Art & Technology/ Sound Practices
saic.edu/atsp
Art and Technology / Sound Practices (AT/ SP) is a place to explore, critique, and imagine the potentials of artistic production with technology, sound, or their hybrid forms. Its faculty and curriculum foster rigorous experimentation, robust research, inclusivity, and the interrogation of history and theory.
World-class faculty
The AT/SP faculty are visionary artists with national and international reputations who take an inclusive and critical approach to the technological and sonic arts. They encourage rigorous practice informed by robust research, iterative hands-on experimentation, and the interrogation of diverse histories, theories, and strategies.
Cutting-edge curriculum
The AT/SP curriculum provides advanced technical and conceptual learning in a critical and supportive environment. Seminars and critiques encourage open, revelatory, and rigorous dialogues among peers investigating histories, futures, theories, and practices in the technological and sonic arts. These are complemented by a continually evolving departmental workshop series connected to AT/SP labs and facilities and a wealth of advanced undergraduate studio courses that cover specific technologies, processes, or strategies within the AT/SP fields of study.
Practices and resources
Students have access to a wealth of digital and analog resources, purpose-built labs and studios, and expert support staff. These facilitate a wide range of practices including creative coding, sound art, olfactory art, bio art, experimental music, acoustic ecology, installation, performance, AR, VR, games, kinetics, neon, holography, electronics, and more.
Students have access to a range of equipment and facilities:
• Electronics Lab with tools and electronic parts to develop new hardware and Surface-Mount Lab for producing rigid and flexible circuit boards
• I/O Lab with 3D printers, desktop milling machines, and 3D scanner
• Light Lab for producing neon works, exploring digital control of neon pieces, and experimenting with other light sources
• Bio Art Lab, facilitating artistic research using the tools and techniques of molecular biology
• Retro Lab, a media archeology facility for studio practice and research offering access to vintage equipment, such as the Paik/Abe Synthesizer and the Sandin Image Processor, the Commodore 64, early home computers, and game consoles
• Digital and analog recording studios for live recording, electronic music production, sampling, synthesis, mixing, mastering, and critical listening
• Sound Kinetics Lab with a fabrication and machining facility, power supplies, and electronic and mechanical components
• Flex Space, a multi-purpose facility hosting exhibitions, lectures, performances, workshops, and receptions
• Digital Audio Workstations in various platforms
• Workstations for modular synthesis, digital audio production, and a Yamaha Disklavier computer-controlled acoustic piano
• Multi-channel and surround-sound playback systems
• Performance controllers and installation microcontrollers
