#Designing the c/c/c studio

Ben Swift, School of Cybernetics

10 years of teaching artists to code and coders to art

#outline

  • 10 years of art & code at ANU
  • the c/c/c studio and the Reimagine project
  • discussion questions

but first, some music

#so many qualifications

10¹ years of teaching artists² to code³ and coders⁴ to art⁵

  1. 10 years — well, 9 actually (since 2011)
  2. artists — mix of CS majors, art majors, and others
  3. code — yeah, I know, CSEd is more than just coding
  4. coders — see “artists”
  5. art — to create something of aesthetic/poetic/ethical value

#my story

💻 + 🎵 = 🤯

#CS @ ANU

loads of students, large classes

some resources are plentiful, others scarce

huge opportunities, but how to make the most of them?

#COMP1720

Art & Interaction in New Media

first-year elective for both CS & art students

started in 2011 (~50 students); 2019 enrolment ~250 (80% CS, 20% art)

major project (40% of grade) is an interactive browser-based artwork in p5.js

https://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/comp1720/

#what’s good, what’s hard

good: lots of students new to programming (some stick around); forces students to figure out what excellent work looks like

hard: wide range of “starting places”; some CS students struggle with the subjectivity

#COMP2710: Laptop Ensemble

later-year elective for both CS & music students

started in 2018; “boutique” class (under 20 students)

https://comp.anu.edu.au/courses/laptop-ensemble/

#this year in LENS

flipped mode

whole-class crits & jams

#what’s good, what’s hard

good: similar to COMP1720; get to assess my students in a nightclub

hard: getting students to truly work as an ensemble; getting students to grow during the course

#Reimagine

a $350m+ investment in CS & Eng at ANU

new departments, 2x faculty

finding new ways of being a computer scientist

a series of Reimagine Fellowships to support this

#The c/c/c studio

I’ve been awarded a fellowship to build the c/c/c studio

an A-levels extension course in creative computing (selective entry, 2 year program)

small cohorts (under 20/year), first intake in 2021, first graduates in 2022

a joint venture between CS & the art/music schools

#c/c/c studio curriculum

2h on-campus, ~4h self-study per week

1st year: interactive visual & generative art (p5.js)

2nd year: computer music & livecoding (Extempore & Pd)

studio-based learning — students conceive, plan and build something each year, with an exhibition at the end

needs board of education approval

but why?

#central thesis

making music & art isn’t a side track on the road to computing

#discussion questions

  • can we go all in on creative coding? could this be CS101?
  • how do we make the cultural artefact part of the incentive scheme?
  • what’s the appropriate entrance exam/portfolio/other?
  • how do we make sure we don’t just stretch the privileged kids?
  • how do we study it?
  • how do we scale it?
  • what do we call it?

#what’s next?

if you’d like to chat, let me know 😊 — I’m here till Thursday

questions?