and camera formats, advanced traditional and experimental black-and-white darkroom printing, and all aspects of digital imaging and output. Includes individual and group reviews, field trips, and visits from outside professionals. Topical focus changes each term; coursework centers on student-initiated project with emphasis on conceptual, theoretical, and technical development. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Equipment available for checkout. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Staff
4.345 Advanced Photography and Related Media
()
(Subject meets with 4.344)
Prereq: 4.342 or permission of instructor
Units arranged
Fosters critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Covers a range of experimental techniques and camera formats, advanced traditional and experimental black-and-white darkroom printing, and all aspects of digital imaging and output. Includes individual and group reviews, field trips, and visits from outside professionals. Topical focus changes each term; coursework centers on student-initiated project with emphasis on conceptual, theoretical, and technical development. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Equipment available for checkout. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Staff
4.346 Aesthetic Revolutions: Crafting Avant-Garde Film & Video
(New)
()
(Subject meets with 4.347)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Students explore the complexities of avant-garde cinematic practices through crafting short videos. By studying the conceptual, technical, and social dimensions of avant-garde cinema, participants develop innovative storytelling approaches that challenge mainstream conventions. Students engage in film screenings and discussions that trace the history of moving images from their origins to the contemporary era, with a specific focus on avant-garde practices. Introduces practical knowledge of video capturing, audio recording, lighting, and editing, while emphasizing aesthetic strategies for individual concept development. Specific project topics may vary each term, allowing for the opportunity to repeat for credit. Lab fee required. Limited to 25.
Consult N. Sinnokrot
4.347 Aesthetic Revolutions: Crafting Avant-Garde Film & Video
(New)
()
(Subject meets with 4.346)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Students explore the complexities of avant-garde cinematic practices through crafting short videos. By studying the conceptual, technical, and social dimensions of avant-garde cinema, participants develop innovative storytelling approaches that challenge mainstream conventions. Students engage in film screenings and discussions that trace the history of moving images from their origins to the contemporary era, with a specific focus on avant-garde practices. Introduces practical knowledge of video capturing, audio recording, lighting, and editing, while emphasizing aesthetic strategies for individual concept development. Specific project topics may vary each term, allowing for the opportunity to repeat for credit. Lab fee required. Limited to 25.
Consult N. Sinnokrot
4.352 Advanced Video and Related Media
()
(Subject meets with 4.353)
Prereq: 4.354 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: TW2-5 (E15-207)
Introduces advanced strategies of image and sound manipulation, both technical and conceptual. Covers pre-production planning (storyboards and scripting), refinement of digital editing techniques, visual effects such as chroma-keying, post-production, as well as audio and sonic components. Context provided by regular viewings of contemporary video artworks and other audio-visual formats. Students work individually and in groups to develop skills in media literacy and communication. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
J. Barry
No required or recommended textbooks
4.353 Advanced Video and Related Media
()
(Subject meets with 4.352)
Prereq: 4.355 or permission of instructor
Units arranged
Lecture: TW2-5 (E15-207)
Introduces advanced strategies of image and sound manipulation, both technical and conceptual. Covers pre-production planning (storyboards and scripting), refinement of digital editing techniques, visual effects such as chroma-keying, post-production, as well as audio and sonic components. Context provided by regular viewings of contemporary video artworks and other audio-visual formats. Students work individually and in groups to develop skills in media literacy and communication. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Staff
No required or recommended textbooks
4.354 Introduction to Video and Related Media
()
(Subject meets with 4.355)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Examines the technical and conceptual variables and strategies inherent in contemporary video art practice. Analyzes structural concepts of time, space, perspective, and sound within the art form. Building upon the historical legacy of the moving the image, students render self-exploration, performance, social critique, and manipulation of raw experience into an aesthetic form. Emphasizes practical knowledge of lighting, video capturing and editing, and montage. Presentation and critique of student work, technical workshops, screenings, and reading discussions assist students with final project. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required.
Staff
4.355 Introduction to Video and Related Media
()
(Subject meets with 4.354)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Examines the technical and conceptual variables and strategies inherent in contemporary video art practice. Analyzes structural concepts of time, space, perspective, and sound within the art form. Building upon the historical legacy of film and other time-based image media, students render self-exploration, performance, social critique, and manipulation of raw experience into an aesthetic form. Emphasizes practical knowledge of lighting, video capturing and editing, and montage. Includes presentation and critique of student work, technical workshops, screenings, and readings with the objective of a final creative project. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required.
Staff
4.356 Cinematic Migrations
()
(Subject meets with 4.357)
Prereq: 4.301, 4.302, 4.354, or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Explores ideas and contexts behind moving images through a multifaceted look at cinema's transmutations, emergence on local and national levels, and global migrations. Examines the transformation caused by online video, television, spatial installations, performances, dance, and many formats and portable devices, as well as the theory and context of film's categorization, dissemination, and analysis. Presentations, screenings, field trips, readings, visiting artists, and experimental transdisciplinary projects broaden the perception of present cinema. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
R. Green
4.357 Cinematic Migrations
()
(Subject meets with 4.356)
Prereq: 4.355 or permission of instructor
Units arranged
Explores ideas and contexts behind moving images through a multifaceted look at cinema's transmutations, emergence on local and national levels, and global migrations. Examines the transformation caused by online video, television, spatial installations, performances, dance, and many formats and portable devices, as well as the theory and context of film's categorization, dissemination, and analysis. Presentations, screenings, field trips, readings, visiting artists, and experimental transdisciplinary projects broaden the perception of present cinema. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
R. Green
4.359 Synchronizations of Senses
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-6
Lecture: M9.30-12.30 (E15-207)
Focused on the practices of varied practitioners — film directors, artists, musicians, composers, architects, designers — whose writings relay a process of thinking and feeling integral to their forms of material production. Testing various ways aesthetic forms and their shifts — historic and contemporary — have relations to still emerging contemporary subjectivities (felt emotion in a human body), the class studies productions created by participants and case studies of varied producers, and generates new work individually and/or collaboratively via diverse media explorations. Includes reading, writing, drawing, and publishing, as well as photographic, cinematic, spatial, and audio operations and productions. Activities include screenings, listening assignments, and guest visits, in addition to readings, discussions, and presentations. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
R. Green
No required or recommended textbooks
4.361 Performance Art Workshop
()
(Subject meets with 4.362)
Prereq: 4.301, 4.302, or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
URL: https://architecture.mit.edu/classes
Lecture: TW9.30-12.30 (E15-235)
Explores performance in relation to the body as a space of resistance, the collective body and its powers, and performative acts that blur boundaries between art and life. Students trace gestures of care and conviviality by enacting scores and poetry, altering screens and other walls that divide and separate us, reclaiming time and undoing categories that alienate our bodies from life itself. Activities include contact improvisation, walking, reading, screening, and discussing theoretical, historical, and contemporary issues in relation to performance art. Several small performance-based projects, both collective and individual, assigned throughout the semester. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
L. Anderson Barbata
No required or recommended textbooks
4.362 Performance Art Workshop
()
(Subject meets with 4.361)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
URL: https://architecture.mit.edu/classes
Lecture: TW9.30-12.30 (E15-235)
Explores performance in relation to the body as a space of resistance, the collective body and its powers, and performative acts that blur boundaries between art and life. Students trace gestures of care and conviviality by enacting scores and poetry, altering screens and other walls that divide and separate us, reclaiming time and undoing categories that alienate our bodies from life itself. Activities include contact improvisation, walking, reading, screening, and discussing theoretical, historical and contemporary issues in relation to performance art. Several small performance-based projects, both collective and individual, assigned throughout the semester. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
L. Anderson Barbata
No required or recommended textbooks
4.368 Studio Seminar in Art and the Public Sphere
()
(Subject meets with 4.369)
Prereq: 4.301 or 4.302
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: MW9.30-12.30 (E15-001)
Focuses on the production of artistic interventions in public space. Explores ideas, situations, objects, and materials that shape public space and inform the notion of public and publicness, with an emphasis on co-production and cooperative ethics. Examines forms of environmental art in comparison to temporal and critical forms of art and action in the public sphere. Historical models include the Russian Constructivists, the Situationists International, system aesthetics, participatory and conceptual art, contemporary interventionist tactics and artistic strategies, and methods of public engagement. Students develop an initial concept for a publicly-situated project. Includes guest lectures, visiting artist presentations, and optional field trips. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
G. Urbonas
No required or recommended textbooks
4.369 Studio Seminar in Art and the Public Sphere
()
(Subject meets with 4.368)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Lecture: MW9.30-12.30 (E15-001)
Focuses on the production of artistic interventions in public space. Explores ideas, situations, objects, and materials that shape public space and inform the notion of public and publicness, with an emphasis on co-production and cooperative ethics. Examines forms of environmental art in comparison to temporal and critical forms of art and action in the public sphere. Historical models include the Russian Constructivists, the Situationists International, system aesthetics, participatory and conceptual art, contemporary interventionist tactics and artistic strategies, and methods of public engagement. Students develop an initial concept for a publicly-situated project. Includes guest lectures, visiting artist presentations, and optional field trips. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 12.
Consult G. Urbonas
No required or recommended textbooks
4.373 Advanced Projects in Art, Culture, and Technology
()
(Subject meets with 4.374)
Prereq: 4.301, 4.302, or permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Investigates conceptual and formal issues in a variety of media. Explores representation, interpretation and meaning, and how these relate to historical, social and cultural contexts. Helps students develop an initial concept for a publicly situated project. Includes guest lectures and visiting artist presentations. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.374 Advanced Projects in Art, Culture, and Technology
()
(Subject meets with 4.373)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Investigates conceptual and formal issues in a variety of media. Explores representation, interpretation and meaning, and how these relate to historical, social and cultural contexts. Helps students develop an initial concept for a publicly situated project. Includes guest lectures and visiting artist presentations. Additional work required of students taking graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.376[J] Transmedia Art, Extraction, and Environmental Justice
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as CMS.374[J])
(Subject meets with CMS.877)
Prereq: None
Units: 2-3-7
Exploration of today's extractive economies and the role that artists, media-makers, and transmedia producers play in shaping public perception, individual choices, and movement-building towards sustainability. Traces the contingent geological, material, community, and toxic histories of extracted materials used throughout our built environment, as well as civic resistance and reform that could alter extraction practices. Scaffolded workshops with artists and media producers support students' production of creative documentary and other media projects. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
Staff
4.378 Future Heritage Workshop
()
(Subject meets with 4.379)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
URL: https://architecture.mit.edu/classes
Probes the ethics and aesthetics of historic preservation through an artistic lens. Introduces a range of themes related to politics of heritage, memory and commemoration, trauma, iconoclasm, and more. Explores the agency of monuments in relation to colonialism, nationalism, social justice, and democracy. Research is conducted in groups, through which students analyze contested heritage sites through critical artistic and spatial practices addressing traumatic, troubling, or toxic memory. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions inform the development of individual projects. At the end of the semester, students create projects that may involve artistic tools, collective learning experiences, creative processes, and transdisciplinary knowledge exchanges that demonstrate a new way of capturing, sustaining, and developing future heritage. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.379 Future Heritage Workshop
()
(Subject meets with 4.378)
Prereq: None
Units arranged
URL: https://architecture.mit.edu/classes
Probes the ethics and aesthetics of historic preservation through an artistic lens. Introduces a range of themes related to politics of heritage, memory and commemoration, trauma, iconoclasm, and more. Explores the agency of monuments in relation to colonialism, nationalism, social justice, and democracy. Research is conducted in groups, through which students analyze contested heritage sites through critical artistic and spatial practices addressing traumatic, troubling, or toxic memory. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions inform the development of individual projects. At the end of the semester, students create projects that may involve artistic tools, collective learning experiences, creative processes, and transdisciplinary knowledge exchanges that demonstrate a new way of capturing, sustaining, and developing future heritage. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. Lab fee required. Limited to 20.
Consult A. Aksamija
4.387 Thesis I: Art, Culture, and Technology Theory and Criticism Colloquium
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-6
Introduces foundational texts in contemporary theory and criticism at the intersection of art, culture, and technology. Through presentations and discussions, students explore the necessary methodological perspectives required of an interdisciplinary approach to artistic practices. Subject spans fall and IAP terms. Limited to SMACT students.
A. Aksamija
4.388 Thesis II: SMACT Thesis Preparation
(,  )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-6
URL: https://architecture.mit.edu/classes
Lecture: F10-12 (E15-001) +final
Aids students in the selection of a thesis topic, development of an approach method, preparation of a proposal that includes an outline for their thesis. Explores artistic practice as a method of critical inquiry and knowledge production/dissemination. Students examine artist writings and consider academic formats and standards. Regular group meetings, including peer reviews, are supplemented by independent study and individual conferences with faculty. Restricted to first-year SMACT students.
Spring: J. Barry, N. Sinnokrot
Summer: J. Barry
No required or recommended textbooks
4.389 Thesis III: SMACT Thesis Tutorial
()
Prereq: 4.388
Units: 3-0-6
Series of tutorials that includes regular presentations of student writing in group critiques and supports independent thesis research and development by providing guidance on research strategy and written presentation. Sessions supplemented by regular individual conferences with thesis committee members. Restricted to second-year SMACT students.
J. Barry, N. Sinnokrot
4.390 Art, Culture, and Technology Studio
(, )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-12
Lecture: M2-5 (E15-001) Recitation: F10-12 (E15-001) +final
Explores the theory and criticism of intersections between art, culture, and technology in relation to contemporary artistic practice, critical design, and media. Students consider methods of investigation, documentation, and display and explore modes of communication across disciplines. Students develop projects in which they organize research methods and goals, engage in production, cultivate a context for their practice, and explore how to compellingly communicate, display, and document their work. Regular presentation and peer-critique sessions, as well as reviews involving ACT faculty and fellows, and external guest reviewers provide students with ample feedback as their projects develop. Restricted to SMACT students.
Fall: J. Barry, N. Sinnokrot
Spring: J. Barry
No required or recommended textbooks
4.391 Independent Study in Art, Culture, and Technology
(,  , )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
TBA.
Supplementary work on individual or group basis. Registration subject to prior arrangement for subject matter and supervision by staff.
Fall: T. Haynes
IAP: T. Haynes
Spring: T. Haynes
No textbook information available (IAP 2025); No required or recommended textbooks (Spring 2025)
4.392 Independent Study in Art, Culture, and Technology
(, , )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged [P/D/F]
TBA.
Supplementary work on individual or group basis. Registration subject to prior arrangement for subject matter and supervision by staff.
Fall: T. Haynes
IAP: T. Haynes
Spring: T. Haynes
No textbook information available (IAP 2025); No required or recommended textbooks (Spring 2025)
4.393 Independent Study in Art, Culture, and Technology
(, , )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
TBA.
Supplementary work on individual basis. Registration subject to prior arrangement for subject matter and supervision by staff.
Fall: T. Haynes
IAP: T. Haynes
Spring: T. Haynes
No textbook information available (IAP 2025); No required or recommended textbooks (Spring 2025)
4.394 Independent Study in Art, Culture, and Technology
(, , )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged [P/D/F]
TBA.
Supplementary work on individual basis. Registration subject to prior arrangement for subject matter and supervision by staff.
Fall: T. Haynes
IAP: T. Haynes
Spring: T. Haynes
No textbook information available (IAP 2025); No required or recommended textbooks (Spring 2025)
4.S30 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
(, )
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Lecture: TR9.30-12.30 (E15-054)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
Fall: Matej Vakula and Gearoid Dolan
Spring: Matej Vakula and Gearoid Dolan
No required or recommended textbooks
4.S31 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units arranged [P/D/F]
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
Staff
4.S32 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
(, )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Lecture: W9.30-12.30 (E15-207)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
Fall: Svafa Gronfeldt, Yvette Man-yi Kong
Spring: C. Jones
No required or recommended textbooks
4.S33 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Lecture: MW10-1 (13-1143)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
M. Vakula
No required or recommended textbooks
4.S34 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
(, )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Lecture: TR2-5 (E15-054)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
Fall: Raafat Majzoub
Spring: R. Majzoub
No required or recommended textbooks
4.S35 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
(, )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged [P/D/F]
URL: https://architecture.mit.edu/classes
Lecture: TR9.30-12.30 (E15-054)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
Fall: G. Dolan, M. Vakula
Spring: G. Dolan, M. Vakula
No required or recommended textbooks
4.S36 Special Subject: Art, Culture and Technology
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged [P/D/F]
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
Staff
4.S37 Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology
()
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Lecture: MW10-1 (13-1143)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
M. Vakula
No required or recommended textbooks
4.S38 Special Subject: Art, Culture and Technology
()
Prereq: None
Units arranged
Lecture: W9.30-12.30 (E15-207)
Seminar or lecture on a topic in visual arts that is not covered in the regular curriculum. Requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports and/or design projects, varying at the discretion of the instructor.
C. Jones
No required or recommended textbooks
|
