Examination of the phenomenon that leads artists in all cultures throughout history to create disconcerting representations of the visible world by reordering sensorial reality and inventing new orders. Review of the major approaches to the study of visual perception. Topics include an analysis of picture perception, visual thinking, the relationship between symbolic and nonsymbolic thinking and representation, and how pathologies of vision affect art production. Emphasis on high-resolution electronic imaging using the computer both as tool and medium. Complex menu structures, rotations and scaling, color mapping and palette design, font generation, video digitizing techniques, composition studies, and aesthetic concerns.
Students construct a series of images to explore the creative process using elements of design.
Through critiques, students discuss the conceptual and visual quality of their work. Advanced computer graphics concepts as applied to computer animation. Lab assignments address the technical and aesthetic challenges of computer animation. Students learn to transfer computer generated images to videotape format. Short animated sequences with accompanying audio are designed and executed.