62-362 Electronic Logics && Creative Practice

fall 2023

INSTRUCTORS | Petra Floyd  (petraf@andrew.cmu.edu ) and Robert Zacharias (rzachari@andrew.cmu.edu )

UNITS | 12 

TIME | 12:00–2:50 pm, Mon/Wed 

LOCATION | Hunt Library A10 (IDeATe Physical Computing Lab)

LAB HOURS | 2:50–3:30pm, Mon/Wed, and by appointment

Electronic Logics && Creative Practice investigates the fundamentals of electronic computation as metaphors for art and interaction. Students explore technology through a creative lens, as conceptual and physical material to be manipulated and synthesized, by examining the basis of digital and analog computation alongside contemporary and new media art practices. There are two main units: Gates (the digital building blocks of computers) and Flow (ways in which analog signals "flow" through mechanical and electronic systems). These themes are addressed through lecture, readings, and the creation of individual and collaborative works. Throughout the semester students complete a series of quick thematic exercises and two larger-scale projects; these works are reviewed through meetings, group critique, and documentation. Our toolbox includes 7400-series logic chips, the Arduino electronics platform, software, wood, laser cut acrylic, found objects, props, projections, and glue. We address technical engineering subjects alongside new media art practices. Students deepen conceptual skills while increasing the scale and ambition of creative output.