Course General Description

We preserve and transmit culture, language and all historical record, whether myth or real, using the power of narrative. Narrative or stories that are not just the oral and the written, but in art, in dance, music and drama, embracing philosophy, history, politics, the environment and the social sciences. The Information Arts and Information Design Practices Course at Srishti will explore the idea that all data is narrative. Information is narrative, but with purposefulness. Identity and information environments are intrinsically linked. Stories craft our identity, they heal, inform, challenge and are the stuff of which our lives are made of. While visualization, interpretation and communication of data have been largely the focus of the field of Information arts and design around the world, at Srishti we dig deeper to engage with ethics, conflicts, politics, hidden realities and debates around data and information. How can art, design and technology be used to push the boundaries of information and create points for action? What can traditional practices from different cultures offer to interpretation of contemporary data? Where can art and science meet to activate alternative research? How does one train at a reflective self in relation to the world to be a storyteller who mines diverse data to arrive at deeper truths? These and more questions serve as a guide map to engaging with and creating within this program. This course is an attempt to explore how to dissolve discipline based perceptions of data to engage with real life in its nuanced stories allowing for new discourses to emerge.

School General Description

Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology (Srishti) is a design school established in 1996 by the Ujwal Trust in Bangalore, India. It offers design education in Digital Video Production, Film, Visual Communication, Experimental Media Arts, Design in Education, Textile Design, Animation and Visual Effects, Interaction Design, Product and Interface Design, Furniture and Spatial Design, Business Systems and Design and much more. Srishti has a number of centers and labs that offer practice- and research-based environments for students and faculty from a multitude of disciplines. These include (in alphabetical order): BHSI – Bangalore Human Sciences Initiative CEMA – Center for Experimental Media Arts CERTAD – Centre for Education, Research, Training and Development CPH – Centre for Public History GRIDs – Grassroots Innovation Design Studio Kabir Project[5] LEDLAB – Law+Environment+Design Laboratory Srishti Films Srishti Labs DesignEARTH Lab Natural Fibres Lab Pandimonium Lab SUI-Srishti Collaborative Blank Noise Srishti's culture encourages thinking, questioning and experimenting to harness the artistic and intellectual potential of each individual and place the institution at the leading edge of contemporary art and design discourse. A multi-disciplinary approach inculcates self-initiated learning and independent thinking and expands perceptual perspectives. Regular interaction with design studios, production and distribution centers, community projects, retail establishments and industry forms a vital bridge between Srishti and the world.