Transformation Project
Sondra Perry, Resident Evil (2016)
Assignment Breakdown
| Components | Description | Due Dates | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artwork + Critique | Max. 5 min single-channel audiovisual artwork produced in groups of 2, presented during critique in a group screening format. | Nov 2 | 15 |
| Documentation + Self-reflection | 1-2 page PDF document that presents the artistic and technical intentions of the artwork, including a short self-reflection on your process and outcomes. | Nov 6 | 5 |
| TOTAL (%) | 20.0 |
Artwork + Critique
Working in pairs, create a single-channel audiovisual work no longer than 5 minutes in duration that responds to the idea of transformation. Thinking about transformation as a site for collaboration, you will choose one action word from the word list below and pair it with a subject of your choice that holds personal, social, or political significance. The work you create should hybridize moving image and sound, exploring transformation across the audiovisual domain, making use of at least one audiovisual technique covered in class (ie. transformation, color-tone systems, montage, collage, digitization, data conversion). Feel free to make use of any analog or digital tools and equipment explored to date in class, sketches, or on your own. Depending on your action word, you might reimagine transformation as a process for collaboration, make use of digitization or data conversion techniques to transform the analog or physical into digital material, or consider how best to capture, interrupt, or leave trace of a transformation. Your work should consider how your chosen action word can be harnessed intentionally to form a critical or poetic perspective that reflects on a specific personal, social, or political issue. Your work will be presented in peer critique on the project due date.
Documentation + Self-Reflection
Following critique, you will submit documentation that describes the artistic and technical intentions behind the work.
1 PDF per student submitted to Moodle, containing the following information:
- Your Name and Group Members
- Project Title, Medium, Year
- 1 Image - An image that represents the project
- Artistic Statement (100-150 words)
- Self Reflection (100-150 words)
- List of References
- Acknowledgment of the Use of AI (if necessary)
PDF Formatting Requirements:
- Legible font choice
- 12 pt font
- Single spaced
See Artwork Documentation Guide for formatting example.
Assessment Criteria
Artwork + Critique (15 pts)
| Criteria |
|---|
| 1. Concept + Creativity - Artwork is creative, original, and meaningful; the unit theme is clearly and thoughtfully linked to a critical concept. (3 pts) |
| 2. Process - Collaboration is clearly demonstrated through the work and/or articulated during critique; shared authorship is evident. (3 pts) |
| 3. Technique + Functionality - Technical processes and equipment function effectively in the work and elevate the overall impact of the project. (3 pts) |
| 4. Execution - Presentation is clean, well thought out, and enhances the overall experience of the work. (3 pts) |
| 5. Engagement - Meaningful, thoughtful contribution to the discussion of peer work during critique. (3 pts) |
Documentation + Self-Reflection (5 pts)
| Criteria |
|---|
| 1. Guidelines, formatting & writing - Follows all guidelines and formatting; strong structure with minimal grammatical errors. (1 pt) |
| 2. Still image of the work - Image conveys the project well and shows off its quality. (1 pt) |
| 3. Technical description - Concise and accurately detailed (name, title, medium, year, link). (1 pt) |
| 4. Artist statement - Describes visual/conceptual aspects of the work, motivations/inspirations, how process/technique contribute to form and meaning, and intended impact on the viewer. (1 pt) |
| 5. Reflection - Demonstrates self-awareness in relation to the unit theme, project idea, and collaboration; reflects honestly on the project. (1 pt) |
Resources
Action Words
#compress #erode #dissolve #decay #freeze #accumulate #trace #erase #scan #redact #overwrite #translate #encode #decode #corrupt #archive #fragment #loop #glitch #mirror #invert #iterate #rotate #pivot #scale #stretch #blend #deterriorate #alter #convert #mutate #transmute #morph #chop #transfigure #stitch #transfer #shift #repair #adapt #expand #copy
Creative Prompts
- What subject are you transforming and why?
- How is transformation enacted through your chosen action? What is the result of this action? What does it change, or not change?
- Is this transformation final or occurring continuously over time?
- What digitization/conversion process best enacts your transformative word?
- How can transformation be sensed, seen, heard, or felt?
- How does transformation appear mid-process? Not before or after, but during?
- What material, object, body, image, or system is most affected by your action? What is lost or gained if your subject undergoes this transformation?
- Is your subject physical or does it only exist in memory, data, or language? How does that effect the way transformation can be enacted?
- Is transformation sudden, gradual, repetitive, or reversible? How does duration and (ir)reversibility shape its meaning?
- Is this action something done to a subject, or something the subject does to itself?
- Is transformation most powerfully observed through live performance, documentation, or as an installation? Why?
Artists
Ryoji Ikeda, Alvin Lucier, William Basinki, Cyprien Gallard, Diana Thater, Wolfgang Tillmans, Tacita Dean, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Janet Cardiff, On Kawara, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mona Hatoum, Ana Medieta, Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, American Artist, Forensic Architecture, Paul DeMarinis, Trevor Paglen, Hito Steryl, Christian Marclay, Yoko Ono, Zach Blas, Rosa Menkman, Taryn Simon, The Atlas Group, Tacita Dean, Rashid Johnson, Bruce Nauman, Rosa Menkman, Takeshi Murate, James Turell, Pierre Huyghe, Sol LeWitt, Anthony McCall, Semiconductor, Stan Douglas, Pipilotti Rist, Natalie Paneng+++
Suggested Reading
- Blas et al, Chart of Transitions (2025)
- Cárdenas, Algorithmic Analysis (2022)
- Coccia, Metamorphoses (2021)
- Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto (1991)
- Morton, excerpts from All Art is Ecological (2018)
- Russell, Glitch Feminism and the Genesis of Glitch Body Politic (2013)
- Serra, Verb List (1967)
- Tuin and Verhoeff, Trans-, Transing (2022)
- Youngblood, Syncretism and Metamorphosis Montage as Collage (1970)