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VART 2601 Assignment 2 - Database Project

Due Wednesday, February 11 (you have 2 weeks)

“Who are we, who is each one of us, if not a combinatoria of experiences, information, books we have read, things imagined? Each life is an encyclopedia, a library, an inventory of objects, a series of styles, and everything can be constantly shuffled and reordered in every way conceivable.”
· Italo Calvino, from Six Memos for the Next Millennium

Our first assignment looked at the loop as a form in new media. This second assignment will explore another important form in new media: the database. A database is a collection of individual components that can be combined and organized in different ways. A good example of a database is a computer font, which contains a collection of individual symbols (letters) that can be combined in different ways to create meaning. In The Language of New Media, Lev Manovich writes that “many new media objects do not tell stories; they do not have a beginning or end… Instead, they are collections of individual items, with every item possessing the same significance as any other.”

For this assignment, create a "database" of at least 8 small components that can be combined in different ways to create a larger work. These components could be digital drawings, pieces of text, or video or sound clips. Use these small components to build two larger works that demonstrate how your "database" of components can be combined in various ways. You can use any media for this assignment.

Assignment 2 is due on February 11. On that day you should be prepared to discuss your work in class, and hand in your work for grading in an appropriate format (digital files or a physical artwork).

You will have some class time this week and next week to work on this assignment.