Intermedia

The intermedia study programme was established in 2007. It is based on the synergy of several visual media (object, video, photography, text, audio, performance, interactivity etc.), but also on the relationships between art and various academic and social areas of life. The programme offers a wide range of possibilities, procedures, and tools that can be used to reflect the reality around us, respond to current social topics and issues or comment on issues in personal life. The Studio of Intermedia, Studio of Spatial Communications + and Studio of vvv (visual, verbal, public) form a base for the development of creative thinking  in which students consult their artworks, develop their skills and crafts, acquire new knowledge and profile their own individual artistic expression. The LAB unit is also a part of the Department, in which preparatory courses and vocational courses are taught and which contains essential technical backup (video editing room, sound studio, lecture room and others). Students can freely choose from the studios in which they create, become part of the collective, consult their artworks individually and in groups, share their skills, experiences, observations, opinions and feelings. The study programme Intermedia provides the necessary crafts and technological skills and knowledge by teaching vocational courses not only for the needs of studios and thus artistic practice, but also for enhancing students´ employability in the labour market. 

The following activities, which are a part of education and mutual sharing of the environment, improve the offer of the Intermedia programme:

• cooperation with domestic and foreign lecturers, experts in the field
• cooperation with galleries and cultural institutions
• organization of professional workshops, workshops participated by students from other art schools from Slovakia and abroad
• support of activities initiated and created by students themselves

The aim of the Intermedia programme is to educate and professionally prepare a generation of young people for professional individual or team work in the field of cultural life.

Departmental Courses 

Camcorder – Tool in the Artist´s Hands

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Peter Barényi, ArtD.

The main purpose of the course is to familiarize students with the camcorder as a tool used for creating an artwork. Over the course of one semester, we watch together a lot of extracts from films and video art to help students understand what can be done with the camcorder and how it can be used in a creative process. During the semester, students gradually familiarize themselves with the basic functions of the camcorder. At the same time, students acquire basic knowledge about video images (image resolution, image formats, camera accessories such as tripods, microports, lights, etc.).

They become familiarized with various cables that are most often used in the presentation of a moving image. The acquisition of basic knowledge about video art is also a part of the course. Yet, the most important experience is to gradually get used to working with the camcorder. After completing the course, students should be able to shoot a video with a camcorder.

Basics of Editing and Editing of an Audiovisual Work I. and II.

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Peter Barényi, ArtD.

In the course, students acquaint themselves with the basics of motion picture processing in Adobe Premiere Pro. In the first semester, they familiarize themselves with the editing program through simple tasks. They deepen their knowledge they have already acquired in the course called Video, Work with a Camcorder. They learn to download a recorded material to a computer and process it, use overlaps, subtitle a video, slow down and speed up an image ... In the second semester, they work on individual assignments in class under the guidance of a teacher deepening their knowledge and enhancing their skills in motion image processing this way.

Space and Material I. and II.

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Jaroslav Kyša

Space and Material I. (winter term)

The course Space and Material I. should teach students how to approach the selection of individual materials and the subsequent implementation of the selected material in practice. It is one of the introductory vocational courses. It has a preparatory character and focuses on work with elementary fine-art materials. It combines the manual content of a “sculptural preparation” with a discussion about materials and their level to convey a meaning. It also has to help enhance the level of students´ basic craft skills. The course outcome is the creation of models, handmade crafts, DIY projects and the like. 

Space and Material II. (summer term)

Taking a creative approach, being a kind of alchemical workshop, we try to consider the material as a thinking entity as a participant. This course, Space and Material II. seeks to reverse the established chronology, which usually follows the following order: idea and subsequent material realization.

By material experimentation I intend to lead students from the concept phase i.e. conceptual thinking about the topic through a very important phase of labour and verification of concept possibilities in the physical space, resulting into the accumulation of these quantities.

The result should be a work that will be mastered not only in terms of ideas, but also in terms of material with an emphasis on experiment and process. An important part of the teaching process is the installation of individual works, their adjustment as well as the architecture of the exhibition, which aims to prepare students for artistic and exhibition practice.

Interactivity of Artwork

Lecturer: MgA. Tomáš Javůrek

Digital media are more and more losing their static form and are becoming more interactive in their basis. The broad prevalence of “smart” devices in the society is establishing a new form of a socio-technical culture. This culture is formed mainly by financial interests today, which is devaluating the cultural-social heritage. At the same time it creates (and requires) conditions for artistic reflexion and creation of new artistic strategies. In the course Interactivity of Artwork students become familiar with software technique creation, web technologies, databases, computer attacks, deep internet, programming of micro controllers, and last but not least with current tendencies in the word of on-line art.

Performance I. a II

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Peter Tilajčík, ArtD.

The two-semester course is devoted to several improvisation techniques, work with the body and the development of imagination within the perception of its psychophysical apparatus. Through several improvisation techniques (from body to word, abstraction and back) and various movement methods, we work through to basic compositional techniques. We focus on three important points when working with the body: from movement to activity and back, from relaxation to tension and back, awareness of bodily presence.

At the same time, the emphasis is placed on working with an object - both with the partner and the active participant. A certain pensum of lessons is also devoted to the study of theoretical literature dealing with performance art and its concretization in the perspective of performing arts. The aim of this course is to offer students of fine arts another dimension of work through their body, voice and presence.

Work at Terrain, Project and Production Preparation I. and II.

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Juraj Gábor

Work at Terrain, Project and Production Preparation I. (winter term) 

The course is focused on the practical mastery of the preparation of the artwork realization.

Outside the "home" studio background, in improvised conditions that predetermine the limits of a specific place. The aim of the course is to learn to work conceptually and effectively with time, space and resources without endangering the basic idea of ​​the emerging work. The basis of the semestral assignment is to write a production dairy, which has to show a model example at the end, how much time and finances are needed by students for creating the artwork. 

A part of the preparation in this sense is the analysis of current or already realized works of other artists at terrain - in the city or country showing and recording their production side.

The task of the course is to draw attention to material and technical support, budgeting, fundraising, material and human resources, technological consultations with specialists and logistics, making realization time schedule, owners and their own affected places, buildings, land, companies, work operations.

The important topics in teaching are sustainability, ecology, zero waste, media communication of the work for individuals and general public and last but not least the responsibility of the artist towards themselves, towards the idea of ​​the work, responsibility towards the place, responsibility towards the inhabitants.

Work at Terrain, Project and Production Preparation II. (summer term) 

An out-of-studio excursion into the terrain is held at the beginning of the summer term to enable students to see the ongoing production of a selected artwork, object, film, festival. It includes an insight into text materials, dramaturgy, project documentation, budget and realization time schedule.

The students´ task is to elaborate aids, tables and instructions following consultations with their teacher, which will be their starting point in their future studies and after graduation in the realization of larger or smaller artworks at terrain. These materials can serve as a basis for obtaining support - resources and institutional coverage for subsequent realization. Students choose their own way of working. They have a possibility to work on the assignment individually or in a group, which will be dependent on the way and intensity of sharing information and ability to cooperate during the execution of the assignment.

Guide for a Young Artist in the Realm of Noise, Sound and Music I. and II.

Lecturer: doc. Mgr. art. András Cséfalvay, ArtD.

The aim of the course is to present young artists to more approaches to sound and music and show them ways how they can incorporate these procedures and techniques into their own artistic work. Students gain an overview of various aspects of the production of musical and non-musical sound.

Besides lectures which clarify the theoretical background, the basis for understanding the phenomenon of sound are mainly practical demonstrations and exercises which contribute to gaining experience with technology, recording and editing sound. In the course, students learn the basic concepts of music notation and they write a song. The course has the ambition to encourage students to find new approaches to enrich their own work (education also covers examples of the use of sound in visual art, however, they do not form its core).

Video Clip and Post-production

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Peter Barényi, ArtD.

The course is focused on video clip, its history and various approaches to video clip production. Production of one´s own video clip is required for completing the course.

Composition of an Audiovisual Work

Lecturer: Mgr. Lenka Magulová

The course Composition of an Audiovisual Work complements theoretically the practical skills which students acquire when working with a camcorder or in the editing room.

An audiovisual work is a system of signs, means of expression and meaning. Every element of the work - frame, shot, composition, montage, sound, light and color, time and space, decorations and costumes ... - has its function and has undergone a certain historical development. The theory is complemented with film excerpts.

Critical Reading I. and II.

Reading Circle and Writing out of it

Lecturer: Mgr. art. Dávid Koronczi

Critical Reading I. Reading Circle (winter term)

Reading in a circle, sharing texts together based on the subjective choice of the facilitator, "curator" of the course David Koronczi, forms an environment focused on exploring current social, scientific and political aspects of cultural activities.

The basic teaching method is to share experiences from a thought adventure.

It is based on the belief that the exciting discovery of hidden webs of our everyday life, which are of course also found in art, makes us better participants of the community and cultural practices. The impetus for creating such a seminar is the effort for a deeper understanding of the complex relationships that connect human society with the surrounding habitats and planetary experience citing Donna Harroway, as across nature-cultures.

The course stems from the Department of Intermedia where we believe that thinking beyond aesthetic and material aspects helps to create art with empathy towards the word behind the walls of the academy or art institution. So we will be interested in the place or places where our creative processes intersect with lives of other people and extraterrestrial participants of the planet. We will try to grasp the fact, that our endeavour is a part of many frameworks (economic, political, ideological, etc.) irrespective of whether we ponder them or not, art (as well as sport, agriculture and others) are political systems. On this journey we can rely on some of the key texts of liberal arts of the recent decades, as well as examples from contemporary pop culture (trap, poetry, fiction, …)

Critical Reading II. ...Writing out of it (summer term)

After completing a series of shared readings in a circle and making effort to interpret the mentioned texts in the winter term, the attendees of the creative course will be tasked to write their own author´s work in the summer term. The challenge for all of us (including the facilitator Dávid Koronczi) will be to elaborate creative assignments which should enhance our textual creativity, as well as author´s self-confidence and self-reflection. Through a selection of short assignments, we will try the same traditional and experimental forms of writing. It is obvious, we will not reach all depths of such a complex issue as writing in its genre and content range, but given the discursive nature of current artistic practices, it is important to devote time to text, despite still remaining on the surface. The seminar consists of five thematic lectures and several minor assignments. 

Video Report

Lecturer: Mgr. art Peter Barényi, ArtD.

The task of the course is to teach students how to correctly record artworks and interview. Production of one´s own reportage from an exhibition is a requirement for completing the course.

Introduction to Intermedia

Lecturers: Internal and External doctoral students

The aim of the course Introduction to Intermedia is to acquaint students with the specifics of intermedia work, to provide them with basic theoretical knowledge of the selected intermedia issues in contemporary art in the domestic and foreign context. At the same time the course is to acquaint them with basic practical skills related to intermedia work and work in various media. The course combines lectures with practical seminars, in which students acquire skills and expertise from different fields of the media (for example, interactivity of a work of art, virtual reality, VJing, sound art, field recording, video art, etc.).