Ali Momeni UMN Tenure and Promotion index: This page contains an expanding outline to my research, teaching and service contributions to the University of Minnesota as probationary tenure-track faculty member in the Department of Art and the Collaborative Arts Program. Links to detailed descriptions, still, video and audio documentation of projects are included throughout.

This year marked a transitional stage for the Experimental and Media Arts department. Together with my colleagues Lynn Lukkas and Diane Willow, we accomplished the following:

-Official name change from Time and Interactivity to Experimental and Media Arts
-Creation of the EMA area blog with a centralized calendar and online resources for our graduate and undergraduate students
-Conceptualization and initial deployment of a comprehensive space reconfiguration: new sound studio (Regis W131), new advanced video lab (W121, the old space was given to the Regis tech staff to meet their needs), new mixed analog-digital studio shared with painting and drawing (W248)
-Preparation and submission of three major CLA-OIT Tech Fees grants (requesting a total of $150,000) for necessary upgrades of hardware and software in Regis

Myself, Jenny Schmid and Heba Amin presented our works at the Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art in Cairo.

Between July 27-31, 2009 I taught the 18th annual CNMAT Max/MSP/Jitter night school course (for my 9th time!). All course documentation is kept on CNMAT's one-of-a-kind new music web portal: there you will find the course outline, video screen shots of some of the lectures, as well as patches and links.

Jenny Schmid, Heba Amin and myself gave a lecture at the Department of Art at the American University of Cairo. Our lecture was followed by an impromptu/guerilla projection of some of Heba's work, around AUC's scenic campus.

I was invited by Colin and Troy of Twin Cities Solutions to give a presentation at their Give & Take event held at Intermedia Arts on Oct 28, 2010. The presentation was on my work with MAW.

While in Spain for showing Smoke and Hot Air at FEEDFORWARD, I gave a lecture on Minneapolis Art on Wheels as a part of the symposium, on a panel with Eric Kluitenberg, Daniel G. Andújar, Fernando García-Dory, Carlos Motta.

According to the press release:

SYMPOSIUM FEEDFORWARD
The Symposium Feedforward. The Angel of the History, will take part on October the 23 and 24. A panel of experts and artists in new media art will debate about some of the central topics of the exhibition.

PARTICIPANTS: Christiane Paul, Steve Dietz, Sarah Cook, Margot Lovejoy, Tamiko Thiel, Chris Baker, Jose Carlos Mariategui, Stephanie Rothenberg, Angus Cameron, Tiziana Terranova, Piotr Szyhalski, Naeem Mohaiemen, Barbara Fluxá, Esther Leslie, Hasan Elahi, Konrad Becker y Marco Peljhan, Nonny de la Peña y Peggy Weil, Knowbotic Research, Tom Levin, Jaron Rowan y Clara Piazuelo, Tere Badía, Emmanuel Rodríguez, Graham Harwood, Eric Kluitenberg, Daniel G. Andújar, Fernando García-Dory, Carlos Motta, Ali Momeni.

Fall 2009: ART 1601: Introduction to Experimental and Media Arts

Professor: Ali Momeni

This introductory course explores the fundamental elements of experimental and media arts in general, and electronic art using digital production tools in particular. Students will explore a personal aesthetic and develop a critical framework for their ideas and work. Theoretical/critical readings, lectures, discussions, presentations of film, video, and new media artists are included.

The course is organized around 4 themes:

1. Image
2. Video
3. Sound
4. Performance

The weekly schedule follows this themes in order and allows students to explore combinations of media with increasing facility as the semester proceeds.

Objectives:

1. To introduce students to image/video/sound/performance and their digital production tools as a medium of artistic production with a unique visual, aural, and temporal language.
2. To foster the development of a personal aesthetic.
3. To enable students to explore and articulate the connections between digital art processes and more traditional art practices.
4. To explore historical and theoretical aspects of electronic and digital art and integrate that with their interests and creative production.
5. To provide introductory experience with creative coding for artistic creation.
6. To promote and support collaborative working pratices.

For more information see the class blog and the course syllabus.

Fall 2009

I will be representing the Experimental and Media Arts area of the department of art in the GARC committee for the next two academic years.

Primary agenda items to which I will be contributing are:
-space reconfiguration in Regis: working with Marc Knierim and area representatives to identify and reconfigure under-used spaces in Regis. the focus is to create spaces for cross-area collaboration for the graduate students
-coordination of materials for the new art department web-site.
-coordination of EMA incoming graduate student applications

Fall 2009: Development of the new Art Department website is underway. As chair of this departmental committee, I am acting as the main organizer and communications agent between the department, CLA-OIT and the CLA Web Team. All coordination of the department's efforts are organized through this website. First draft of text revisions will be gathered by 12/9/09; in the mean-time, I will be working with area heads and staff members to get all necessary content components in place for the CLA Web Team. For more information about tasks and time-line refer to the above website.