Course Description

DES-INV 23 explores the creative and expressive nature of computational approaches to art and design. We will approach writing code like creative writing, to tell a story or to express our feelings. We will build machines like creating artworks, to embrace failure and to adventure into the unknown. Over the course of the semester, students learn how to write code and build electronics for a series of art machine projects, including robotic instruments, kinetic sculptures, and interactive installations. We will primarily be using the Arduino, an open-source library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for makers—students, hobbyists, artists, programmers, and professionals communities—while briefly exploring Processing, another creative software, as a tool for augmenting the physical world with digital information.

View student projects, resources and more on the DES-INV 23 website.

Creative Discovery Course Grant Experience

With this support from Creative Discovery Grant, students can afford to be bold and experimental. The extra budget is enough for them critically think about different options, but not so excessive for them to be frivolous with resources. Having access sensors and actuators beyond the course kit allowed students to envision novel applications for skills learned during the course, and promote craftsmanship and exploration of materials and mediums, greatly improving the quality of their final projects. Allotting each student a budget also taught them the valuable skill of planning, materials research, and how to produce a bill of materials, which is rarely covered in other art, design, or prototyping courses.