Approach
'Intermedia art' is a broad term that encompasses many types of artworks that strategically draw on different media. Intermedia is a position, not a genre. Intermedia artists intentionally avoid describing themselves according traditional categories of artistic mastery (e.g. painting, music, cinema) in order to maintain the flexibility of viewing and working in the world from an 'in between' stance-hence the prefix 'inter.' Another way of thinking about intermedia is as "appropriate media," where the media used to realize a project are inseparable from the project's content, and both are selected to reinforce and work with the other.
Many of the works that I will show you in class could just as easily be called 'new media,' a more familiar term that generally refers to artwork made using digital technologies and, to a lesser extent, other electronic devices. The term 'new media' has been criticized for fetishizing the 'newness' of computer technologies at the expense of considering any cultural significance beyond novelty, and as computers become increasingly ubiquitous, the newness of new media seems questionable. The label 'new media' also tends to exclude many fine contemporary art projects that are made without using computers or other electronics at all.
You will be asked to develop new work in this class that will stretch your conceptual and technical skills, and you will be asked hard questions that you may not know the answers to. Please come with an open mind and the willingness to challenge your self and be challenged by others.