Courses

Students learn the essential skills of postgraduate-level research in areas of digital media and computational arts, and attain core literacies in mathematical and computational bases for digital media to support applications spanning areas including sound, image, and digital signal processing, 3D environments and the graphics pipeline, software design, simulation and complex systems, etc. These literacies are contextualized by reference to exemplary projects in diverse practices such as computational art, music, video games, information visualization, web-based media, responsive architecture, physical computing, etc., including the examination of landmark texts and projects in digital media, computational arts and culture spanning the past century, addressing the continual overlap between artistic and scientific practices. Literacy is evaluated through the ability to understand and transfer published research in these fields into creative applications, recreating established research results, projects, or through works of specific interest to the student’s research area(s).

Students lead a team of Masters students working collaboratively on a large-scale project that tackles a well-defined research problem spanning art and science methods and practices. Students are expected to take leadership roles. The problem domain will be defined by contexts such as a research laboratory of a Digital Media faculty member or an outside organization, in order to explore a range of research approaches and issues, professional and research ethics, and reflective practice within academic, professional and arts contexts. An important component is the discussion of critical issues related to cultural interactions with new and emerging technologies, including an appreciation of how art-making practices have shaped, and been shaped by, trajectories of technological change. Advanced Vertical Studio/Lab I is normally be taken in the second year of the program. There is a possibility for student teams to be co-supervised by program faculty and a program associate, which is a practitioner from an outside organization (for-profit -Ubisoft, not-for-profit, NGO, arts festival, trade organization, artist collective, design group, museum, MCC). Program associates may not be the sole supervisor.

This course engages an active Electro-Acoustic performing ensemble as a site for composing interactive performance systems that may be purely digital, hybrid electronic/acoustic, or may manifest across multiple media including spatialized light, sound, haptics and projected visuals. Students develop and perform with an interactive system, iteratively refining this over the course of the term. This ‘digital instrumental system’ is tested weekly in a performative context defined by rehearsals of the Electro-Acoustic Orchestra. Design and composition of instrumental systems centre around performer or conductor gestures via sensing and new controllers, or around sounds generated by ensemble members. Topics explored include movement and gesture in electroacoustic music, sound analysis and processing, digital instrument design, and the aesthetics of interactive music/media performance practice. Interactive performance systems from the course will be presented in public concerts each term, both on York campus as well as at venues in downtown Toronto. Cross-listed with GS/MUSI 5070 3.0.

Students have the option of taking a Directed Reading course with any faculty member appointed to the Program, provided a suitable graduate course is not available in the current curriculum, and provided the course does not overlap significantly with a course taken previously. In all cases, the course will be directly relevant to the student’s thesis/dissertation project.

Students have the option of taking a Directed Reading course with any faculty member appointed to the Program, provided a suitable graduate course is not available in the current curriculum, and provided the course does not overlap significantly with a course taken previously. In all cases, the course will be directly relevant to the student’s thesis/dissertation project.

Students lead a team of Masters students working collaboratively on a large-scale project that tackles a well-defined research problem spanning art and science methods and practices. Students are expected to take leadership roles. The problem domain is defined by contexts such as a research laboratory of a Digital Media faculty member or an outside organization, in order to explore a range of research approaches and issues, professional and research ethics, and reflective practice within academic, professional and arts contexts. An important component is the discussion of critical issues related to cultural interactions with new and emerging technologies, including an appreciation of how art-making practices have shaped, and been shaped by, trajectories of technological change. Advanced Vertical Studio/Lab I will normally be taken in the second year of the program. There is a possibility for student teams to be co-supervised by program faculty and a program associate, which is a practitioner from an outside organization (for-profit -Ubisoft, not-for-profit, NGO, arts festival, trade organization, artist collective, design group, museum, MCC). Program associates may not be the sole supervisor.