Art Video, BFA

Contact

Tom Sherman, Department of Transmedia
102 Shaffer Art Building, 315-443-1033, twsherma@syr.edu

Faculty

Cooper Battersby, Tom Sherman, Emily Vey Duke

Description

The art video degree program addresses video as a medium for making contemporary art. This B.F.A. degree major emphasizes conceptual development and video design skills grounded in advanced production and post-production studio work. Within the context of the Department of Transmedia, The video option encourages a multidisciplinary approach to video, providing opportunities for students to interact with fellow students majoring in art photography, computer art, and film. Art video majors are immersed in the history and theory of moving image/sound relationships so that their work is informed and strengthened.

Art video maintains an active visiting artists program and one of the best collections of artists’ video in the United States. Students investigate the many ways video technology is used creatively today: as single channel works challenging the conventions of narrative and documentary form; as a visual art form integrating computer-generated images, audio experimentation, and performance art; as a primary source of creative content for the World Wide Web and as a sculptural medium used in site-specific installations. Beginning courses examine technical principles, and assignments

introduce students to the video medium’s complex nature and potential power. At first, students develop ideas with their instructors, but in the junior and senior years, their work becomes increasingly self-directed. The goal is the emergence of independent, personally motivated work.

The art video program is supported by a multiple-format video facility. Production equipment includes mini-DV camcorders, digital audio field recorders, and necessary peripherals. Post-production suites include digital non-linear editing systems; multi-format, multi-standard dubbing stations; dedicated, digital, non-linear audio-to-video suites; a large green-screen shooting stage; and access to other University facilities that further complement post-production work.

This major is designed to prepare students for careers in video art (a multidisciplinary field focused on creative video information design).

In addition to becoming independent video artists, art video graduates may become specialists in a growing number of professional sectors, including music video and World Wide Web content provision, and production and post-production for the education, training, publishing, and entertainment industries, forensic, environmental and political media analysis, as well as in-house video producers for major corporations in the United States and abroad.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements: 48 credits

Academic Requirements: 6 credits

Studies in Culture: 21 credits

Courses classified as Studies in Culture are, in general, classes related to art history and cultural studies but also include Foreign Languages, Anthropology and World Literature. Please consult your academic advisor if you have any questions about a particular class.

Academic Electives: 30 credits

Academic electives are most courses offered outside of art, design, or transmedia (for example, courses offered in CRS, Arts and Sciences, Whitman, and other colleges outside of SU:VPA). These academic courses usually have non-art-related content, such as math, natural sciences, art history, anthropology, religion, gender studies, and writing, among others. Most importantly, they meet for a total of 150 to 160 minutes each week for the duration of the semester (usually on a two- or three-day pattern, such as MW, TTH, or MWF, with classes ranging from 50 to 80 minutes each.)

Studio Electives: 24 credits

Studio electives are courses usually offered in VPA through art, design, or transmedia. The content of the courses directly relates to the preparation of students for professional careers in art, design, and transmedia. The course content includes, but is not limited to, conceptualization, process, product, and critique of creative work in studio practice. These courses meet for a much longer time, for a minimum of four hours per week for the duration of the semester. Usual meeting patterns are: the class meets once per week for four+ hours, or the class meets twice per week, usually for two or more hours each.

Course Catalog