Explore the boundless potential of digital and electronic media to generate new modes of expression that transcend conventional norms. Our curriculum empowers students to master off-the-shelf software while also integrating novel techniques revealed through studio experimentation, delivering innovation equally prescient in the fine art or commercial sector.
The MFA in Interactive Arts cultivates the exploration of the critical issues of our growing digital cultures — through participation in physical installations, interactive objects, machine learning / AI, augmented and virtual reality simulations and networked-based applications. Self-discovery, societal transformation, and critical reflection are recurrent themes in the MFA studios.
The MFA Interactive Arts degree is a two-year, 60-credit program for prospective students, with a creative arts/design background. While this degree focuses on artistry with cutting-edge technology, varying levels of incoming technical knowledge is accommodated.
The Department of Digital Arts prepares and develops innovative artists through rigorous immersion in a diverse culture of excellence. Students pursue self-directed, multidisciplinary projects in state of the art facilities guided by a faculty of accomplished working artists in New York City. Our concentrations emphasize experimentation, refinement and professionalism.
What We Offer
Studies feature a thesis process, working closely with a committee and mentor, supplemented by one-on-one visits with national and international guest artists. Studio practices find numerous opportunities for collaboration and exhibiting artwork (on campus, throughout New York, and internationally) throughout their studies, and in culmination through a graduate exhibition in a New York City professional gallery space.
Physical Computing
This course provides the foundation for using electronics and micro-controllers as engines for interactive art. It covers the basic theory of electronics and introduces the Arduino hardware platform and programming language through robotics and physical computing applications. It prepares students to research and adopt emerging technologies as a means for artistic expression.
DDA-647
Interactive Media
This course introduces students to the principles of computer-based interactivity. Students combine two-dimensional imaging and graphics authoring as well as audio and visual technology for achieving interactivity from multiple source media. Interface design and scripting tools are covered.
DDA-622
Interactive Installations
In this studio course students explore the field of interactive installation art, producing and installing works for exhibition and critique in the DDA Gallery. The focus is on expanding students’ digital toolsets to manifest themselves in the physical space of a professional gallery. Additionally, students present and lead discussions on research related to their creative agenda, and learn effective practices for creating documentation of installed work.
DDA-648
Subverting Digital Media
Students learn to explore their creative and potentially non-conformist ideas within the context of digital media practices. Students engage in a self-directed practical as well as theoretical inquiry into digital media.
DDA-555
The Experience
The Interactive Arts MFA journey is grounded in the pursuit of mastering digital technologies, cultivating personal growth, and driving societal impact through fine art. A range of skills-focused courses interrogate the latest software, hardware, and other emerging technological systems, exploring their innovative applications in digital and physical environments. Through seminars, workshops, and a visiting artist series, students gain a comprehensive framework for sharing, debating, and evaluating the historical and contemporary advancements within the field.
New York City serves as the ideal catalyst for this experience. Through in-class and extracurricular excursions, students tap into our unique position at the vanguard of contemporary art practice.
Student Work
Take a look at examples of work by recent Digital Arts students, and imagine what you might be able to do!
Digital Arts Facilities
Students in the Interactive Arts MFA have excellent studios with access to several digital computing facilities that are outfitted with state of the art Apple and Windows computer stations. These computers are loaded with top of the line software including Maya, Houdini, TouchDesigner, MaxMSP, Nuke, ToonBoom, Adobe Suite, ProTools, and much more.
MFA students have access to shared Digital Arts facilities that include a green screen room, audio editing suite, a variety of 3D printers, laser cutter, ink-jet printers and a world-class surround-sound VR production/presentation suite. Further access to Pratt Institute facilities is also possible, including fine art workshops and a large photogrammetry volume.
Internships
The Department of Digital Arts and Animation offers an internship program tailored to digital artists. Throughout the academic year, students partake in internship opportunities at a variety of studios and companies in the metropolitan New York area, gaining skills and experience in areas covering animation, visual effects, motion graphics, game design, interaction design, fine arts, and publishing. The internship program places students on their career paths, providing experiences that aid in determining their educational and professional goals. Internships may be taken for college credit by both undergraduate and graduate students. While the Department has our own Internship Coordinator, students may also want to visit Pratt’s extensive network and dedicated staff that supports and facilitates Internships and Industry Connections.
Learning Resources
We develop disciplinary fluency in our program of study and we celebrate the interdisciplinary nature of design critical to address the plurality and complexity of the environments in which we operate. Learning resources
Our Faculty
Pratt’s distinguished faculty of outstanding creative professionals and scholars share a common desire to develop each student’s potential and creativity to the fullest. Bringing different views, methods, and perspectives they provide a rigorous educational model in which students make and learn.
Digital Arts graduates become leading contributors to the arts with a commitment to the cultural enrichment of society. After graduation, Pratt Alumni can be found featured in important publications, exhibiting in galleries and new media institutions and working in major creative industries.
Our alumni are leaders at top institutions including Apple Computer, Phillips Electronics, IBM Watson Research Labs, and MoMA and go on to exhibit at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMoMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the New Museum.
Join us at Pratt. Learn more about admissions requirements, plan your visit, talk to a counselor, and start your application. Take the next step.
You’ll find yourself at home at Pratt. Learn more about our residence halls, student organizations, athletics, gallery exhibitions, events, the amazing City of New York and our Brooklyn neighborhood communities. Check us out.
DDA Guest Lecture Series — Lita Albuquerque
April 10th, 2024
12.45 pm EST
Lita Albuquerque is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary artist and writer. She has developed a visual language that brings the realities of time and space to a human scale and is acclaimed for her ephemeral and permanent art works executed in the landscape and public sites.
She represented the United States at the Sixth International Cairo Biennale, where she was awarded the Biennale’s top prize. Albuquerque has also been the recipient of the National Science Foundation Artist Grant Program for the artwork Stellar Axis, which culminated in the first and largest ephemeral artwork created on that continent.
Recent major exhibitions include the 2018 Art Safiental Biennial, Switzerland, Desert X 2017, 20/20: Accelerando at USC Fisher Museum of Art, The Getty Museum’s Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival, Groundswell: Women of Land Art at Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, and Liquid Light presented at 59th La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale Arte 2022.
Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Trust, the Whitney Museum of American Art, LACMA and MOCA, among others.
https://www.litaalbuquerque.com/
DDA Guest Lecture Series — Melissa Ferrari
April 3rd, 2024
12.45 pm EST
Melissa Ferrari is a nonfiction filmmaker, experimental animator, magic lanternist and educator
who seeks to acquaint folklores of the past with contemporary culture. In exposing peripheral
histories, she aims to unveil the wonder that lies in the shadow of nonfiction, rather than fiction.
Her practice engages with intersections of science and the supernatural, the mythification of
pseudoscience, and the history of phantasmagoria and documentary.
Originally from Virginia, Melissa is now based in Los Angeles where she received an
Experimental Animation M.F.A. from CalArts. Her films and magic lantern performances have
been shown internationally in venues such as Hot Docs, Hauser & Wirth LA, Ottawa
International Animation Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and the Harvard History of Science
Dept. In 2022-2023, Melissa was an Artist in Residence at the Camera Obscura Arts Lab in
Santa Monica, CA and the Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics in Fort Bragg, CA.
Recent awards include the 2023 Dick Balzer Award, the 2022 Damer E. Waddington Red
Cabbage Award, and the 2020 Science Sandbox Symbiosis Award at the Imagine Science Film
Festival.
Melissa teaches animation courses and workshops, specializing in nonfiction and experimental
animation, as well as expanded cinema. Previously, she was a lecturer at CalArts, Whittier
College, Queens College, Cal State LA, and LACHSA. Melissa’s research focuses on the ethics
and research methodologies of animated nonfiction. She presented her research on animated
documentary at the Ecstatic Truth Symposium in Lisbon and several Society for Animation
Studies conferences.
Melissa’s commissioned documentary animation work has appeared on PBS, the BBC, CNN &
the Oscar Shortlist. Previously, Melissa worked as an animation artist at Dusty Studio in New
York City, where her work was featured in The New York Times Op-Docs, The MoMA,
Nautilus, & TED.
www.melissaferrari.com
Art + Tech Open Studios Event
DDA Myrtle Hall Thurs March 21, 12-3 pm
12:00 Exhibition opening in DDA Gallery 4th Floor
12:30 Pizza in 4E-03! Studios open
1:00-1:30 Artist Talks (Lightning Round) 5th Floor
3:00 Event ends
DDA Guest Lectures Series — Carrie Sijia Wang
March 20th, 2024
12.45 pm EST
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Carrie Sijia Wang is an artist and educator based in New York. Combining art, technology, and research, she makes performances, videos, and participatory experiences to explore the humanization of machines and the mechanization of humans.
Wang is an inaugural Working Artist Fellow at Pioneer Works, 2023 More Art fellow, Year 8 member of NEW INC, and 2020 Mozilla Creative Media Award recipient. She has shown and presented work with venues including Rhizome, New Museum, Onassis Foundation, ACM SIGGRAPH, and A.I.R. Gallery. Her work has been featured in publications including the Business Insider, Slate, and Computerworld.
https://carriesijiawang.com/
DDA Guest Lectures Series — Chris Klimas
February 28th, 2024
12.45 pm EST
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Baltimore-based web developer, game designer, and writer that finds the intersection of words and interactivity irresistible.
Chris Klimas created Twine, the extremely popular and accessible interactive fiction development platform. He’s also involved with the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation, as well as Unmapped Path, a company that builds narrative experiences for mobile and desktop.
Twine emphasizes the visual structure of hypertext, and does not require knowledge of a programming language as many other game development tools do. It is regarded as a tool which can be used by anyone interested in interactive fiction and experimental games.
https://chrisklimas.com/
DDA Guest Lecture Series Spring 2024
Pratt Institute‘s Department of Digital Arts will present lectures by five guests as part of its spring 2024 Guest Lecture Series. All events are free and open to the public. Please RSVP.
All lectures start at 12.45pm EST and take place at the DDA Lecture Room, 4E-3 Myrtle Hall ( 4th floor )
Resist the Algorithm
BLAKE MARQUES CARRINGTON and BAHAREH KHOSHOOEE in Conversation
February 27 12pm - 1:30pm
Student Union
Please join us on Tuesday February 27 at 12pm for a conversation.
Exploring how to RESIST THE ALGORITHM across practices and disciplines.
Interactive Arts (Art & Technology)
Crossing
by Claudia Tait
DDA Gallery, 4th floor, Myrtle Hall
Show dates: February 5th - 16th 2024
An exhibition of new works produced by Digital Arts Professor Claudia Tait of animation.
