Search Course Listings
SENIOR PRINT WORKSHOP: SEMINAR
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This is a seminar class for the senior printmaking student. The course addresses practical topics related to becoming a professional artist after graduation. Topics include (1) professional content development as applied one’s CV, artist statement, website, and social media promotion; (2) class discussions about galleries, museums, graduate programs, auction houses, and grants; (3) examination of marketing channels for today’s artist; (4) introduction to business skills and professionalism as appropriate for the art world. Professionals from related fields will be invited to the class to share their expertise and experience.
Open to Senior Printmaking Students.
Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking
SINGLE EDITION/PORTFOLIO PROJECT
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to present various printmaking processes to students new and more experienced; majors and non-majors. In group or individually, beginners will learn and advanced students will review print techniques that span silkscreen, intaglio, photo/digital, and/or their printed combinations, e.g., students choose the print technique(s) they wish to be the focus of their final, printed edition. The course objective concentrates on visualizing a distinct, image, while respecting each printmaking discipline(s), as it melds medium, process and concept. Drawings, studies and printed proofs will be initially created to learn, explore and plan strategies for the edition. The editioned print can be either experimental or more traditional. The course will culminate in a professionally presented printed edition that will be kept by the artist numbering enough prints to accommodate a class print exchange. This course may be repeated for credit.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00
Elective
GRADUATE PRINTMAKING III: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND PRACTICE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Students in the graduate printmaking program will utilize graduate level research and scholarship as an impetus for growth within studio practice. Investigation into historical cycles of printmaking will be fostered through assigned texts and exploration of primary resources available at RISD, especially The RISD Museum. A dialogue stemming from intensive studio work will be developed in varied formats by faculty, visiting artists and peers throughout the semester.
Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking
LETTERPRESS PRINTING ON THE VANDERCOOK PROOF PRESS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course will introduce students to contemporary letterpress printing. While keeping the broad historical role of letterpress printing in mind, the course will allow students to use the various incarnations of letterpress printing to further their own work. The focus of the course will be learning to print, and print well, how to troubleshoot on the Vandercook proof press, and exploring how the different approaches, processes, papers, and techniques effect and direct the finished work. The course will begin with an overview of letterpress printing history and its relation to the evolution of typography, and its major impact on, and reaction to, societal change. We will first focus on setting and printing from handset type, and more traditional image making techniques (read: Linocuts!), and then introduce digital images through the use of polymer plates. Once the basics of the process have been covered, the focus will be on students using the techniques and processes to further their own work, and the creation of a final project using any of the techniques as appropriate to the piece.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00
Elective
PAPERMAKING
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Make you own paper for printing or three-dimensional constructions in this hand on experimental studio course in making paper. Curriculum will include: paper specifications, basic sheet formation, Japanese Plant fibers, recycled materials, paper modules and screens, along with paper structures for installation based work.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $175.00
Elective
PAPERMAKING
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Make you own paper for printing or three-dimensional constructions in this hand on experimental studio course in making paper. Curriculum will include: paper specifications, basic sheet formation, Japanese Plant fibers, recycled materials, paper modules and screens, along with paper structures for installation based work.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $175.00
Elective
JUNIOR PRINT WORKSHOP: SEMINAR/CRITIQUE :FALL
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course primarily involves the search for a personal, idiosyncratic visual statement. Juniors will refine technical application, engage in experimentation and study historical/contemporary artists and movements as the course progresses from scheduled project orientation to more independent bodies of work involving printmaking and its combinations with other mediums. Installation and presentation of work created will be analyzed as a critical component. This course will encompass oral discussion and presentations. Critiques will be frequent, in individual and group format including a group mid-term critique and end of semester critique that includes an invited, guest critic. In addition to the visual component of the course, instruction in seminar form will comprise visual artist professional practice methods that involve resume, cover letter, and employment application. Presentation of work in gallery, museum and professional interaction formats will also be part of the course.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00
Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking
RELIEF I PROJECTS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This class will utilize relief as a means of developing personal imagery. Wood engraving, reduction and multi-block techniques shown. The responsibility of direction, and problem solving will shift to the student as initial assignments proceed into more independent projects. Individual critiques will occur throughout the term, at mid-term and final week.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00
This course is a requirement for Sophomore Printmaking Students.
Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking
RELIEF I PROJECTS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This class will utilize relief as a means of developing personal imagery. Wood engraving, reduction and multi-block techniques shown. The responsibility of direction, and problem solving will shift to the student as initial assignments proceed into more independent projects. Individual critiques will occur throughout the term, at mid-term and final week.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00
Elective
SENIOR PRINT WORKSHOP: CRITIQUE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course provides the printmaking major the opportunity to work closely with Printmaking faculty on a concentrated and advanced basis beyond study in a print elective course. Focus on the development of printmaking related work prior to the Degree Project, relying primarily on individual and group critiques, will culminate in the Degree Project Proposal-foundation for both the Written Thesis and Degree Project body of work that is the focus of Spring Semester for senior printmakers.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00
Open to Senior Printmaking Students.
Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking
ADVANCED RELIEF
SECTION DESCRIPTION
GRADUATE PRINT PROJECTS I
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Graduate Print I will focus on the notion that Printmaking (and its constituent processes/techniques) are a hub within the visual arts. Students will experiment with a multitude of print processes that branch from drawing (a logical creative starting-point between Printmaking and Painting), and form extensions into the mediums of painting, sculpture, installation, and even video. Processes covered will include; drawing fluid/screen filler, screen monotype, image transfer, drypoint intaglio, and various other forms of monoprint. Assignments will require experimentation with each new technique and projects will require the individual exploration of these techniques and application to each students' personal studio practice. Demonstrations, presentations, and group/individual critiques will supplement all work time.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00
Open to Graduate Printmaking Students.
Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking
OPTICS & MAKING HOLOGRAMS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This mostly non-mathematical presentation of optics leads us to an appreciation of the logic and beauty behind the behavior of light. Starting with the fundamental properties of light, we pass through the geometric optics of reflection and refraction, and the wave optics of interference and diffraction to the clarity of particle waves, lasers, holography, and special relativity. This Wintersession seminar on optics has a section on understanding the physics that makes laser holograms and lasers work. Ideas from familiar phenomena help us see the connections between everyday life and the abstract ideas of optics and physics.
Elective
MANY WAYS TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP: SYMBIOSES IN NATURE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Deception, manipulation, reproduction. Life, death, or something in-between. What does it mean when cowbirds move into your neighborhood? Can plants cause animals to have bizarre sexual practices, for their benefit? Are most wasp species pest colonies that torment humans, or parasitoids that benefit ecosystems? This course will focus on the intimate relationships within ecology, morphology and behavior in the evolution and diversification of plants, animals, and other living things. Symbiosis (pl. symbioses) is when different species live together. Sometimes both benefit (mutualism), but often one benefits at a cost to the other (e.g., parasitism). The focus of this course will be to observe and study examples of the myriad of ecological interactions that involve symbioses. We will examine the structures and relationships that exist in a variety of ecosystems and learn to understand why things look (or act) the way they do. The basic biology of many types of organisms will also be covered. We will consult diverse scientific literature and films, and conduct (solo) forays into nature. Coursework will combine lecture, discussion and presentation; weekly readings; frequent homework assignments; final synthesis.
Elective
TOPICS IN PHYSICS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Advanced and basic topics in the physical sciences are explored in this class. An overview of space-time and the expanding universe is followed by topics in: light quantum, the atom, and quantum physics. Other topics include wave-particle duality, gravity, time, black holes, and the special and general theories of relativity. Then we examine the unification of physics through the emerging result of (super) string theory which in spite of the incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics harmoniously unites (and also requires) these conflicting theories. The already non-intuitive dimensions of space-time beautifully expand in the quantum geometry of string theory.
Elective
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS AND DESIGN SOLUTIONS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The goals of this course are threefold:
(1) to explain how the natural world works, and how humans physically change and are changed by some of its processes
(2) To emphasize how society understands, evaluates and confronts the dangers posed by these natural processes
(3) To encourage students to view the unique sets of problems caused by flooding, earthquakes, tsunami, climate change and other earth functions as challenges demanding intelligent and creative solutions that they are equipped to deliver.
Case studies of recent natural disasters and design solutions will be discussed, and students own creativity and concepts for potential design solutions will be employed. No prior science background is required.
Elective
BIOLOGY OF ANIMAL-HUMAN INTERACTIONS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course, taught by zoological medicine veterinarian Dr. Lucy Spelman examines how we interact with animals-both domestic and wild-and how, in turn, these interactions affect us. Each week we focus on a different species, working our way up the taxonomic tree from corals to gorillas. We study the animal's basic biology, including its anatomy, natural history, and ecology. We consider the role it plays in human society, including as companions, as food, and, as sources of medicine and spiritual inspiration. We study how human activity is affecting its health and the ripple effect on our own health. We explore how agriculture, climate change, emerging diseases, habitat loss, hunting, and trade are driving many species to extinction. In the process, we discover that while many human-animal interactions are positive, many more are problematic, and that although we have solutions for most of these negative interactions, we often fail to implement them. Examples include excessive antibiotic use in cows, the continued loss of wetlands threatening frogs, and, the increasing number of coyotes favored by urban landscapes. We explore some of the underlying reasons for this inaction. In their final project, students identify a problematic human-animal interaction and explore solutions. This course is designed to encourage you to explore the range of biological complexity in the animal world, the many ways we interact with animals, both domestic and wild, and, the scientific basis of the interconnectedness of health. You will also have the opportunity to explore solutions for problematic human-animal interactions; it is possible to live in balance with animals if we make informed decisions. The material presented will challenge you to learn more about animal classification, zoology, ecology, food animal science, veterinary medicine, public health, and conservation biology. For your final project, you will research a problematic human-animal interaction, explore potential solutions, and create a work of art or design that inspires others to take action.
Elective
INTRODUCTION TO INSECT MORPHOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Has the unfathomable diversity of insects ever fascinated you, but left you wondering where to begin? This is a basic course in entomology for the natural historian and artist. All orders of Class Insecta will be introduced, with both field and lab components whenever possible. Basic insect morphology and ecology will be covered for most orders, with opportunities for artistic rendition and use of both live and dead specimens as models. Students will learn basic insect anatomy and taxonomy for the identification of insects to order-level. Elements of insect ecology will infiltrate everything we look at, in both the field and the lab. Emphasis will be placed on the major orders (beetles, flies, butterflies/moths, etc.); the minor orders will be covered to varying degrees, but this can be adjusted according to the class consensus. Coursework will include field collecting trips, observation and drawing of specimens using a microscope, identification quizzes, and a course project that will emphasize the creation of materials for educational outreach. Additionally, students will finish with their own curated insect collection identified to order-level (or beyond, if student desires).
Elective
WINTER TREE WATCHING
SECTION DESCRIPTION
For much of what we in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere call winter, the trees around us appear lifeless. But are they? Dormancy in trees is a slowing of metabolic function, brought on and maintained by a combination of temperature and day length. Each species has a different response. The shortest day of the year marks a turning point for the plant world, as from that pivotal point day length steadily increases. So what are trees doing in January and February? How do they mark the passage of time, and know when to awaken? During the five-weeks of Wintersession, you will regularly observe and sketch a single tree, from root to bud. Through close observation you will come to understand your tree and how its various parts function in all weather. Class lectures and reading will inform your observations. In addition, samples of a variety of species will be brought inside so we can observe their responses to warmer temperatures. Each species' response will be documented through sketches and measurements of change in bud size, and emersion of leaf and/or flower. By observing the response of different species to increases in ambient temperature, we will become more informed about the implications of dramatic fluctuations in winter temperatures for trees in the future.
THE LANGUAGE OF DESIGN IN NATURE: FROM FORM TO REGENERATION
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Good design is key for life on this planet, moving away from destructive, colonial and extractive practices, to center natural healthy systems within our design process is again required. Through an interdisciplinary design lens of art, culture, and nature, students will observe natural phenomena and investigate potential design solutions for current environmental issues and potential future impact, considering the breadth of the natural world - from form to regeneration.
This course introduces various aspects of design in natural systems, including materiality of form, biomimicry, environmental and social systems, biophilia, life cycle analysis, regeneration, and indigenous science. Specific case studies will be considered as well as the view of how different cultures design toward their physical surroundings. As we develop a regenerative design practice, this will require us to embrace the complexity of a system’s interaction, and in taking a systems approach of the life cycle of the product in mind, we will begin to unpack the relationships of form, design, and potential impact. This course will provide a foundational understanding of nature as model, mentor, and measure of design success, with an emphasis on practical skills to inform projects designed for regenerative impact.
This course is a required prerequisite for the Future Structures Spring Studio courses and is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Group. Prior scientific knowledge is not required, but a willingness to engage in the tools, technologies and literature of scientific disciplines is. Students' research may be shared with the sponsor during the duration of the course.