Maryland Institute College of Art

GD6500 Thesis I, Fall 10

Links: Exhibition Design
Ellen’s Presentation
Project Projects
Rebecca Ward
Julia Born

Lauren Adams
Christina Beard
Chris Clark
Elizabeth Herrmann
Ann Liu
Chris McCampbell
Ryan Shelley
Wesley Stuckey
Beth Taylor
Isabel Uria
Supisa Watanasansanee
Krissi Xenakis

SCOPE
The Graphic Design MFA Thesis at MICA is a process-driven platform for critical inquiry into the role graphic design serves in deciphering and making meaning. The goal of the graduate thesis is to break new ground – to move beyond the familiar. To do so requires the tenacity to dig deep to get to fresh territory. In order to sustain this rigor, each designer must pursue a diligent and systematic approach to process. To this end, written and formal exercises have been designed to stimulate and support your thesis process. The chief responsibility for content and elaboration of the thesis is yours, and the creative process is actively and independently self-directed.

ADVISORS + CRITICS
Jennifer Cole Phillips and Ellen Lupton are your principal thesis advisors for Thesis I, joined by David Barringer as an advisor on the written and research components of your work. These faculty will provide primary and substantial counsel on the content, process, and progress of your thesis. In addition to your principal advisors, you are welcome, though not required, to locate an advisor of your choosing who may serve the special needs of your project. This advisor should possess demonstrated and appropriate expertise for your project needs. Any such advisors will serve on a volunteer basis, and it is your responsibility to set boundaries, goals, and schedules with them. There will be one major external thesis critic this fall.

DELIVERABLES
You are expected to complete all exercises framed for the thesis as a supplement to your primary, independently undertaken work. In your scheduled thesis meetings you will share significant and steady progress. Goals and deliverables related to your independent work are set by agreement between you and your advisors. It is up to you to actively seek answers to questions that present themselves throughout your thesis process.

WRITING + READING
These brief exercises are process-oriented and designed to explore contextual aspects of your project through writing. You are encouraged to append this writing with visual language as appropriate. We ask each student to establish a thesis blog as a process/development tool. Use your blog to chart your experiments, writing, dialog, and delivery. Please post a link to your writing responses to the Thesis Writing page on our website, so that we can visit your site easily and offer feedback.

Exercise 1: Frame
Due/posted by September 18
To frame a subject is to define a specific point of view, often in relation to a much broader range of concerns. In ± 250 words, define the subject area of your thesis by explaining
what you are not doing. Refer to standard or generic approaches to the subject in order to define your own position, or indicate the vastness of your topic in order to locate your own point of focus.
“This thesis is not a chronological history of a printing company, but rather…”
“This thesis does not look at physical senses in isolation from one another, but rather…”
“This thesis is not a to-do list of sustainable practices, but rather…”
“This thesis is not a commercial advertising campaign, but rather…”
“This thesis does not try to describe all aspects of perspective, but rather…”

Exercise 2: Voice
Due/posted by September 25
Voice is the tone of address that a text assumes in relation to its reader, writer, or subject matter. Choose one of the experiments below involving voice and create a response in ± 250 words.
First/second/third person. Take one key idea from your thesis and restate it in each of the three persons.
Third person: “Designers today are struggling with sustainability.”
Second person: “Thou shalt not waste materials or energy.”
First person: “I realized that worrying about the problem is another waste of energy; doing something about it is a better use of resources.”
Different discourses. Describe a phenomenon from the perspective of three different fields of expertise.
For example:
Describe the experience of time in terms of science, philosophy, and personal experience.
Define the concept of “taste” from the viewpoints of art criticism, art education, and popular culture, or explain how three different thinkers have defined the term.
Describe how three different organisms would “see” a puddle of spilled orange juice.
Describe how a brand functions in relation to internal and external audiences.
Describe how different users will interact with a website about design theory.

Exercise 3: Vehicle
Due/posted by October 2
In ± 250 words, make a case for the physical format/delivery system for your thesis: book, installation, interaction design, product, etc. Describe each of the elements that you plan to produce. Use vivid, active language to bring us into the scene. If your vehicle is a book, what kind of book (artists’ book, scholarly book, popular book, designer book)? If your vehicle is an environment or exhibition, describe it.

Readings
You are each also asked to introduce a reasonably brief piece from your thesis reading/research to the group for discussion. You will sign up for time and present in small groups. Please post your selection at least 3 days prior to the class you sign up to present in.

SCHEDULE
August 30 (First day of class)
Pecha Kucha with Thesis students; everyone participates.
We will meet in the Main Building, Room 110
Assignment 1 given: Diagramming Scope

September 3
Visiting Artist Denise Gonzales Crisp lecture in Brown 320 at noon.
Participation in workshop is optional for thesis students.

September 6
Labor Day; no class
Diagramming Scope due next week.

September 13
Diagramming Scope due. Post online by 9.11. Pin up prints on homosote in 404 for discussion in small groups. Move prints to hall for display.

September 20
Small group discussions

September 27
Individual consultations: thesis plans and progress.

October 4
Small group discussions

October 11
Small group discussions

October 18
Fall Break: NO CLASS ON THIS DAY
JCP provides online critiques as needed

October 22
Visiting Artist 2: Alicia Cheng and Sarah Gephart/MGMT Design lecture
in Brown 320 at noon.
Participation in workshop is optional for thesis students.

October 25
Individual appointments with JCP

November 1
Small group meetings: progress and work plan for thesis review

November 8
Open day: prep for thesis review.
JCP assists as needed.

November 15
External Thesis Critic: Kenneth FitzGerald
Pin up work on homosote by Sunday night.
All Day Reviews in B404

November 19
Visiting Artist 3: Keetra Dixon/MICA lecture in Brown 320 at noon.
Participation in workshop is optional for thesis students.

November 22
Thesis continuation with EL

November 29
Thesis continuation with EL

December 5-6 (Sunday and Monday)
Individual meetings with David Barringer

December 13
Thesis Closure with EL

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ADA Compliance Statement
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact [insert instructor’s name/title] privately to discuss specific needs. Please contact the Learning Resource Center at 410-225-2416, in Bunting 458, to establish eligibility and coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information please refer to: http://www.mica.edu/learningresourcecenter/.

Health and Safety Compliance
From the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
It is the responsibility of faculty and students to practice health and safety guidelines relevant to their individual activities, processes, and to review MICA’s Emergency Action Plan and attend EHS training. It is each faculty member’s responsibility to coordinate with the EHS Office to ensure that all risks associated with their class activities are identified and to assure that their respective classroom procedures mirror the EHS and Academic Department guidelines. Each of these policies and procedures must be followed by all students and faculty. Most importantly, faculty are to act in accordance with all safety compliance, state and federal, as employees of this college and are expected to act as examples of how to create art in a way to minimize risk, and reduce harm to themselves and the environment. Faculty must identify, within each art making process, and require personal protection equipment use, by each student for each class, when applicable. Students are required to purchase personal protection equipment appropriate to their major. Those students who do not have the proper personal protection equipment will not be permitted to attend class until safe measures and personal protection is in place.