Media Arts/Intermedia

ART 450 media art installation project by Liangzhu Zeng

The Media Arts/Intermedia area is strongly based on ideas, conceptual practice and contemporary art. Creative methodologies and techniques that will be explored in this area include digital media such as digital imaging, 3D modelling, interactive and generative digital art, as well as time-based media such as video and animation, performance and installation.

Your Studies

Your education will include studies in:

• Digital Media
• Digital Imaging
• Digital 3D modelling
• Interactive and Generative Digital Media
• Video
• Performance
• Installation
• Intermedia
• Conceptual Development
• Creative Methods in Studio Practice
• Research and Theory
• Contemporary Art Issues

Careers

Careers available in this area include:

• Practicing Artist
• Cultural Sector: Art Gallery, Museum, Artist-run Centre, etc.
• Art Teacher
• Visual Art Professor/ Instructor in a Post-Secondary Institution
• Curator
• Critical writer
• Digital Media developer

Students who explore the Media Arts area for their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree may choose to continue on to do a Master of Fine Arts degree in order to achieve the qualifications and training needed to pursue a career as a professional practicing artist and/or to teach visual art at a post-secondary institution. Students may wish to continue their studies in the Bachelor of Education program with the intent of teaching in the K-12 system. Many of our alumni are employed in art industries and art communities locally, nationally and internationally.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

Kev Liang, Jiā yóu! 2021

After completing a common first year in foundational studies, Media Arts students will be introduced both to the foundations of digital media by learning about digital imaging, animation and video editing, as well as expanded Intermedia studio practices. In the second year, students work on more ambitious digital media projects that include 3D modelling, interactive and generative digital media as well as performance and installation. At this stage concept and research informs the use of media, and students are encouraged to develop a critical art practice informed by contemporary art. By the fourth year of the program students are working in a self-directed Media Arts / Intermedia studio approach to develop a resolved body of work with which they can apply for grants, residencies, exhibitions and graduate programs.

2021 Media Art Showreel

GRADUATE STUDIES

Stephanie Patsula, Sympathetic Resonance, performance still, 2020

The Master of Fine Arts in the Intermedia program provides graduates with an in-depth training in studio practice, including the development of refined technical, formal and conceptual skills. In addition, graduate students are mentored in creative research methodologies that enable them to more effectively support their studio practice with academic research and/or theoretical discourse related to their thesis topic. Students also gain insights into how their own studio relates and intersects with questions within the broader field of contemporary art.

There are numerous funding opportunities for students throughout the program including scholarships, research assistantships and teaching assistantships.

Teaching experience is stressed in the program and there are also other opportunities for students to teach as primary instructor in foundation, drawing, and media arts.

FACILITIES AND TECHNICIANS

ART 351 AI and virtual reality project by Addison Primeau

Media Arts classes are taught across computer labs with the full Adobe suite and dedicated Media Art/Intermedia studios. Students have access to a range of equipment including digital cameras, audio recorders and video projectors. Senior level students are all assigned studio spaces where they are able to realise ambitious multimedia installations. Media Arts projects also take place in the Digital Scholarship Centre where students have the opportunity to work with high end workstations, a sound booth, 3D scanners and printers, a virtual reality station, an interactive data display wall, touch screen tables and projectors. All students have access to a wood shop facility staffed by a technician.

Creative Research Highlights

Over the past several years we have had many graduate students in Intermedia win Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants and Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) grants. Last year, a show reel of undergraduate media art was showcased as part of the AGA sidewalk cinema season. Associate Professor Marilène Oliver, coordinator of Media Arts/Intermedia, has exhibited internationally and leads the research projects Dyscorpia: Future Intersections of the Body and Technology, Know Thyself as a Virtual Reality and Multi-Dimensional Digital Print.