Creative Programming 2010

Please note: the calendar has been adjusted to account for weeks starting on Wednesdays...

Course Outline

	Topic	Objective	Deliverable
week 1	The power of creative code	To understand the potential role of computer programming as part of the toolkit for creative artists and designers.	Essay based on three readings suggested
week 2	Playing with shape grammars	To explore and play around with simple coding structures and commands, generating interesting recursive and random images.	Assignments modifying sample code and a simple project using ContextFree Art
week 3	Installing and understanding Processing	To successfully install the Java SDK and Processing framework in our computers and understand its nature, interface, and documentation.	"Hello creative world" exercise in Processing
week 4	Playing with Processing	To explore and play around with sample code projects in Processing in order to understand its structure, syntax and power.	Assignments modifying sample code using Processing
week 5	Creative project I	To design an individual project using Processing 'from scratch' and implement a proof-of-concept version.	Project specification and early progress.
week 6	Creative project II	To implement a demo version of the individual project and specify future development stages.	Contribution to the gallery of projects and reflective essay on the creative role of computer programming

Week 1: The power of creative code

Please check Forum "Week 1: The power of creative code" for instructions

Readings:

- Harold Cohen's "On Purpose" (1974);

- Bentley, P. J. and O’Reilly, U. M. "Ten Steps to Make a Perfect Creative Evolutionary Design System" (2001);

- Casey Reas "Beyond Code" (2007).

Assigments:

- Monday 20th September deadline: submit a 600 to 800-word individual essay based on the three readings suggested where the link between computers & creativity is explored. Post only one forum entry with your essay.

- Wednesday 22nd September deadline: every student writes a three-paragraph review of two essays from their peers. Enter your comments as replies to your peer's forum entries.

An introductory synchronous meeting takes place on Thursday 23rd September from 18:00 to 19:30 CDT to discuss the main ideas of this first activity. You can check your equivalent schedule here: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock

Week 2: Playing with shape grammars

Presentation: "Algorithmic Art" by Ricardo Sosa

Readings: "Context Free in a Nutshell" (pdf)

Assigments: Download the zipped file "exercises_week_2.zip", uncompress and follow the instructions in file "readme.txt" to complete the three assignments of this week

- Friday deadline: submit the three final cfdg files with this format: YourLastName_WeekNumber_FileNumber.cfdg

Meeting times: An asynchronous forum is open through the week with two threads of discussion: "Troubleshooting ContextFreeArt" and "Reflections on Recursion and Randomness"

Week 3: Installing and understanding Processing

Presentation: "Quick Intro to Processing" by Ricardo Sosa

Readings: "Art, Emergence, and the Computational Sublime" by Jon McCormack and Alan Dorin (2002)

Assigments: Download the zipped file "exercises_week_3.zip", uncompress and follow the instructions in file "readme.txt" to complete the three assignments of this week

- Friday deadline: submit the three final pde files with this format: YourLastName_WeekNumber_FileNumber.pde

Meeting times:

- An asynchronous forum is open through the week with two threads of discussion: "Troubleshooting Processing" and "Reflections on Emergence"

- A synchronous meeting takes place to discuss the development of the course and share ideas.

Week 4: Playing with Processing

Presentation: "First Processing Challenges from Scratch" by Ricardo Sosa

Assigments: Download the zipped file "exercises_week_4.zip", uncompress and follow the instructions in file "readme.txt" to complete the three assignments of this week

- Friday deadline: submit the three final pde files with this format: YourLastName_WeekNumber_FileNumber.pde

Meeting times:

- The asynchronous forum remains open through the week with two threads of discussion: "Troubleshooting Processing" and "Reflections on Emergence"

Week 5: Creative project I

Presentation: "From Ideas to Projects" by Ricardo Sosa

Assigment: Friday deadline: create the 'design brief' of your final project following the five stages explained in the presentation: identifying opportunities, formulating messages, gathering data and defining requirements. Fill and submit the "ProjectBriefTemplate.doc" form with this format: YourLastName_ProjectName.doc

Meeting times: An asynchronous forum is open through the week with one single thread of discussion: "Aims, content and delivery of my project"

Week 6: Creative project II

Presentation: "Implementing and Testing Sketchy Ideas" by Ricardo Sosa

Assigment: Friday deadline: create a "proof of concept" version of your project implementing the main ideas in Processing. Submit the final pde file(s) with this format: YourLastName_FinalProject.pde

Meeting times: A final synchronous meeting takes place to discuss the progress of each project and formulate a plan for future work.

References:

http://www.openprocessing.org/

http://vis.stanford.edu/protovis/ex/

Galleries:

http://www.shiffman.net/teaching/nature/

http://www.donhavey.com/blog/category/tutorials/processing/

http://toddvanderlin.com/

http://moebio.com/santiago/

http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/search.cfm?input=processing