Michael Demps

Assistant Professor

Michael Demps’ practice is fueled by a fascination with the nature of being—being in one’s body and more specifically, the social structures that confine the body’s ability to move through the world. It is important to understand that such experiences are different in different bodies in order to develop more empathetic relationships with one another, and celebrate more complex and nuanced ways of being. As an artist, Demps is dedicated to exploring notions of the Black interior through making. This interest permeates his collaborative and non-collaborative projects. During the past year he has had the opportunity to exhibit work that contends with the mapping of an interior interconnectivity to the collective through the personal and through somatic activation. His work ranges from abstract monoprint image generation and ghost printing to creating objects that serve as spiritual markings put forth to hold space for self-discovery, recovery and recuperation. These generative systems of making through recontextualization, improvisation and repetition serve as grounding values of his practice and exist in a fugitive space against authorship as a gatekeeper of racism and capitalism. The current cultural shift due to the pandemic has left Demps searching for ways to move his practice forward and engage with audiences in new ways.

Courses

Spring 2024 Courses

DM 3104-01 / SOUND 3104-01 - SONIC PRACTICES
Level Graduate
Unit Digital + Media
Subject Digital + Media Sound
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

DM 3104-01 / SOUND 3104-01

SONIC PRACTICES

Level Graduate
Unit Digital + Media
Subject Digital + Media Sound
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Michael Demps Location(s): 15 West, Roger Mandle Building, Room M11 Enrolled / Capacity: 10 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Sonic Practices is a graduate-level research group focused on acoustic, electronic, and/or computer-based means of sound production and reception. Participants explore audio culture and technology while developing experimental approaches to composition, performance, recording, and/or listening. Areas of investigation include, but are not limited to: audio programming languages, embedded/mobile computing for sound and music, spatial audio, sound synthesis, audio electronics, sonification and auditory display, electroacoustic music composition and improvisation, field recording and soundscape studies, sound installation and performance, and sonic interaction design. Each semester, course content changes in response to a new unifying theme upon which students base individual and team-based research projects. Meetings consist of discussions, workshops, critiques, and collaborations that support students' individual inquiries, the exchange of ideas, and the exploration of research methodologies.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00 - $200.00

Offered as SOUND-3104 and DM-3104.

Please contact the instructor for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. Preference is given to Senior or Graduate Students.


Elective

DM 3104-01 / SOUND 3104-01 - SONIC PRACTICES
Level Graduate
Unit Digital + Media
Subject Digital + Media Sound
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

DM 3104-01 / SOUND 3104-01

SONIC PRACTICES

Level Graduate
Unit Digital + Media
Subject Digital + Media Sound
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Michael Demps Location(s): 15 West, Roger Mandle Building, Room M11 Enrolled / Capacity: 10 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Sonic Practices is a graduate-level research group focused on acoustic, electronic, and/or computer-based means of sound production and reception. Participants explore audio culture and technology while developing experimental approaches to composition, performance, recording, and/or listening. Areas of investigation include, but are not limited to: audio programming languages, embedded/mobile computing for sound and music, spatial audio, sound synthesis, audio electronics, sonification and auditory display, electroacoustic music composition and improvisation, field recording and soundscape studies, sound installation and performance, and sonic interaction design. Each semester, course content changes in response to a new unifying theme upon which students base individual and team-based research projects. Meetings consist of discussions, workshops, critiques, and collaborations that support students' individual inquiries, the exchange of ideas, and the exploration of research methodologies.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00 - $200.00

Offered as SOUND-3104 and DM-3104.

Please contact the instructor for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. Preference is given to Senior or Graduate Students.


Elective

FOUND 1006-10 - STUDIO: SPATIAL DYNAMICS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Foundation Studies
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

FOUND 1006-10

STUDIO: SPATIAL DYNAMICS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Foundation Studies
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: TH | 1:30 PM - 6:00 PM; TH | 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM Instructor(s): Michael Demps Location(s): 15 West, Roger Mandle Building, Room M01 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Studio: Spatial Dynamics is a studio-based inquiry into physical, spatial and temporal phenomena. The study of Spatial Dynamics is rooted in the necessity to consider forces and their effects on structure. Force is the consequence of energy. In Spatial Dynamics the energy and resultant forces are studied in actual motion, stability, and materiality. The structures of physical, spatial and temporal phenomena are studied through additive, subtractive, transformative, iterative, and ephemeral processes both analog and digital. Mediums and materials that are commonly explored and utilized have a broad range of characteristics due to their organic and synthetic sources. Most assignments utilize methods such as preliminary sketches and diagrams in research, planning, and experimental processes. Assignments reference the histories and theories of art and design and include areas of inquiry that extend to disciplines such as the sciences, music, dance, film, and theater.

Enrollment is limited to first-year undergraduate students.

Major Requirement | BFA