Results for APPPHYS100

Students will create individual studio portfolios of ceramic work and pursue technical investigations of clay properties and the firing process using modern scientific equipment. Emphasis on development of creative process; parallels between science and traditional craft; integration of creative expression with scientific method and analysis. Prior ceramics experience desirable but not necessary. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: any level of background in physics, Instructor permission.

Students will learn to weave on a table loom while examining textile structures from historic, artistic and scientific perspectives. Emphasis on analyzing patterns and structures generated by weaving, with elementary introductions to information-scientific notions of algorithmic complexity, image compression, and source coding. This class is primarily intended for non-STEM majors with little or no prior experience in working with textiles. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: Instructor permission.

Preference to sophomores. Indigo as a plant, biomolecule, dye, ancient craft material, and organic semiconductor; the interest of natural dyes for both biomimetic engineering and indigenous artistic practices. Students will plant and tend an indigo crop, harvest and process indigo leaves for dyestuffs, and dye textiles using an organic vat process. Lectures, readings and discussions will focus on the biochemistry and physics of indigo dye, traditional indigo textile arts, environmental impacts of industrial-scale indigo dyeing of denim, roles of indigo in upcycling, craft-washing, and the aesthetics of indigo in western and non-western cultural frames.