Wk 4 - 19 aug

A. Design & layout techniques for html. The limits of html. Html as a code is important as it is the architecture that structures the Internet but what limitations does it have? IN reality when we talk about limitations we mean what can it do in terms of structure - and that has been up until recently a case of what TABLES will do.. (see this site)

This basic tutorial at table design webmonkey is a good guide. For instance if you can draw something in a grid, and it's not shaped like an L, you can put it in a table. And if you understand what you can and can't do right from the beginning, you'll save yourself lots of hassle in the long run.
Tables:: see this brilliant TABLES tutorial
Or if you are OK with boxes and css layout but want to refresh yourself then go to these DMW4 tutorials . We will do a quick review of tables and their possibilities/limitations today. We will take images from this blog and combine them into a page. We will look briefly at using style sheets again.

B. a presentation of a site I consider to be an effective example of web based art. mouchette. This site is incedibly confronting - seemingly innocent introduction by a child artist hides the shocking truth within the site - a complex site with various secret links, electronic interactive texts, and poems that reveal the multiple faces of the artist, along with her fears and obsessions. Loosely-based on the 1937 book by Georges Bernanos and the 1967 Robert Bresson movie, Mouchette, the website expands upon the the film. (The movie portrays a girl suffering from the pains of abuse, an alcoholic father and dying mother. Eventually she finds that her only escape from the hatred and sexual abuse in her life is suicide.) The net artist draw several character similarities to the female protagonist of the film Mouchette, but also relates similar thematic ideas. - subpages of the site use visually-shocking pictures and interactive forums of taboo subjects to explore themes of sexual abuse, violence and hatred, and loneliness. The anonymous authorship of the site, as well as the user interface, poses an underlying question of identity, >> true nature of the website? Mouchette.org challenges the viewer to confront these disturbing themes and make a decision of further conduct. Not for everyone!
Look at this sample of constructed identity or warcraft or AVATOR person
C. Each student is to present a site / (v)blog or some other online experiment that engages them – as an example of an art form or design - how it contributes to the development of the internet and identifying possibilities for contemporary art/design practice. This will followed up by a critique of 700-800 words due next week – posted on blog. You will need to consider:
a. whether it falls into design and/or art (and why);
b. how it relates to other art/design forms on the web.;
c. how it may reflect in content or style your final project.
TO: to a group of other students (max 4 in group)
NOTE: Please do not go for larger corporate sites. Most of us know them.
LOOK at: tomato.uk .