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participate sessions Fall 2025

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Interrogating Computational Approaches to Art

Teachers
Omayeli Arenyeka
Date
Section 1: September 16, 2025 to November 20, 2025
Section 2: September 17, 2025 to November 19, 2025
(5 classes)
Time
Thursdays, 6:30-9:30pm EST
Location
Online (Zoom)
Cost
$750 Scholarships available learn more...
Deadline
Applications open until August 3, 2025

Apply Now

Description

Interrogating Computational Approaches to Art is a class for examining the poetic computation we make beyond our intentions, to consider how personal, historical, and social realities as well as the nature of the medium of computation might impact how our work is consumed, how meaning is being derived and what outcomes it makes possible. Using techniques and concepts from the disciplines of literature, philosophy, HCI, and ethics we’ll work on creating a framework for raising and contemplating the aesthetic and ethical questions surrounding a computational art practice.

Images courtesy of teachers.

Outcomes

Blog Posts (1)

June 18, 2024

An offering of questions from the Interrogating Computational Approaches to Art class


Course of Study

  • The nature of poetic computation: What is a poetic computation work made of? What are its materials? It’s affordances? What is inherent in its nature? When we try to critique a story we reach for the plot, characters, setting. For a photograph: the subject, the context, technical details like exposure, lighting, staging. What do we reach for when we want to critique a poetic computation piece? Where lies its power? Its appeal? Its limitations? What are the ethical considerations?
  • How the nature of poetic computation can negate intention and impact consumption, interpretation: How is meaning constructed from a poetic computational art piece? What constitutes “paratext” when thinking about a data scraping project or a computer generated poem? How does the interactive nature of many computational works complicate our perception of it?
  • Poetic Computation as an Evocative Object: How can we conceptualize a piece of poetic computation as an evocative object: something with context, associations, networks. What are the social and material conditions that make this piece of work possible? What baggage do we bring along? What baggage does the technology bring?

Expectations

Time & Workload
  • Participants can expect to spend no more than 2 hours outside of class each week on class readings and assignments. It's a discussion based class, so participants are invited and encouraged to share their thoughts on the lectures, readings, and in-class exercises.
Materials
  • No materials required!
Learning Outcomes

Together we will develop:

  • An understanding of the concerns, affordances and potentials specific to poetic computation and the ethical implications.
  • A framework and a language for thinking and talking about works of poetic computation.
  • An understanding of the different forms of poetic computation and what they “authorize, allow, afford, encourage, permit, suggest, influence, block, render possible, forbid and so on…”

Is this class for me?

This class may be for you if:

  • You have some interest in thinking and talking about poetic computation and its underpinnings.
  • You tend to think deeply about art projects you like or dislike and why (or you'd like to do so!)
  • You’d like to get in the habit of talking about art projects and articulating: what it’s doing, why it might be doing that, how it’s working, how it’s not.
  • You enjoy crit sessions (not necessarily being the subject of them, just engaging with someone’s work)
  • You agree with the statement: "Maybe the work is staying with the questions."

This class may NOT be for you if:

  • You’re interested in a class about general tech ethics (privacy, surveillance, algorithms of oppression, implications of crypto/AI/ML)
  • It’s important for you to arrive at a definitive conclusion of a project or technique being “bad” or “good.”
  • You think intention is all that matters when creating something!
  • You tend to say it’s not that deep often.

Meet the Teachers

teacher

Omayeli Arenyeka

Yeli is a Nigerian artist, writer, and technologist based in Brooklyn. She primarily makes things that live on the internet. She is interested in the creative and critical possibilities of the web and data: its potentials for personal expression, solidarity and fostering disillusionment.

she/her · website · twitter · instagram

How do I apply?

Apply Now

Applications open until Applications closed on August 3, 2025.

You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on August 19, 2025. Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.

How much does it cost to attend?

For 5 classes, it costs $750 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.

SFPC processes all payments via Withfriends and Stripe. Please email admissions@sfpc.study if these payment options don't work for you.

Applicant FAQ

For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.

Interested in more learning opportunities at the School for Poetic Computation? Join our newsletter to stay up to date on future sessions and events, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Support our programming through scholarships. Get in touch over email.