Conceptual /Information Arts:   Syllabus for Art 612 (Internship)

Course Requirements:

• Initiate and successfully execute an internship (at least 9 hours a week for 12 weeks)
• Complete assignments relevant to internship:
• 1. Entry questions
• 2. Reflective Log
• Summary Paper or Creative Project (for example, building on skills learned or commenting on cultural context of host organization.)
• Completion of professional resume/artist profile
• Research Interviews on Industries/Art Settings related to interests including at least 2 informational interviews
• Print poster and web image mockup for Conceptual/Information Arts - CIA
• Attendance at a minimum of 3 community art lecture events such as the UC Berkeley New Media Lectures

Goals of the course:

Creating an Internship:

Students are urged to be creative in defining relevant settings. The settings can be preexisting organizations/institutions or a setting conceptually created. The settings can be art or non-art related. Below is a list of examples:

• - Work with artist or art organizations such as Leonardo, New Langton, Southern Exposure, BAVAC, SFMOMA,Yerba Buena, Arts Commission
• - Work with non-art media such as Lucas Films, High Tech companies, Television or radio stations, Social Service, Environmental, or Political Agencies.
•   Work with educational organizations - schools, Exploratorium, Zeum, etc
• - Work with science/technology environments - genetic engineering, virtual reality startup, astronomy research project
• - Work with a Web or Media start up.
• - Systematic observation/participation in some social niche - for example, courts, police, beauty shops, pool halls, malls, car dealerships

• Craigslist
• MySpace classified
• CIA  local links
• CIA forum  (Instructor will post all leads here.  Also check out CSU Media Internship link)
  

Detailed Requirements

• - Internship: Students will be expected to spend at least 9 hours a week on the internship for at least 12 weeks.
• - Entry questions: A specific written plan for the internship is required. It should list 1. the rationale for the choice of the setting, 2. the initial questions/issues raised upon entering, and 3 an initial plan for documentation and creative work based on the experience.
• - Log: Students must log all time spent on the internship and related creative work. Also they should identify a liaison person in the setting. The log should include both description of concrete activities and reflections on what went on during specific working sessions - for example, what surprises were encountered? How is the student's thinking about personal art and career goals changing? What questions are raised that will be addressed in future internship sessions?  You will be asked to write a log summary at the end. You might address questions such as:  How was it different from what you expected as indicated in your initial questions?  What did you learn about the organization and its activities?  What did you learn about your own interests, skills, future plans? etc  Final requirement is one or two page summary of insights from the log reflecting on these or other relevant questions.
• - Research Interviews: Student must also conduct a research project that investigates the industry or art setting represented by the internship. This should include identification of information sources such as trade journals, professional organizations, relevant reading and at least 2 informational interviews of people outside the internship setting.  The goal on this is to get you to get information to get some perspective on the place where you interned.  You need to find people outside the immediate environment you worked.  How do the other places approach things that came up in your internship?  How were they similar?  How different?  People are usually very happy to give short informational interviews - in person, by phone, or even email.  Final requirement is one or two page summary of what you learned from these interviews.
• - Creative Project:  Student must complete a project based on skills and/or experiences learned - for example, your own personal work using technology learned on the job, a conceptual web page for the organization you worked with that they would never have approved, a digital video exploring issues raised by the internship, others (pending consulation with the professor).  Much of the work on the internship is practical. Often you are asked to do work that is constrained by the people you are working for.   This assignment asks you to build on the ideas, skills, etc that came up in the internship. It could be related to the focus of the organization or it could go off in any direction you want.  It doesn't have to be major long workj - just something that shows some creative energy inspired by the internship.  Final requirement is showing this work to the class for discussion.
• - Resume: Students must complete a professional resume or artist profile suitable for use to get jobs or art opportunities.
• -Web page and poster image for CIA.  We always want to incorporate student work into CIA materials.  We are asking you to prepare  a professional level print poster image for a CIA  and a web page image.  Consider these a simulation of a project you would undertake for a paying client.  They should make use of conceptual and technical skills you have learned in the program.  Your goal in these projects is to create images that are visually intriguing and conceptually rich which portray some sense of what the program is to an outsider such as a prospective student.  Here are the specifications for the 2 parts of the assignment:
• Web image:  Prepare a professional level web image for the  CIA web site.  It should not be larger than 420 x 424  pixels. . The words "Conceptual/Information Arts must appear somewhere in the image as well as the web address "http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~infoarts/"..  Hand in a digital file in jpg or gif format.
• Poster image: Prepare a print quality poster  8.5 x 11 (300dpi or better).  It can be the same design as the web image or some derivative of it.  Print out a high quality color version of this image and prepare it for display (either mouting on board/foam core or lamination).  Since the web version will work fine at screen resolution (72dpi) we suggest you prepare the high resolution version first.  Then it is an easy matter to prepare a lower resolution.  The reverse process of trying to prepare 300dpi version from 72dpi will not work.
• Since this is a professional level assignment, please have it ready before the day of the meeting.  No last minute images printed out that day will be accepted.

Tentative Class Schedule:

Probation, Diabilities, Health & Safety