From memes to LOLcats, the Internet has had a profound impact on contemporary visual culture, and has radically altered how art and design is produced, disseminated, valorised, sold and consumed. This interdisciplinary studio course offers a unique opportunity to explore contemporary social media as content, platform, medium and/or subject for art and design practice. Students will be encouraged to explore social media's relationship to their own work, and will have the opportunity to undertake a self-directed practice-led studio or curatorial investigation. A series of seminars, screenings, readings, guest lectures and online fieldwork will offer a framework for thinking through questions of art and cultural value, identity and subjectivity, control and commodification, collaboration and participation, circulation and distribution. The course offers an opportunity for students from all disciplinary backgrounds (from painting to performance art, design to curatorship) to reflect on the artist-curator-designer as 'content producer' and how to respond, harness or resist social media and its cultures.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- describe the aesthetic, social and technical contexts of social media;
- evaluate the ways in which artists, curators and designers have utilised social media platforms for artistic expression, activism, and community building;
- experiment with appropriate creative methods, forms and material processes in the development of a creative project; and
- execute a creative project that approaches network culture as content, platform, medium or subject for art and design practice.
Other Information
School of Art and Design studio courses have a limited enrolment capacity. Students are advised to enrol as early as possible to maximise the opportunity of securing a place.
Indicative Assessment
- Research Report (1500 words) (30) [LO 1,2]
- Major Project (70) [LO 2,3,4]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
Indicative only:
a) 36 hours of face-to-face workshops/seminars/tutorials over 12 weeks or intensively.
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading, writing and making.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
See Wattle for list
Preliminary Reading
Bishop, C. (2012) ‘Digital Divide’, Artforum, (September 2012), p. pp.434-432.
Gronlund, M. (2016) Contemporary Art and Digital Culture. New York?: Routledge, 2016.: Routledge. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315676852.
Dekker, A. (ed.) (2021) Curating digital art: from presenting and collecting digital art to networked co-curation. Amsterdam: Valiz (Making Public).
Jurgenson, N. (2019) The Social Photo: On Photography and Social Media. New York: Verso.
Lovink, G. and Treske, A. (eds) (2020) Video Vortex Reader III: Inside the YouTube Decade. Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Lectoraat Netwerkcultuur.
Lovink, G. (ed.) (2013) Unlike us reader: social media monopolies and their alternatives. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures (INC Reader, 8).
Gardiner, H. and Gere, C. (2016) Art Practice in a Digital Culture. Routledge.
Goriunova, O. (2012) Art Platforms and Cultural Production on the Internet. Routledge.
Groys, B. (2008) Art Power. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Price, S. (2002) Dispersion. Available at: http://sethpricestudio.com/writingarchive/DIspersion.pdf
Arkenbout, C., Wilson, J. and Zeeuw, D. de (eds) (2021) Critical meme reader: global mutations of the viral image. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures (INC reader, 15).
Assumed Knowledge
This course is best attempted when you are in second or third year of full time study, as it assumes some existing disciplinary skills that can be practiced and extended in the context of social media.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 12
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $3780 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $5280 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
