IM112 Woody Vasulka

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2011
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lenka Dolanová, Ph.D. (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Jana Horáková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Jana Horáková, Ph.D.
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Jitka Leflíková
Timetable
each even Tuesday 10:50–14:05 N21
Prerequisites
Steina and Woody Vasulkas belong to the most important researchers of the electronic audiovisual art worlds. The relation with their tools, made in DIY tradition, but very complex, was crucial from the beginning; they share their lifes with them in the studios from New York till Santa Fe. Steina comes from Iceland, Bohuslav Vašulka alias Woody studied documentary film department at FAMU in Prague; comes from Brno. In 1965 they emigrated together to the United States, where they discovered video and began to research the electronic media language, with the use of oscillators, synthesizers, colorizers, various optical tools, processors or softwares. In their work with the image-sound relations they often exchanged their roles - Woody worked with the sound, Steina with the image. The audiovisual synthesis belong to their key themes. Most of the tools they constructed, or adjusted, together with their collaborators. The Vasulkas are also important in the spheres of curating and archiving. The Vasulkas' work tells the story of the relations of art, science and technology, possibilities and limits of art research, the role of the artists in society. Woody in the last years devotes himself to the robotic systems, Steina uses the recordings of not only Icelandic natural processes for composing the environments with multichannel sound and image. The seminar will present their work in the context of electronic arts histories; the relation of video and experimental film, expanded cinema fenomenon, the influence of the early cybernetics and systems theory, work by Marshall McLuhan or Buckminster Fuller and others. It will also include the commented projections and additional home readings.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 150 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/150, only registered: 0/150, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/150
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim is to present in a complex way the work by Woody and Steina Vasulkas, in the context of the early electronic arts developments, and suggest the possible ways of continuing the research of the field.
Syllabus
  • 1) 20. 9. The beginnings of video art in USA and Europe Video art histories, mythologies and utopias 2) 4. 10. Video document, video collectives, guerilla TV Activism and videoart. Marshall McLuhan and the others 3) 18. 10. Dialogue with the tool (From analogue to digital) Image and sound processing. Signals and codes. The aesthetics of intelligent systems 4) 1. 11. Video vs. structural / experimental film What happens in between the frames and lines 5) 15. 11. Expanded cinema, moving image in gallery and outside Video environment, video installations, expanded cinema 6) 29. 11. Video and memory. Video archaeology Machine vision, orbital obsessions. The authors in the image 7) 13. 12. Robotic installations by Woody Vasulka Towards the living machines and archives
Literature
  • DOLANOVÁ, Lenka. Dialog s démony nástrojů. Steina a Woody Vasulkovi (Dialogue with the demons of the tools. Steina and Woody Vasulkas). 2011. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, commented projections, home readings.
Assessment methods
Active participation at the lectures (maximum 2x absent) Written essay of min. 3 norm pages (during the examination period) The analysis of one of the works screened at the lectures (till Dec. 13)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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