About the Program

Technology and mediated information are transforming the world in which we live, resulting in shifts in social interaction and the way we perceive ourselves as well as our environment. Art and artists are increasingly responding to these changes by integrating the language and methods of science. The Art + Technology program prepares students to become artists by facilitating the conceptual, technical, and creative development of an informed and critical practice. The program approaches forms and technologies located at the "cutting-edge" of science and commerce as sites of potential creative discourse, simultaneously realizing alternative possibilities and connections with the continuing dialogue of art. Art + Technology not only empowers artists to produce effective art, but also provides skills that allow students to excel in any endeavor that rewards creativity and innovation.

Undergraduate

Art + Technology provides students with the opportunities to explore the possibilities of creating artwork using emerging technologies within the context of a hands-on studio art environment. The program seeks to develop critical thinkers who understand the broader social and theoretical implications of Art + Technology and use this knowledge to inform and frame their artistic practice. The program recognizes that art produced in a digitally-mediated society requires a breadth of understanding that spans multiple disciplines, and places value on ideas rather than tools.

The undergraduate curriculum exposes students to digital imaging, computer programming, web design, digital video, animation, interactivity, gaming, installation, simulation, information visualization and special topics in emerging technologies and art forms. With a focus on transdisciplinary practice, students are required to take elective courses in the School of Art and Art History and strongly encouraged to avail themselves of the rich selection of elective courses in the many other disciplines. 

Graduate

UF's graduate program in Art + Technology seeks to expand the model of what is considered to be digital, fostering a multidisciplinary approach that integrates artistic research, contemporary theory, and practice. The Art + Technology program serves as a catalyst for developing lifelong research questions and passions, as well as facilitating dialogues and collaborations not only between traditional and digital art forms within the School of Art and Art History, but across the university. Students are encouraged to make conceptual work that encompasses both the virtual and physical world and that critically reflects upon the relationship between culture and technology.

The Art + Technology program cultivates an environment where students can experiment with data, interactivity, installation, networks, video, sound, text, animation, Internet, sensing devices, GPS, biotechnology, mapping, immersive spaces, aesthetic computing as well as emerging and yet unimagined forms of digital expression. UF affords motivated students opportunities and resources to realize projects and collaborations at a scale and depth unavailable at smaller institutions. The program includes studio courses, graduate seminars in history, theory and criticism, studio critique, and independent studies. Students are expected and encouraged to grow as artists over the course of the three-year program