Laine Rettmer

Assistant Professor

Laine Rettmer is a visual artist and opera director. Their work explores performance, gender, desire and methods of social control and has been presented nationally and internationally at the Vizcaya Museum, Manifesta, MoMA Public, the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum, the Illuminus Festival, the Boston Independent Film Festival, the Yuan Art Museum, Yve Yang Gallery, Perkins and Ping, Present Company, NADA NY, NADA Presents and AREA gallery, among others.

Rettmer’s opera productions have been praised as “wickedly smart” and “devastatingly funny” by The New York Times and “not only profound but also shattering” by the Observer. Their Barber of Seville was named one of the top 10 classical music productions of 2014 by The New York Times and La Bohème one of the best operas of the decade by the Observer. Rettmer currently serves on the Artistic Advisory Board of On-Site Opera.

Rettmer has also worked extensively on new opera with such companies as New York City Opera, Ecce Ensemble, Guerrilla Opera and Fresh Squeezed Opera. Recent awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant and an MAP Fund grant for the collaborative opera Standby Snow: Chronicles of a Heat Wave, an Art Alliance Fellowship from HFBK Hamburg, a research fellowship from the Center for Arts Design and Social Research and residences at Skaftfell Center for Visual Arts in Iceland, the Watermill Foundation on Long Island, and MassArt’s Brant Gallery.

In addition to teaching in the Sculpture department at RISD, Rettmer has served as a residential scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a part-time lecturer at Northeastern University, and they were a post-graduate fellow at Tufts University. They hold a BFA in stage direction from New York University and an MFA in digital media from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

FAV 5125-01 - FILM & VIDEO INSTALLATION
Level Undergraduate
Unit Film/Animation/Video
Subject Film/Animation/Video
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

FAV 5125-01

FILM & VIDEO INSTALLATION

Level Undergraduate
Unit Film/Animation/Video
Subject Film/Animation/Video
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Laine Rettmer Location(s): College Building, Room 521 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This studio investigates monitor and projector based installation through critical readings and studio practice. Emphasis is placed on concerns of material, site, space and interactivity. The course revisits the television monitor and television viewing context as the original video installation site. Students also explore the projector and projection beam, including its shape and volume, capacity to serve as a pure light source and as a means of resurfacing three-dimensional objects. Active installation artists visit the class for lectures and critiques.

Estimated Materials Cost: $150.00 Deposit: $150.00

Department permission is required to register for this course; this course is not available via web registration. Please contact fav@risd.edu for permission to register.


Elective

FAV 5193-01 - SENIOR STUDIO: OPEN MEDIA
Level Undergraduate
Unit Film/Animation/Video
Subject Film/Animation/Video
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

FAV 5193-01

SENIOR STUDIO: OPEN MEDIA

Level Undergraduate
Unit Film/Animation/Video
Subject Film/Animation/Video
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Laine Rettmer Location(s): Auditorium, Room 625 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This path, within the senior studio options, allows for the exploration of a broad range of hybrid practices. Through the structural support of this year-long studio, students will produce a project that synthesizes their understanding of and aspirations for media art practice. Works produced use media as their point of departure, but may take a variety of forms including performance, installation, public art, intervention, networked/collaborative production, print publication, activism, etc. The course prepares students to work with depth in their use of media and as contemporary artists in a complex art world, in which media is often only one component in a larger project. Students receive weekly individual guidance from the instructor and peers, as well as two critiques by prominent working artists or related practitioners. During the spring semester, each student explores the notion of distribution intensively, resulting in the crafting of individualized forms of presentation. Each student also develops a portfolio of their work, focused on communicating their core interests to a defined group. Class meetings are devoted to presentations of related artists works, individual meetings and group critique. Fall semester includes field trips to events in the NY/New England area.

Estimated Materials Cost: Varies considerably with production design. Deposit: $150.00

Department permission is required to register for this course; this course is not available via web registration. Please contact fav@risd.edu for permission to register.

Major Requirement | BFA Film/Animation/Video | Open Media

PHOTO 5305-01 - JUNIOR STUDIO
Level Undergraduate
Unit Photography
Subject Photography
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

PHOTO 5305-01

JUNIOR STUDIO

Level Undergraduate
Unit Photography
Subject Photography
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Laine Rettmer Location(s): Design Center, Room 315 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The Junior Studio continues the process begun in the Sophomore Studio but moves it to a more ambitious and sustained level of production and critical feedback. Students will be expected to work more autonomously and will explore their ideas with more focus and depth, with the goal of working toward the successful production of several bodies of work over the course of the year. Group and individual critiques will continue to form the basis of the course curriculum, supplemented by visiting critics, field trips and class exercises. Attendance at all departmental visiting artist lectures is required.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00 - $200.00

Enrollment is limited to Junior Photography Students.


Major Requirement | BFA Photography

Spring 2024 Courses

FAV 5194-01 - SENIOR STUDIO: OPEN MEDIA
Level Undergraduate
Unit Film/Animation/Video
Subject Film/Animation/Video
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

FAV 5194-01

SENIOR STUDIO: OPEN MEDIA

Level Undergraduate
Unit Film/Animation/Video
Subject Film/Animation/Video
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Laine Rettmer Location(s): Auditorium, Room 625 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This path, within the senior studio options, allows for the exploration of a broad range of hybrid practices. Through the structural support of this year-long studio, students will produce a project that synthesizes their understanding of and aspirations for media art practice. Works produced use media as their point of departure, but may take a variety of forms including performance, installation, public art, intervention, networked/collaborative production, print publication, activism, etc. The course prepares students to work with depth in their use of media and as contemporary artists in a complex art world, in which media is often only one component in a larger project. Students receive weekly individual guidance from the instructor and peers, as well as two critiques by prominent working artists or related practitioners. Class meetings are devoted to presentations of related artists works, individual meetings and group critique. During the spring semester, each student explores the notion of distribution intensively, resulting in the crafting of individualized forms of presentation. Each student also develops a portfolio of their work, focused on communicating their core interests to a defined group. Spring Semester features speakers, working with related practices, who meet with students to prepare them for their professional future.

Estimated Cost of Materials: varies considerably with production design.

Deposit: $150.00

Please contact fav@risd.edu for permission to register.


Major Requirement | BFA Film/Animation/Video | Open Media

PHOTO 5306-01 - JUNIOR STUDIO
Level Undergraduate
Unit Photography
Subject Photography
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

PHOTO 5306-01

JUNIOR STUDIO

Level Undergraduate
Unit Photography
Subject Photography
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Laine Rettmer Location(s): Design Center, Room 315 Enrolled / Capacity: 16 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

A continuation of Photo 5305 allowing junior level majors to investigate their image making concerns in depth. Class time will be used to critique work in progress.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00 - $200.00

Enrollment is limited to Junior Photography Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Photography