Plagiarism

I wanted to remind all of you that I have a zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism. I outlined this on the syllabus, in the section on course policies, which is also posted on this blog, here. Also in the syllabus and on the blog is a link to a University of California page outlinining what constitutes plagiarism and what the consequences are. Once more, this outline is here and the following expresses the consequences of plagiarism:

D. What are the consequences if I get caught plagiarizing?

If you get caught plagiarizing, your professor has several options. After meeting with you to hear your side, he/she may choose to resolve the matter informally by giving you a failing grade on the assignment to giving you a failing grade in the course. Your professor can choose to formally charge you with academic misconduct by referring your case to the Office of Student Conduct and to the Dean of your college. After your case is heard by the OSC or dean, administrative action may be taken against you which can, in rare cases, include expulsion.

I hope you see that this is a serious matter.

Tommy Becker

Tomorrow morning, we will meet at our usual time to hear a presentation by artist Tommy Becker. Becker will be showing samples of his work, discussing his artistic process, and answering questions from you. He will also do a bit of performing and will engage the class in some participatory exercises. It will probably be unlike anything you've previously experienced and I hope that it will be a fun, memorable morning. Click on the link in Tommy Becker's name to view his website, if you'd like to find out more about him & his work.

Next week: Field Research Assignment

This is a reminder that we will not meet next week, but that you will instead be required attend a minimum of one of the following exhibitions and write a 2-4 page interpretive essay:

The Bay Area Now and zine exhibitions at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Edgar Arceneaux at SFMOMA
Tony Labat at New Langton Arts (Free)
Playful Poetics at the Oakland Art Gallery (FREE)
The Lecture & Screening by Peter Kubelka, (on Thursday, 10/19) called "Poetry and Truth," at Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive

You may also write about a different exhibition (including an online exhibition) that fits the focus of our class, if you first run it by me over email.

Please Note: This essay will not count as one of your final papers (instead, it falls under class participation, just as your blog posts do), but it should be taken just as seriously. It needs to have a thesis and strong arguments rooted in close-readings of the works you saw. You can compare and contrast work in the show(s), or write about what the show accomplished or said, overall.

These are due in-class, at the beginning of class, on Tuesday, Oct 25. Email me if you have questions about the assignment before then.

I hope that you have fun visiting these exhibitions and perhaps this essay will form a draft for your second paper.

Artworks That Demonstrate Authorship Issues

We'll be looking at some of the following, in class, tomorrow:

Michael Mandiberg's AfterSherryLevine.com
Alex Galloway's (Radical Software Group's) Prepared Playstation
Daniel Papasian's walmart-foundation.org
Cat Mazza's (MicroRevolt's) KnitPro Software

We'll also look back on previous examples (including Cory Arcangel & Vuk Cosic) to contextualize (or problematize) Barthes's points about the author.

General Feedback on Oral Presentations

On the whole, I felt that the oral presentations were pretty good. I have some general feedback, for everyone, and some of these points relate to your presentational style while others relate to the structure of your papers...

* When giving a lecture or oral presentation, don't say "I am going to show you X," just show us. The same is generally true for your papers. You no longer need to say (as you might have in high school or early wriitng classes), "My main point is Z and I will demonstrate A, B, and C." Just do it and work on making smooth transitions.

* By the same token, it's good to constantly remind the reader/listener of how your points relate to your overall thesis.

* Give priority to your thesis (which should involve an interpretation of the work, rather than giving all your time (or space, in your paper) to historical contextualization. As I've said before, you should ask yourself how each sentence and paragraph relates to your thesis. If it doesn't, you should cut it. Historical info should be presented in the service of your thesis.

* Do discuss the significance of your arguments. Explain how they relate to your thesis, but also (in your conclusion) answer the "so what question." So what if your thesis is true? Does it help us understand the piece or the artist's work in a better way? Does it tell us something about the world at large? (Of course, it's great if it does, but avoid making gradiose, subjective claims.)

* Find formal elements in which to root your arguments. Your interpretation should involve a very close reading of the physical and conceptual properties of the work.

* Avoid speaking in the first-person. We've discussed this before. Under the heading of this directive, remember that discussing the fact that you can relate emotionally to a piece is not an adequate thesis because it does not involve an interpretation of the work.

* Throughout the writing process, and particularly during revision and proofreading (which you should do many times!) make sure that your thesis says WHAT the work does (if you're not arguing that it says or does something, you aren't interpreting it), and it should ALSO say HOW it does what it does. This is where the close-reading of the formal elements comes into play.

Also, A NOTE REGARDING YOUR NEXT PRESENTATIONS:

I will be splitting our second set of presentations into three days, to give everyone more time. I will expect these presentations to be a full ten minutes. These presentations should be not merely overviews of the work, but real, in-depth discussions of your arguments regarding the work(s).