Prof. Michael O'Rourke DDA-606A, Seminar I

Assignment:

Artist-talk Presentation

This in-class presentation should show what your thinking, your concerns, your practice are as an artist. You should discuss and show important themes or ideas that you have pursued in your art, how you have pursued them, why you have pursued them, and how you imagine you might (or might not) pursue them in the future.

This is not a history of your life. It is not about personal details such as how you got started doing art, how your mother taught you such-and-such, which schools you studied at, etc . The exception to this would be if those events were very important in your current thinking as an artist.

You also present how your artwork fits in historically and culturally. Are there cultural or past art practices that are significant to you and to your work? How do you feel you and your work fit within the world of contemporary art and contemporary digital art?

Begin by making notes to yourself, both verbal and visual. Organize your experiences, your thoughts and your artwork selections. What were the artistic or intellectual issues you were dealing with in the past? What have you been dealing with recently? What do you think you might want to deal with in the future?

Prepare a 20-minute presentation to be given in front of the class. The presentation will include:

• A one paragraph Abstract that summarizes the main thrust of your presentation. Make this Abstract in PDF format and post it to your blog the day before your presentation by 5:00 PM.

• Detailed speaking notes for you to follow as you talk. Do no write out the entire presentation word by word. Reading from a script will make your presentation very boring. Make notes that will remind you of the points you wish to make and will help you with some key phrases.

   

• Visuals (lots) to illustrate your points. These visuals can be your own work, artwork of other people, or anything at all that it would be helpful for us to see. If sound is important, include that. If music is important, include samples. Embed these materials within your presentation notes. If you have lots of such materials, they will help guide you through your presentation.

• Create a PDF file of your presentation notes + materials. Post this PDF to your blog before your presentation.

Your presentation should run for 15 minutes. Make sure to rehearse it aloud to test your running time. Make sure to test your presentation on the presentation machine before class. After your presentation, there will be 5 minutes of discussion and questions to you from the audience.

Your presentation will be graded based on the substance and quality of your thinking, the organization of materials, and the effectiveness of presentation.