School
for
Poetic
Computation
In Poetic Hardware we learn computational hardware as a way to engage with the physical world and broaden our creative practices. This 10-week online curriculum is supported by a custom electronics learning kit intended for beginners to learn about analog + digital electronics, a programmable micro-controller, sensors and mechanisms through a lens of legibility and thoughtful exploration. Beginning with discrete electronic components such as resistors, LEDs and transistors, and then moving to integrated circuits, Arduino , sensors, motors, mechanisms and building physical things, our focus is on connecting with the physical nature, system, rules and materiality of electronics + hardware. We address electronics as human-scale objects, which we can see, shape and manipulate in a circuit. With an emphasis on legibility, we dissolve the microscopic abstractions and systems, which are usually obscured in conventional technology products and re-establish our relationship to technology. Through instructor-led tutorials, modular circuits and creative hands-on prompts, we will create custom electronics with our hands and gain access to electronic production tools that are normally reserved for mass production. By the end of the course, expect to have a working familiarity with basic analog and digital electronics, and the confidence to begin to apply computational tools to our creative practices.
Through weekly lectures, individual meetings with teachers, hands on activities, tutorials and project shares, we will work through a mix of open ended assignments, poetic prompts and technical challenges. These may include creating a simple Input/Output system, building a playful button or cardboard mechanism, or even creating something seemingly non-technical. We will use everyday tools and materials we can easily work with in our homes. Think soldering iron, cardboard, rubber bands and hot glue! We will also learn how to build + order a PCB (printed circuit board) from scratch and order components.
Weekly lectures are accompanied by custom electronic kits. Kits are intended as “physical lecture notes”, a way to engage more closely with the course material and to provide a modular and accessible starting points for future projects.
An important part of this class will be virtual 1-on-1 instructor + TA meetings. These are meant to help guide your creative practice with this new material. Even though there is a technical component to this class, our primary goal as educators is to empower your creative practice.There are no technical requirements for this class.Whether you come as a seasoned electrical engineer or someone who has never touched a wire, come to class ready to get your hands dirty, to support your peers, to get frustrated and to freely work with computation as physical material in new and unfamiliar ways.
Not included in the tuition:
If you already have a clear electronics project in mind, like building a drone or a complex I.O.T. system, this may not be the right class for you. However, if you want to learn about electronics + hardware through the lens of poetry, self-expression and quirky thoughtfulness, we look forward to working a playing together.
Che-Wei Wang [pron. sey-wey] is an artist, designer & architect with expertise in computational and generative design, fabrication technologies, electronics, CNC machining, and metal manufacturing. The results range from architecture & sculpture to interactive installations & mobile apps. He is the winner of the 2003 SOM fellowship and the Young Alumni Achievement Award from Pratt Institute. Che-Wei has taught courses on design, time, creative computing, and inflatables, at various institutions. He is an alumnus of MIT Media Lab, ITP at NYU, and Pratt Institute.
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Taylor Levy [pron. tey-ler] is an artist & designer with a penchant for taking things apart, understanding how they work, and then putting them back together in a way that exposes their inner workings.The results take on a variety of forms from low-tech electronic sculpture to high-tech software & other executions. She has work on view at The Leonardo Museum of Science and Technology and was a resident at Fabrica Interactive in Treviso, Italy. She is an alumna of MIT Media Lab, ITP at NYU, and Vassar College.
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Bangkok-born, New York-based Tiri Kananuruk is a performance artist and educator. Her works focus on the manipulation of sound, the disruption of time. How technologies change the meaning and the ways we communicate. She utilizes mistakes, both human and machine, as means of improvisation. She holds a BA in Exhibition Design from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and a Master in Interactive Telecommunications from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Tiri has lectured at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and the School for Poetic Computation. She is currently an adjunct professor at Collaborative Arts, New York University. She was a new media artist resident at Mana Contemporary (2019), CultureHub New York (2020), Barnard Movement Lab (NUUM)(2020), and Media Art Exploration (NUUM)(2021). She is a NEW INC Member in the Creative Science track. She is a founding member of NUUM collective. She is a co-founder of MORAKANA along with Sebastián Morales.
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Sebastián Morales Prado is a Mexican artist, engineer, and researcher based in New York. His practice develops interactive works hybridizing robotics, digital culture, and living systems. Sebastian is the co-founder of MORAKANA among with Tiri Kananuruk, they exhibited and performed at The National Gallery of Singapore as part of the exhibition Novel Ways of Being, the Gwangju Media Art Platform in Korea, and CultureHub in New York. Sebastian has spoken at conferences including Radical Networks, and ArtTech Forum in Venice, Italy. He has lectured at CUNY, UArts , and SFPC. Sebastian was an artist in residence at Autodesk Pier 9 (2015), a New Media Artist resident at Mana Contemporary (2018), and Research Fellow at the ITP at NYU (2018).
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Applications open until Applications closed on June 10, 2020.
You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on . Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.
For 10 classes, it costs $1700 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule weekly or 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.
For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.
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