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

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

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

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

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

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

This course introduces students to ways of thinking comparatively, through interrogating the very terms "global," "arts," and "culture." What constitutes the "global" and what are the implications of such an all-encompassing framework? For instance, what economic, political, and cultural processes can be understood as global? What forms of art are legible as having global stakes or speaking to universal concerns? Who gets to be part of the "universal" and why? This course will specifically examine the "global" acclaim of films such as Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), Federico Fellino's 8 1/2 (1963), Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain (1973), Bong Joon Ho's film Parasite (2019), Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), and novels such as Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987), and Han Kang's The Vegetarian (2007). Critical Globalisms emphasizes the development of broad theoretical perspectives within which students can analyze their own archive of and interventions in "global arts and culture." The course will run as a seminar with weekly reading assignments, regular writing assignments, and in class discussion.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

Introduces some of the complex challenges that confront those who engage with making meaning in the arts. The course begins by establishing an interdisciplinary vocabulary and methodology to address questions of ethics and representation in the arts. The second segment of the course interrogates specific case studies in the politics and ethics of representation. Case studies may be drawn from art, design, literature, music, performance or other forms of cultural production. The course will be run as a seminar with weekly reading assignments, regular writing assignments and in class discussion.

Preference is given to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

Provides guidance through the process of devising, writing and revising the prospectus that will govern their Master's Thesis. Students will develop the prospectus through in-depth research into a topic of their choice, regular submission of written work, feedback from peers and faculty, and revision of written work. Readings and discussion will provide additional structure to the course. At the end of the semester, students will submit the prospectus to the First and Second Readers of the MA Committee. Acceptance of the prospectus is a requirement for continuing to GAC-799G: Thesis.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.

Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.

Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures

Transparent Matter is a hands-on studio focused on materials and processes that engage states of transparency and light. Specifically, this course invites students to engage in experiments that combine glass, light, kinetic movement and physical/virtual space. Collaborative work practices, material agency, video sketch-booking and time-based thinking (often catalyzed through a transparent medium) will inform explorations into optical phenomenon.

The class will approach the hot shop as a location that will promote new studio processes and generate interdisciplinary thinking and making. Relationships between physical material and philosophical approach will be explored through handling glass, light, optics, lenses, and projectors. Through guided studio practice, readings, research, lectures, screenings, demos, and discussions, students will learn conceptual, technical, and performative principles. Lectures based on the use of transparency in contemporary art will contextualize various ways material and metaphor inform one another.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

The course is open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior, Fifth-year Undergraduates from all disciplines across RISD. There are no pre-requisite courses required.

Elective

Students will be introduced to various methods of utilizing molten glass in the hotshop and work towards creating works that emphasize the aspects that characterize the medium in its molten state, (for example):

- Time-based

- Movement, Choreography, and the Body

- Fluidity

- Amorphous

- Performative

- Collaborative

In lecture we will visit historical artworld references such as Fluxus, Surrealism, Happenings, and Performance Art, as well as contemporary examples. We will also cover material characteristics of glass, with an emphasis on the material in its molten state. Students will be strongly encouraged to experiment and push aside any preconceptions of what type of art can be made from molten glass. Students will work in pairs and small groups on a series of weekly exercises and prompts that will lead to finished works.

Estimated Materials Cost: $200.00

Elective

This hands-on experimental course will give students the opportunity to investigate a wide range of hot casting methods. The class will focus on exploring and innovating with a variety of mold materials: sand, CO2, refractory, wood, metal, organic and found molds. Hot glass ladle casting will be our primary working technique. Demonstrations will not linger on the technical but rather, will function as a catalyst for students to engage in an aesthetic and/or conceptual dialogue with technique and material. Both the studio process and the information presented in this class will encourage collaborative as well as individual work. This class will permit a deep investigation into the process of casting and into the innate properties of glass.

This course is open to non-majors. Email the instructor and Department Head jointly to request permission.

Elective

Glass, a material that is derived from natural processes and human ingenuity, has occupied the threshold between man and nature for millennia. In natural form it can be the byproduct of volcanoes, lightning strikes, extraterrestrial impacts (tektites, moldavites, ...) and deep-sea sponges.  Early civilizations, recognizing the potential of its wondrous properties, used volcanic glass (obsidian) to create mirrors and arrowheads.  The myriad optical and physical qualities of manmade glass have been used to create telescopes, magnifying glasses and a vast array of alchemical and scientific instruments.  From the ubiquitous glass vessel, to the most advanced technology of silica-based nanostructures, glass has been instrumental in our ability to perceive and conceive of nature.  It has shaped our understanding of nature and our place within it. 

Through a process of material investigations and site visits/ explorations we will conduct an intensive study of the role that glass has played in our observation and understanding of nature over time.   Using both traditional and experimental hot glass working techniques we will create works inspired by, and responding to specific themes each week. Themes will highlight ideas that present and contain nature, that magnify nature, that duplicate nature, and that vitrify nature. 

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

Elective

Glass, a material that is derived from natural processes and human ingenuity, has occupied the threshold between man and nature for millennia. In natural form it can be the byproduct of volcanoes, lightning strikes, extraterrestrial impacts (tektites, moldavites, ...) and deep-sea sponges.  Early civilizations, recognizing the potential of its wondrous properties, used volcanic glass (obsidian) to create mirrors and arrowheads.  The myriad optical and physical qualities of manmade glass have been used to create telescopes, magnifying glasses and a vast array of alchemical and scientific instruments.  From the ubiquitous glass vessel, to the most advanced technology of silica-based nanostructures, glass has been instrumental in our ability to perceive and conceive of nature.  It has shaped our understanding of nature and our place within it. 

Through a process of material investigations and site visits/ explorations we will conduct an intensive study of the role that glass has played in our observation and understanding of nature over time.   Using both traditional and experimental hot glass working techniques we will create works inspired by, and responding to specific themes each week. Themes will highlight ideas that present and contain nature, that magnify nature, that duplicate nature, and that vitrify nature. 

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

Elective