I/EYE Mindscribe Festival Numero Uno I/EYE Mindscribe Festivals Numero Dos


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eyeDIARY | Your Day to Day Syllabus

Monday
August 29, 2011

You walk into the room, bright-eyed and bushytailed, and are immediately assaulted with a barrage of eye-bourne delights and shocks--this includes meeting "Billy and Soapy" from an old good hygiene film; an introduction to the class; the rules of engagement. It also includest: the televisual toolkit (word for the day: ANALYSIS); Jon Klassen and Dan Rodrigues eye/allegory cinematic art; maybe a taste of Michael Powell's PEEPING TOM; maybe a taste of Buñuel y Dali's UN CHIEN ANDALOU; introductions of your stalwart crew of "eye doctors," bianca, alex, devina, and mason, props, surprises, shocks, distractions, and a harangue or two... Be sure to bring to class your utterly taxing eyeASSIGNMENTnumero_Uno...  print this out and fill it out! poof! you are all done!




Wednesday
August 31, 2011


You walk into the big room as early as you can as at 10:57am I am going to be re-screening AN EYE FOR ANNAI, the rather amazing animated short created by Dan Rodrigues and Jon Klassen as a film/art school project--a quality (if small) stream of the video is here.

You also walk into the room with TWO, yes TWO, written, typed, and printed questions you have written based on your careful, critical reading of the first 70 to 100 pages of Zarate and Appignanesi's FREUD FOR BEGINNERS.  What kinds of questions?  Imagine that you are a graduate student (just like Alex Boyer, Devina Sindhu, Mason Schoen, and Bianca Batti, your amazing crew) and that your evil professor (lazy, distracted, and cruel--you can see him there to your right) makes you come up with questions for the students that will not put the class to sleep.  They must be clever, even salacious, but not so bad that they get the prof in trouble--he's tenured, the pig, but still circumspect.  Type these two questions and bring them to class for today.

Oh, and if you forgot it or just added the class, be sure to bring you eyeASSIGNMENTnumero_Uno. 
Monday
September 5, 2011

Fall SPRING BREAK....
you are OFF!

 

Have a blast..... and read YOUNG VALIANT on the side...
Wednesday
September 7, 2011



You enter PG 153 having completed YOUNG VALIANT by Oliver Mayer in your THE HURT BUSINESS volume.

more to come...
EXTRA-CREDIT eyeSUPERCHARGER for
THURSDAY NITE @ 8pm at the CENTRO CULTURAL DE LA RAZA in Balboa Park!
For Map/Info/Etc....hit the image there to your right....


The EXTRAcredit eyeSUPERCHARGER sign-in sheet will be at the sales table for San Diego State University Press..... look for this logo by the book sales table at the Centro Cultural and sign the special page! poof! eyeSUPERCHARGER credit is yours!

UPDATE

To receive an excused absences EXTRAcredit eyeSUPERCHARGER, all you have to do is show up and sign in; for "blown-quiz" insurance EXTRAcredit eyeSUPERCHARGER, you are going to have to write a one-page (typed, double-space) analysis of one of the artifacts from the MEXTASY exhibit; be sure to get there a little early to enjoy the art show!  This writing assignment is due WEDNESDAY, September 14, 2011; turn it in to me before the big lecture class!


Monday
September 12, 2011

Walk into class Monday having read the introduction to Tex[t]-Mex AND the first 15 pages or so of the RITA HAYWORTH chapter; additionally, take the time to read this tumblr-posting in the eyegiene ARTkive: {click on the face for the link} or if that does not work, here is the direct link.

How we look and how we perceive others LOOKING at us, can have a dramatic impact on our PSYCHE--the 'eyes shaping the I' sort of speak....Keep that in mind as you read and as we screen Orson Welles' and Rita Hayworth's LADY FROM SHANGHAI in class Monday and Wednesday!  Be sure to bring your books to class as we may have a quiz next Wednesday!
Wednesday
September 14, 2011



Finish the chapter of Rita Hayworth (aka Margarita Carmen Cansino) in the Tex[t]-Mex volume; in the bighouse, PG 153, we will continue to screen Welles peculiar cinematic mini-epic; as you watch the film, consider the various metamorphoses and transmogrifications that the actress Rita/Margarita is subject to--in the film, of course, but in her life as well.






Monday
September 19, 2011










Our last day with Rita Hayworth--review the chapter in Tex[t]-Mex; additionally, come to class with discussion questions based on your reading of the film!






Wednesday
September 21, 2011


jumpcut WEDNESDAY


...a very special interruption, a truly surprising interception.... today we jump from Orson Welles' striking cinematic/sinematic EYE/I to the world of post-Beckett minimalist existential theatre as Will Eno's THOM PAIN enters our peculiar seminar room through the singular acting of Adam Brick and direction of Kristianne Kurner. While bluehairs and other devotees of theatre in North County are paying upwards of $36 to see this unique show straight from the boards off Broadway in Manhattan, you get to see it for $2 stuffed into an envelope.

Here's how it works.... read up on the play from these (one, two, or three) or other internet sources you find on your own. Take an envelope and place two ONE DOLLAR bills in the envelope (NO CHANGE, PLEASE). On the back of the envelope put your name, 220.__ section number, and the name of your section (Just as you would on an in-class quiz).  This is your lab fee for the day (and a 34 buck discount just for being a cool SDSU undergraduate).  On the front of the envelope, draw or paste/tape images inspired by the description of the play you found in one, two, or three or in your own researches.  

At the front of the room TODAY will be eight shopping bags decorated with the names of the eight sections of our class (shopping bags or boxes as your FABULOUS GTAs will be bringing their choice of receptacles). Drop your envelope in the proper bag/box and POOF, your attendance for the day will be registered.



Very cool colleagues of yours have suggested that the entire class dress in classy black garb to make our thespian guests feel our love, so please do dress to impress.


What does this have to do with an "introduction to literature" or with "eyegiene" or with "permutations of subjectivity"??????  You'll have to come to know.

NOTE: the show begins with a sequence in absolute darkness, so WORK HARD to get to the room early and if you get there late, don't worry about dropping your envelopes in the bags till AFTER the performance.....
Monday
September 26, 2011

Change of pace today! Our tour of Eyegienic terrain hits overdrive with the miraculous canvas visions of Frida Kahlo--read the first half of the Kettenmann volume as we leave Rita Hayworth and turn to the work of FRIDA KAHLO; read the 1st half of the KAHLO volume as well as the 1st half of the  Hernandez/Kahlo Chapter in Tex[t]-Mex.  Pay close attention as you 'read'/'see' Kahlo's canvases to how Frida "captures" the gaze of her viewers; in a sense, RITA HAYWORTH was born to be consumed by the eye/I and Orson Welles, in LADY FROM SHANGHAI, goes out of his way to seductively frame Hayworth in this fashion; Kahlo, alternatively, presents us with an other/othering series of representations. One where the "Latina" body embodies the gaze and does not merely serve as an object (abject?) for the consuming eye's pleasure.
Wednesday
September 28, 2011

Finish the Kahlo book AND the Kahlo/Hernandez chapter in Tex[t]-Mex. ALSO--late! here is a link to the biography of Frida Kahlo by Gilbert Hernandez talked about in the chapter... In class we will talk about the female gaze and subjectivity as evidenced here in KAHLO's BROKEN COLUMN....


and counterpointed here opposite in a somewhat hygienically sanitized Playboy "Pet" photo from 2008.
Monday
October 3, 2011

Read the first 101 pages of FIGHT CLUB by Chuck Palahniuk; in class we will talk about the novel and also begin to screen the movie by David Fincher.



EXTRA CREDIT! SHAKESPEARE IS IN THE HOUSE!!!
Wednesday
October 5, 2011

Keep reading the novel--up to p. 136.  More screenings in class with discussion...



also

Today you will receive what you have been waiting for! The PROMPTS for, brace for it.....  I/EYE Mindscribe Festival numero UNO (aka 3- to 5-page critical essays); this FIRST writing challenge is due, IN CLASS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011.  LINK



EXTRA CREDIT! SHAKESPEARE IS IN THE HOUSE!!!

Monday
October 10, 2011

Finish FIGHT CLUB, the novel


Wednesday
October 12, 2011

Big discussion day.... Palahniuk versus Fincher, Palahniuk via Fincher; Fincher via Palahniuk
Monday
October 17, 2011

The first few minutes of class will conclude our screening of FIGHT CLUB! We will have a brief discussion of Fincher and Palahniuk before we dive into the equally rich image-saturated space of comics!

Walk into class having carefully read, examined, perused, pondered, and devoured ART SPIEGELMAN's BREAKDOWNS. Spiegelman's knowledge of graphic narrative, illustration, comics theory, etc is sublime--but he is also a gifted writer.  These paired skills in the semantic and the semiotic, with words and images, will test our abilities as readers and seers, as consumers of prose fiction and pictures.


Please do note! Art Spiegelman's book deals with explicitly and disturbingly ADULT issues/ideas--especially those regarding print culture, the adult magazine business, and human sexuality.  While you are free to read the WHOLE book, the pages you are responsible for in this seminar are:  "Breakdown"--the first 20 pages or so BEFORE the thick laminated "facsimile" cover' plus the following individual short pieces: "Auto-destructo," "Intro," "Maus," "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," "Real Dream," "I Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Real Dream," and "An Afterword."

Please do note!  Comics are easy to read; meta-comics by Art Spiegelman, are not. Take your time looking at the images--compare them to regular comics, to classic EC comics (Spiegelman's bible), to Mad Magazine, to Wacky Packages stickers (he worked on these for years) and to his cover work for THE NEW YORKER.

Wednesday
October 19, 2011

We will continue our discussion of Spiegelman as you recover from your all-nighter finishing your essay. (Do try NOT to pull an all-nighter!)....

Please do note! Art Spiegelman's book deals with explicitly and disturbingly ADULT issues/ideas--especially those regarding print culture, the adult magazine business, and human sexuality.  While you are free to read the WHOLE book, the pages you are responsible for in this seminar are:  "Breakdown"--the first 20 pages or so BEFORE the thick laminated "facsimile" cover' plus the following individual short pieces: "Auto-destructo," "Intro," "Maus," "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," "Real Dream," "I Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Real Dream," and "An Afterword."

Please note: Comics are easy to read; meta-comics by Art Spiegelman, are not. Take your time looking at the images--compare them to regular comics, to classic EC comics (Spiegelman's bible), to Mad Magazine, to Wacky Packages stickers (he worked on these for years) and to his cover work for THE NEW YORKER.



ACK! it is due:  I/EYE Mindscribe Festival #1 (aka 3- to 5-page critical essay)




Monday
October 24, 2011

Begin Screening PEEPING TOM*, by Michael Powell, in class. A remarkable and banned, controversial thriller from the UK, Powell's meditation on photography, childhood trauma, fetishism, violence and more represents a watershed moment in 20th century film history. And, not incidentally, provides a key contribution to our ever-expanding notion of Eyegiene in film, literature, photography, art, and more.


With the screening of Powell's opus, we will also begin our readings in Freud's BEYOND THE PLEAUSURE PRINCIBLE.  You are ENCOURAGED but NOT REQUIRED to read the translator's preface by Gregory Richter, pages 37 to 47; the same goes for the introduction by Todd Dufresne (however, if you do intend to read Dufresne, you may want to read him last). Required reading? p. 51 to 73--please make sure you have the BROADVIEW edition translated by Richter and edited by Dufresne.

*PLEASE DO NOT CHECK OUT THE COPY IN LOVE LIBRARY AS THAT IS THE ONE I AM GOING TO USE IN THE CLASS!!!!!

Wednesday
October 26, 2011



In class, we will continue to screen and discuss Michael Powell's uncanny meditation on photography, cinema, psychology, and violence--here's a brief interview with Powell you may find diverting.! Read pages 73 to the bottom of page 87 in BEYOND THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE; if you get distracted by the challenging prose, break out Zarate and Appignanesi's FREUD FOR BEGINNERS to ease the pain!!!!!
Monday
October 31, 2011

SURPRISE HALLOWEEN LECTURE....


‘Tis the season for all things ghoulish and fearsome—so what better day of the year is there to discuss ZOMBIES than Halloween? During today’s class, we will explore the historical context and trajectory of the zombie, taking into consideration three types—the voodoo zombie, the midcentury zombie (a la George Romero) and the modern zombie seen today. We will also be placing the zombie in conversation with some of the other texts and themes from our class (if zombies could converse, that is…which they can’t…so they’ll probably just moan a lot), including the grotesque, hygiene/eyegiene, the fractured/tattooed psyche, subjectivity, and more. As such, in order to prepare yourselves as zombie experts, please come to class today having viewed Night of the Living Dead (available in its entirety on Youtube) and having read the excerpt from The Walking Dead (provided here in  pdf format ). And also, coming to class in a costume is strongly recommended (especially if you want to dress up as a zombie)! Get ready to talk about braaaaains!
Wednesday
November 2, 2011



For reading, walk into class having FINISHED Beyond the Pleasure Principle--as you read, try to adapt and apply Freud's theory to your screening of Powell film. In seminar, we will discuss both POWELL and FREUD, even as we prepare for LIVELY...

ALSO Read the first  58 pages of Penelope Lively's THE PHOTOGRAPH. Please don't come to the big room without your books....

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Brace for it, it is here: your email in-box should have already received the prompts for  I/EYE Mindscribe Festival #2, your second major essay of the EYEGIENE experience.   hit this image for the PROMPTS...


Monday
November 7, 2011

Read page 59 to 147 in THE PHOTOGRAPH...



Wednesday
November 9, 2011

Walk into class having finished THE PHOTOGRAPH--in class we will have our YOU'RE THE PROFESSOR session, be prepared to talk about what you view to be the most pivotal moment in Penelope Lively's novel.


Monday
November 14, 2011


Enter class having read all of OLIVER MAYER's BLADE TO THE HEAT from THE HURT BUSINESS anthology...   read/screen the photographs in "A Mayer Family Album," pages 78-81; read the script for BLADE TO THE HEAT, pages 82-113 (the glossary on page 136 should prove useful); the supporting materials from pages 114 to 137 will also make your reading have more of a punch..... that's a pun! (and not a good one!)



Wednesday
November 16, 2011

BLADE TO THE HEAT lecture/AUTHOR VISIT???


I/EYE Mindscribe Festival #2 due today IN CLASS...
Monday
November 21, 2011

THANKSGIVING WEEK

Catch up on your reading!

Wednesday
November 23, 2011

THANKSGIVING WEEK

Have a great holiday!


*In this illustration, included here to herald and embrace holiday cheer, do please ignore the horrible ironies afoot, viz,, Snoopy's buddy Woodstock's oblivious joy hovering above the cooked remains of his fellow avian brother!
Monday
November 28, 2011

With the days of turkey, pumpkin pie, familia, friends, and joy behind us and with the days of fat men in red suits offering us gifts on the horizon, we turn our eyes to Haruki Murakami's AFTER DARK; take it home with you over the holidays so that you have read the first 200 pages or so when you walk in the room at 11am Monday morning; WRITING ASSIGNMENT: between pages 160 and 200, some very curious things happen in the novel. Transcribe what YOU view to be the MOST important 3 or 4 sentences you run across in these pages--in literature-land, we call a selection likes this "a passage." Then, type out a 250 word (1-page, double-spaced, typed) micro-essay wherein you cleverly and with your best literary style JUSTIFY the selection of that passage. We will have the bags ready at the front of the class to receive your micro-masterpieces. Also, remember--don't sit in the last two seats at the end of the long rows on either side of the classroom.... they have been electrified!




Wednesday
November 30, 2011



Finish your reading of AFTER DARK, and read ALL the ROCKET SAM and BIG TEX short stories in the Chris Ware ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY book!



Monday
December 5, 2011

CHRIS WARE ACME NOVELY LIBRARY and Mini EYEGIENE REVIEW for the Final...





Wednesday
December 7, 2011

I/EYExam_finalCHALLENGE 
(aka, "the FINAL")