ART2691: Introduction to Digital Media
CLASS RESOURCES
- p5 -
- p5 video resources -
The Coding Train: Code! Programming with p5.js
- p5 print resources -
p5.js BASICS Lindsey French (PDF)
p5.js INTERACTION + GENERATIVE DRAWING Lindsey French (PDF)
Make: Getting Started with p5.js Lauren McCarthy, Casey Reas, and Ben Fry (PDF)
- p5 final projects from previous semesters -
WEEK 1: January 5 - 7
CLASS 1 (Monday): Class Introduction
IN CLASS
CLASS INTRODUCTION + 13 WAYS LECTURE
RECOMMENDED READING
The lecture in today's class was based on Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird from Art & Discontent: Theory at the Millennium by Thomas McEvilley.
ARTISTS in the LECTURE
René Magritte, Tim Portlock, Milica Zec, Clement Valla, Robert Smithson, Morehshin Allahyari, Diego Velázquez, Cory Arcangel, Ian Cheng, Refik Anadol, Alan Warburton, Janine Antoni, Jacques-Louis David, Pipilotti Rist, Ansy Warhol, Char Stiles, Marcel Breuer, Jenny Holzer, Molly Soda, Cindy Sherman, Allison Zuckerman, Bill Viola, Théodore Géricault, Kara Walker, Pablo Picasso, Chris Ofili, Renee Cox, Bridget Riley, Franco and Eva Mattes, Yves Klein, Jenny Holzer
HOMEWORK
WATCH John Berger's Ways of Seeing (episode 1).
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observation from watching John Berger's Ways of Seeing (episode 1) in Ways of Seeing in Blackboard.
POST one (1) picture of yourself to #hello in Discord.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): Intro to Photoshop and Google Images
IN CLASS
DEMO RECORDING
Photoshop and Google Images: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=434ca311e1a84b710ff230749b381376
password: YSUart2026
HOMEWORK
Complete Chapters 1: "Opening files in Photoshop" and all of Chapters 2-4, 6, 7 in Photoshop CC 2025 Essential Training: The Basics by Julieanne Kost at LinkedIn Learning.
Last Day to Add Classes or Change Grading Option – Monday, January 13, 2025
WEEK 2: January 12 - 14
CLASS 1 (Monday): Photoshop + Personas
DEMO RECORDING
Photoshop: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=49d714600f599459452e13a4a9b5b937
password: YSUart2026
HOMEWORK
DO
Complete Chapters 7-11, 13, 14, 16 in Photoshop CC 2025 Essential Training: The Basics by Julieanne Kost at LinkedIn Learning.
Create a college in Photoshop from 3-4 images. Post a JPEG (.jpg) to #practice_collage channel in Discord.
WATCH Society of the Spectacle: WTF? Guy Debord, Situationism and the Spectacle Explained by Tom Nicholas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGJr08N-auM
COMMENT on Society of the Spectacle: WTF? Guy Debord, Situationism and the Spectacle Explained in Blackboard
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): Photoshop + Persona/Inner Monster
HOMEWORK: Persona/Inner Monster INspiration
Post Five (5) images of inspiration to #collage-inspiration in Discord
HOMEWORK: Side By Side AI Tools Practice
LINKEDIN LEARNING
Complete Chapters 10,11,12,18 in Photoshop CC 2025 Essential Training: The Basics by Julieanne Kost at LinkedIn Learning.
Post Three (3) completed pratice tasks in #side-by-side in Discord
#1 - Put an animal in a new "generative" environment
#2 - "neural" filter
#3 - Remove someone/something from image
HOMEWORK: Persona/Inner Monster Working Critique
Post Three (3) to Five (5) intial ideas (images) in #project1-wc1 in Discord
Last Day for 100% Refund – Sunday, January 19, 2025
WEEK 3: January 19 - 21
CLASS 1 (Monday): NO CLASS: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): WORKING CRITIQUE 1
HOMEWORK: Mindmaps
Summarize your design into 3 words (preferably adjectives). Make a mindmaps for each word in the center.
HOMEWORK: Persona/Inner Monster Working Critique 2
Post TWO images in #project1-wc2: one with solo design AND one with design on a person wearing t-shirt.
WEEK 4: January 26 - 28
CLASS 1 (Monday): WORKING CRITIQUE 2
CRITIQUE RECORDING
https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=cccdb3488ca3d9ce4f25f04acafe2461
password: YSUart2026
Printful Guidelines: https://www.printful.com/custom/mens/t-shirts/unisex-staple-t-shirt-bella-canvas-3001#guidelines
HOMEWORK: Persona/Inner Monster Working Critique 3
Post TWO images in #project1-wc3: UPDATED solo design AND one with design on a person wearing t-shirt for MONDAY, FEB 2.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): Premiere Pro
DEMO RECORDING
Premiere Pro: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=0f6af5c5f557dac314cc63b32bb229f1
password: YSUart2026
IN CLASS RESOURCES
https://www.pbs.org/standards/media-law-101/copyright-fair-use/
https://www.pexels.com/videos/
https://archive.org/details/movies
https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22stock+footage%22
https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22royalty+free%22/a>
https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22public+domain%22
https://archive.org/details/prelinger
https://web.archive.org/web/20240216212015/https://www.loc.gov//rr/mopic/subres.html
HOMEWORK: MONTAGE
COMPLETE Chapters 2-5, 9, 10 in Premiere Pro CC 2022 Essential Training: The Basics by Ashley Kennedy at LinkedIn Learning.
WATCH the following videos in the MONTAGE SET:
Soda_Jerk's Dawn of Remix
Soda_Jerk's The Was (with The Avalanches)
Carl Burgess's music video for Ratatat "Drugs"
Cory Arcangel's Arnold Schoenberg, op. 11 - I - Cute Kittens
Jesse England’s Staring Newscasters
Penny Lane's Normal Appearances
Jesse McLean's Just Like Us
Les LeVeque's Communists Like Us (WARNING: HEAVY FLICKERING, may trigger seizure - watch just an excerpt)
Jeremy Blake's Century 21 (watch just an excerpt)
Studio Lernert & Sander's I Love Alaska
SUBMIT thoughtful comments on the videos in Montage Set in Blackboard under Montage Set.
CREATE a practive montage and POST in #
MONTAGE ASSIGNMENT
-
Theme-Based Montage
Explore a single theme (time, memory, motion, etc.) using found footage.
- Bruce Conner — Crossroads (1976) · Short clip & article
- Source library for student footage: Prelinger Archives · Browse
- Prompt: Choose a theme (e.g., time, movement, joy, chaos, memory). Collect found footage (archival film, YouTube clips, public domain videos, etc.) and create a 1–2 minute montage exploring that theme.
- Skills learned: Importing and organizing media, trimming clips, basic transitions, layering, pacing, and working with thematic cohesion.
-
Music-Driven Montage
Edit precisely to rhythm and musical structure.
- Michel Gondry — “Sugar Water” (Cibo Matto, 1996) · Official video
- Martin Arnold — Pièce Touchée (1989) · Excerpt (YouTube) · Alt. archive
- Prompt: Select a 60–90 second piece of instrumental music (royalty-free). Cut together found footage in a way that responds to rhythm, tempo, and mood. Sync visual beats to the soundtrack.
- Skills learned: Working with the timeline and audio waveforms, editing to rhythm, audio syncing, keyframing audio levels.
-
Contrast & Juxtaposition
Cut opposites together (nature vs. technology, past vs. present) to spark meaning.
- Arthur Lipsett — Very Nice, Very Nice (1961) · Watch on Vimeo
- Prompt: Build a montage of opposites (urban vs. rural, nature vs. technology, past vs. present). Use editing techniques to highlight visual or conceptual contrasts.
- Skills learned: Match cuts, split edits, color correction basics (to emphasize contrast), developing narrative tension through juxtaposition.
-
Supercut
Build a repeating motif (a gesture, object, or word) across many sources.
- Christian Marclay — Telephones (1995) · Work page (RISD Museum) Excerpt (YouTube)
- Additional inspiration: YouTube supercuts (e.g., “every hello in movies”) to illustrate the form in popular culture.
- Prompt: Create a supercut (like a “best of” compilation) where a specific visual element, sound, or phrase repeats across different sources. For example: doors opening, people laughing, or the word “hello.”
- Skills learned: Precise cutting, repetition as a design element, labeling and organizing large amounts of source clips.
-
Mood Montage
Create a specific emotion purely through pacing, rhythm, sound, and imagery (no dialogue).
- Bill Viola — The Passing (1991) · Smithsonian work page · Long excerpt (YouTube)
- Joseph Cornell — Rose Hobart (1936) · Film Preservation Society page + clip
- Prompt: Convey an emotion (fear, excitement, melancholy, anticipation) purely through montage. Use pacing, rhythm, and imagery to create a specific mood—no dialogue or narration allowed.
- Skills learned: Shot duration, montage theory, using audio/sound effects to enhance mood, experiment with color grading and effects.
-
Archival Remix
Recontextualize historical/educational footage to make a new argument or narrative.
- Craig Baldwin — Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1992) · Excerpt · Trailer
- Found-footage sources for students: Prelinger Archives · Browse · Background
- Prompt: Work with public domain archival footage (e.g., Prelinger Archives, Internet Archive). Create a remix montage that reinterprets the original footage in a new cultural or personal context.
- Skills learned: Historical/contextual awareness of source material, creative reinterpretation, title cards/text integration.
WEEK 5: February 2 - 4
CLASS 1 (Monday): COLLAGE + MONTAGE
IN CLASS VIDEOS
Brian Williams Raps "Rapper's Delight"
Jason Salavon's The Late Night Triad,
Dara Birnbaum's Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman
HOMEWORK
BRAINSTORM ideas for the possible videos for the Montage Assignment (see above).
UPDATE your origninal collage collage (FINAL DESIGN) for next Wednesday based on comments/suggestions from the comments/critique from class. POST your final image in #project1-final-final in Discord. CREATE a practice montage using found footage (see potential sources from last week's recourses). POST a YouTube unlisted link in #montage-practice in Discord (if you have not already). WATCH Kirby Ferguson's Everything is a Remix SUBMIT thoughtful comments to Kirby Ferguson's Everything is a Remix in Blackboard CREATE a NEW montage video (due: Wednesday, February 11). POST the montage video in YouTube. POST the link in either #project2_wc1. CLASS 2 (Wednesday): MONTAGE PITCH
HOMEWORK
WEEK 6: February 9 - 11
CLASS 1 (Monday): WORKDAY
HOMEWORK
WATCH Kirby Ferguson's Everything is a Remix
SUBMIT thoughtful comments to Kirby Ferguson's Everything is a Remix in Blackboard
CREATE a NEW montage video (due: Wednesday, February 11).
POST the montage video in YouTube.
POST the link in either #project2_wc1.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): WORKING CRITIQUE 1
DEMO RECORDING
MASKING in Premiere Pro: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=1bbc23784afdceff27dbfcd44dcfee07
password: YSUart2026
HOMEWORK
CREATE a NEW, UPDATED montage video (due: Wednesday, February 18).
POST the montage video in YouTube.
POST the link in either #project2_wc2.
CATCH UP, if you are behind.
WEEK 7: February 16 - 18
CLASS 1 (Monday): WORK DAY + Stefanie Posavec (virtual lecture)
VIRTUAL LECTURE
RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=9d25bfb344e92bcbdf963fef52812071
password: YSUart2025
RESOURCES from the LECTURE
https://www.stefanieposavec.com/
https://informationisbeautiful.net/
http://www.dear-data.com/theproject
https://peoplelikeyou.ac.uk/
HOMEWORK
SUBMIT thoughtful comments to Stefanie Posavec's virtual lecture in Blackboard
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): WORKING CRITIQUE 2
MASKING in PREMIERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1jije6Gmvg
EXTRA RESOURCES:
https://www.podingtonbear.com/
Acoustical Visions of Golden Gate Bridge, Bill Fontana
HOMEWORK:
FINISH montage. You will need to include a MASK EFFECT in the montage. See link above. I did a demo in class but did not record it. The YouTube video covers it pretty well.
WEEK 8: February 23 - 25
CLASS 1 (Monday): TBD
HOMEWORK
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): TBD
HOMEWORK: COLOR + SOUND ABSTRACTION
COLOR & SOUND SALON
Oskar Fischinger, An Optical Poem
Jennifer Reeves, That Girl’s Nervy
Vertical Wavescape, Bill Fontana
Parallel Graphic Waves, Bill Fontana
Landscape Sculpture with Foghorns, Bill Fontana
Norman McLaren, Begone Dull Care
HOMEWORK
SUBMIT thoughtful comments in Color and Sound Salon in Blackboard.
CATCH UP!!!!!!
WEEK 9: March 2 - 4
SPRING BREAK
WEEK 10: March 9 - 11
CLASS 1 (Monday): P5.JS
RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=2345ca9cc0062ea8874a336f445b9278
password: YSUart2026
code from class: https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/z6nC10rq2
HOMEWORK
CREATE an account at p5js.org
WATCH && TRY The Coding Train: Code! Programming with p5.js
1.1: Code! Programming for Beginners with p5.js
1.2: p5.js Web Editor
1.3: Shapes & Drawing
1.4: Color
1.5: Errors & Console
1.6: Code Comments
2.1: Variables in p5.js (mouseX, mouseY)
CHECK OUT p5.js final projects from SPRING 2020 and FALL 2019.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): LAURA GARVIN
Last Day for Withdrawing with a Grade of “W” – Wednesday, March 19, 2025
WEEK 11: March 16 - 18
CLASS 1 (Monday): ROBOT
RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=8b3a28fa436ad3c4a9ce39dd5540b366
password: YSUart2025
code from class (variables and if statements): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/NlkKoBGLz
code from class (variables and random): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/SsHSAcFOS
code from class (modulo and random): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/Q-ytfLWuv
code from class (if statement): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/bv2fONgyh
code from class (random and modulo): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/daHrHcTaq
extra code (variables and if statement): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/bv2fONgyh
extra code (variables and if statements): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/bv2fONgyh
extra code (if else): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/LbJN0575d
extra code (random and modulo): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/O5-DPt_0M
extra code (random and modulo): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/O5-DPt_0M
extra code (modulo and for loop): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/0KVbEpp0k
code from class (map() function): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/8foyRJmhW
additional code (map() function): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/mcBI_eFcA
examples from Spring 2020: http://jdsperry.people.ysu.edu/dm_robot.html
HOMEWORK
WATCH && TRY The Coding Train: Code! Programming with p5.js
2.2: Variables in p5.js (Define your own)
2.5: The random() function
3.1: Introduction to Conditional Statements
3.2: The Bouncing Ball
3.3: Else and Else If, AND and OR
MAKE a robot in the p5.js editor
USE robot sketches from spring 2020 as a resource
POST the url for your robot sketch to #p5_robot channel in Discord.
SUBMIT one (1) thoughtful comment on the videos to #thoughts_brett channel in Discord.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): P5.JS + EUNSU KANG
MAIN CODE:
code from class (Ensu Kang sketch):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/U_034aXdP
DEMO RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=65437f80d2614c8c7643cde2ee3c56fd
password: YSUart2025
additional code from class (additonal Eunsu Kang sketch): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/FndmED-Is
additional code from class (simple spped): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/R1Vk9DtAH
additional code from class (two for loops): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/HhVWPOJDh
additional code from class (speed plus for loop in a for loop): https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/ZkackmBKz
HOMEWORK
MAKE a BETTER version of the Eunsu Kang sketch in the p5.js editor
USE example sketches from Spring 2020 as a resource
POST the url for your better sketch to #p5_better channel in Discord.
WEEK 12: March 23 - 25
CLASS 1 (Monday): P5.JS + MIC
RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=1a5aef39c73a686ca5778ddce3ee68c5
password: YSUart2026
CODE:
code from class (Leandra Tejedor's basic mic code):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/Wgl51I3AK
code from class (Leandra Tejedor's mic code with for loop):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/VZ1ztA6d-
code from class (simple for loop):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/zoGwDYabt
ARTIST EXAMPLES
Camille Utterback & Romy Achituv: Text Rain
Tmema (Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman) with Jaap Blonk and Joan La Barbara: Messa di Voce
Blake Marques Carrington: Elevation
P5 RESOURCES from PAOLO PEDERCINI
CMU Electronic Media Studio: project: alternative drawing tool
CMU Electronic Media Studio: p5: interaction, mouse input
HOMEWORK
MAKE an interesting MIC example of Leandra Tejedor's basic mic sketch or mic sketch with a for loop in the p5.js editor BASED ON A PIECE OF MUSIC.
USE examples sketches from a previous semester as a resource
POST the url for your better sketch to #p5_mic channel in Discord. Also add the inspriational music in the comments.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): FINAL PROJECT
RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=402537a2c6d7d9f60b7f58b3c6564b68
password: YSUart2026
CODE:
code from class (basic song code):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/6TIFX0TXq
code from class (basic song with images):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/p8VCsQoCE
code from class (noise):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/7SYEuUEWF
code from class (noise with images):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/YhSIehfNb
code from class (millis() ):hhttps://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/JO613OqB0
code from class (image + millis() ):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/R81Fv6ePy
HOMEWORK
MAKE an interesting p5 sketch based on the basic song code sketch for next Wednesday's working critique.
POST the URL in #p5-working-1 in Discord.
WEEK 13: March 30 - April 1
CLASS 1 (Monday): Molmol Kuo (Virtual Lecture)
RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=f4e456bbbe62501fda3f4301af559e3a
password: ARTcode2026
HOMEWORK
SUBMIT thoughtful comments to Molmol Kou in Blackboard.
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): WORKING CRITIQUE
DEMO RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=f38edc046ab87c51a0a003efaa577054
password: YSUart2026
CODE:
code from class (centered, fixed-size canvas, colored bg):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/zlDCYFx7c
code from class (windowWidth, windowHeight):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/9z0ZDFm0gu
code from class (centered, windowHeight sqaure, colored bg):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/iEID8_FRV
code from class (mousePressed + mouseIsPressed):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/UYMQvXOck
code from class (mousePressed + mouseIsPressed):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/VaIbKrqzo
code from class (mousePressed + mouseIsPressed):https://editor.p5js.org/danasperry/sketches/g8yFskao3
WEEK 14: April 6 - 8
CLASS 1 (Monday): WORK DAY (code help)
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): WORKING CRITIQUE
POST your sketch with an embedded mp3 file in #p5-working-2
WEEK 15: April 13 - 15
CLASS 1 (Monday): WORKING CRITIQUE (make-up for those not in attendance April 8)
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): CLEVELAND!!!!!!!!!!!
WEEK 16: April 20 - 22
CLASS 1 (Monday): T-SHIRT PARTY!!!!!
CLASS 2 (Wednesday): FINAL WORKING CRITIQUE
POST your sketch with an embedded mp3 file in #p5-working-final