Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368

What do computers eat? Teaching beginners to think criticallyabout technology and art

Tiffany Holmes*

Department of Art and Technology, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 112 S Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640, USA

Abstract

This paper presents new curriculum for an introductory course in art and technology. Here students compare the

software industry with fast food to investigate and critique patterns of consumption in our culture. Relevant readings,

assignments, and tutorials can be found online at http://www.tiffanyholmes.com/fundamentals.

r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Curriculum; New media; Culture jamming; Pedagogy

1. Introduction

Educators face a tremendous challenge in striking the

proper balance between technique, craft, and theoretical

knowledge in an introductory course in the media arts.

What kind of curriculum might orient a beginning class

to the complicated history and cultural significance of

both hardware and software while simultaneously

teaching enough technological skills to allow students

to create art works with substantive meaning and

content?

This paper presents an undergraduate course curricu-

lum developed in the Art and Technology Department

at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In

‘‘Fundamentals of Art With Technology’’, students

debate the similarities and differences between the fast

food industry and the software business to gain a critical

understanding of the forces that define patterns of

consumption in our culture. The following sections

discuss the motivation and structure behind the ‘‘Fun-

damentals’’ curriculum: pedagogical issues in digital

media, overview of the first class, summary of eight

instructional modules, detailed synopsis of links between

technical tutorials and theoretical discussion, responses

to the final project, and student evaluation of the course.

2. Pedagogical issues facing digital media instructors

For the last 6 years, I have been teaching introductory

and advanced classes in digital imaging and multimedia

authoring at art schools, first in Baltimore, then Ann

Arbor, and now Chicago. Of the two or three course

syllabi I prepare each fall, the most difficult by far is the

introductory class plan. At the School of the Art

Institute of Chicago, this course offering [1], called

‘‘Fundamentals of Art with Technology’’, orients

students to the ‘‘concepts of electronic media, percep-

tion, inter-media composition, emerging venues, and

other issues important to artists working with techno-

logically based media’’. Every August, I anguish over

which software packages to present to beginning

students. Then I debate the merits of Flash vs. Director

and HTML vs. Dreamweaver. I deliberate over read-

ings: technical or theoretical emphasis? Have beginning

students already read ‘‘Art in the Age of Mechanical

Reproduction’’ in their art history classes? The questions

are all too familiar to those faced with teaching a

foundations course in the area of art and technology

studies.

But the central question that challenges me each fall is

ultimately far more consequential: how to introduce

students successfully to the complicated history and

cultural significance of the computer while providing

enough technical instruction. The overall objective of

the introductory course is to educate and empower*Fax: +1-312-345-3565.

E-mail address: tholme@artic.edu (T. Holmes).

0097-8493/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/S0097-8493(03)00031-1

students to create meaningful art works using unfamiliar

and, in some cases, alienating tools.

Computers are both medium and message, and in this

duality lies the rub. No matter what the syllabus says,

students prefer to think of the introductory class as a

software-training seminar. Instructors perceive the class

to be a foundation on which to build critical thinking

and problem-solving skills. The conflict of interest in the

pedagogical focus inevitably produces unwanted friction

between the instructor and students. Yet establishing the

proper balance between technique, craft, and theoretical

knowledge in ‘‘Fundamentals’’ is critical to the depart-

ment as a whole, because the atmosphere creates a ripple

effect: the tone established in the beginning class often

carries through to the upper level courses in the

department.

In the fall of 2001, I had my most harmonious

semester ever. Students came to class informed and

enthusiastic about the assigned reading. They arrived

early to find out which new software package was to be

placed under critical scrutiny, and they seemed eager to

discuss the theoretical material and dive into hands-on

technical tutorials. The secret to the new rapport? Fast

food.

The key to creating class community and sustained

interest in topics not pertaining to software manipula-

tion is to develop a curriculum based around a

controversial subject. I choose fast food and the culture

of consumption. Through readings and discussion, we

examine the cultural construction of a familiar entity—

the fast food industry—then compare this history to that

of the software business. The course still involves a

technical introduction to digital imaging via PhotoShop,

animation via GifBuilder and Director, digital video via

I-movie, and web authoring via HTML in BBEdit and

Dreamweaver. Yet the subject matter engaged in the

new course—fast food, a familiar though often criticized

element of western culture—provides a fascinating,

backdrop for our initial foray into art practices within

a computer laboratory.

3. First class meeting

The semester begins with a field trip to McDonalds.

Our guide leads us through a whole world of gadgets

designed to automate production of every menu item

from the multi-layered Big Mac to the flawlessly blended

McFlurry. Breathless with the excitement of a surprise

outing, students compare notes about newly computer-

ized cooking techniques—the sure-fire way to eliminate

unwanted nasties like salmonella, E. coli, and other

dangerous pathogens from the beloved burger. Back in

the classroom, students divide into groups to react to the

following general questions with the recent McDonalds

excursion in mind. What is the function of a menu? How

does packaging affect perception of menu items? What

strategies of production are employed by fast food

chains? What is brand loyalty and how is it created?

In the lively discussion following the brainstorming

session, the class generates a correlation between the

interfaces of the fast food industry and digital imaging

software. For example, we compare the ‘‘Best Value’’

grouping of popular meal choices to groupings that

software manufacturers use to establish default prefer-

ences, palette groupings, and unit settings. Products are

more desirable when fresh French fries become obsolete

almost as quickly as software versions today. Brand

name products seem preferable to lesser known ones:

most students admit that if choosing from among Adobe

PhotoShop, Adobe PageMaker, and CorelDraw to add

text to a photograph, they would select PhotoShop for

its acknowledged ‘‘brand name’’. Our laboratory activ-

ity for the first afternoon involves an investigation of the

Actions Palette in PhotoShop and methods to automate

the production of images in relation to one another.

After a demonstration of batch processing images for

the web, students noted further similarities to assembly-

line food production.

Assigned readings juxtapose the history of the fast

food industry with the history of Silicon Valley. In his

book, Fast Food Nation, journalist Eric Schlosser

dissects the carefully maintained body of the fast food

business and shows how the industry’s amazing success

has been achieved at astounding cost to the nation’s

health, environment, and culture [2]. The book chroni-

cles the events giving rise to the fast food restaurant,

beginning in 1948 when Richard and Maurice McDo-

nald invent the Speedee Service System, introducing

assembly-line efficiency into a commercial kitchen. In

Chapter One, Schlosser describes the industry’s pio-

neers—self-made entrepreneurs who pursued the Amer-

ican dream with old-fashioned ingenuity and a strong

work ethic. Among these was Ray Kroc, who buys out

the McDonald brothers and becomes the driving force

behind the hamburger empire that is now the world’s

most recognizable brand name. Students found this

journalist’s text engaging, fact-packed, and straightfor-

ward.

A selection from The Silicon Boys by David Kaplan

complements the Schlosser reading [3]. Kaplan’s book

details the history of Silicon Valley since the 1930s, when

Stanford professor Frederick Terman encouraged David

Packard and Bill Hewlett to establish their own

company in a garage. While the greed and excesses of

venture capitalists prove distracting in later chapters, the

initial ones provide an exciting account of the events

that precede the invention of the first personal computer

and graphical user interface.

Screenings of artist works from the Adbusters web site

[4] and a class exercise—creatively parodying a fast food

restaurant’s web site—occupies the final hour of the first

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368362

class. The food spoofs proved popular, especially the

‘‘Big Mac Attack’’ that featured a McDonalds ‘‘M’’ logo

on a hospital patient’s heart monitor [5]. For their studio

homework, students create a parody of an existing print

or online advertisement; the sample ad spoof shown to

students is pictured in Fig. 1.

3.1. Eight instructional modules: curricular overview

From a technical perspective, ‘‘Fundamentals of Art

With Technology’’ orients students to the basics of

image manipulation, motion graphics, digital video and

web authoring. The technical modules are taught over

the course of eight classes. The online syllabus for the

course, affectionately titled ‘‘Deep Fried Software’’,

shows links and downloadable tutorials for the first day

of class, then Class 1, Class 2, etc. Please refer to Table

1: ‘‘Course at a glance’’ for an overview of how the

different technical objectives are paired with studio

projects, assigned readings and discussion questions.

3.2. Summary of daily laboratory schedule

Like all Art Institute studio classes, ‘‘Fundamentals’’

convenes once a week for 6 h. Prior to each class

meeting, students read articles selected from different

subject areas—generally one article focused on fast food

and the other on the software industry or an artist’s

work. I require students to email me reading responses

prior to class—this procedure works remarkably well in

that I gauge individual performance while preparing

discussion questions based on students’ reactions to the

reading. Our daily schedule includes three morning

hours allotted for technical demonstrations and guided

practice with lab tools. Discussion of readings and peer

writing fill a 90-min block of the afternoon lab. Focus

questions encourage students to draw their own

comparisons between corporate ad campaigns designed

to capture and hold public taste: McDonalds and

Microsoft, Taco Bell and Macromedia, the Mongolian

Barbecue and Maya. Screenings of artist works from

artists’ web sites and collaborative or individual

exercises occupy the final hour [9].

3.3. Case study: problems with French fries and

WYSIWYG interfaces

To give scheduling specifics, the sixth class of the

semester challenges students to consider the myriad

choices that consumers face in a restaurant and on the

computer desktop. Students read and respond to

Schlosser’s chapter entitled ‘‘Why the Fries Taste So

Good’’ and Kalle Lasn’s ‘‘The New Activism’’ from his

book, Culture Jam. In class, they review part of Simon

Penny’s article, ‘‘Consumer Culture and the Technolo-

gical Imperative: The Artist in Dataspace’’. A media

artist and theorist, Penny warns readers to approach

seductive new technologies with a critical eye:

The design of GUI’s (graphical user interfaces), with

their free choice among a fixed range of choices, is a

mirror of the diner menu (ranch, thousand island,

blue cheese, oil and vinegar) or the supermarket

array. At the computer, as in the supermarket, one

submits to the interactive scenario and the limited

freedoms it offers: total freedom among a set of fixed

options. A postmodern capitalist paradise! [10].

Fig. 1. Ad spoof sample, Stephanie Rothenberg, 2002.

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368 363

Table 1

Course at a glance—‘‘Fundamentals: Deep Fried Software’’

Technical objectives Studio project Assigned reading Discussion questions

Class 1

Students will manipulate basic

PhotoShop tools and scan

images

Ad spoof ‘‘Introduction’’ and Chapter 1:

‘‘The Founding Fathers’’

in Fast Food Nation

What catalyzed the expansion of

fast food franchises?

What is culture jamming?

Is Schlosser a jammer?

Class 2

Students will use

intermediate-level

PhotoShop tools

Menu or package design Chapter 2: ‘‘Your Trusted

Friends’’ in Fast Food Nation

What is a menu?

‘‘Prophets’’ in Silicon Boys

by Kaplan ([3], pp. 79–108)

How are food menus similar to

PhotoShop menus?

‘‘In Japan, Make that Starbucks

to Go’’, New York Times,

July 9, 2002

How is fast food packaged? What

about software?

Are there similarities in the way

food and software are advertised?

Class 3

Students will gain

understanding of basic

animation skills in

GifBuilder and Director

Menu or package design

(preparing for color

output)

Chapter 3: ‘‘Behind the

Counter’’

in Fast Food Nation

Do motion graphics focus web

audiences on content?

How have web artists used

animation to create meaningful

work?

How is traffic controlled in a fast

food restaurant? How is motion

controlled in an animation

program?

Class 4

Students will edit and title a

digital video

Collaborative in-class

project: 1-min movies

Chapter 4: ‘‘Success’’ in

Fast Food Nation

Discussion reserved for midterm

critique of menu project

Class 5

Students will create a simple

HTML page with hand-coded

tags using BBEdit and upload

using Fetch

Online menu (can be food

or other content)

Chapter 5: ‘‘Why the Fries

Taste So Good’’, in Fast

Food Nation

What kind of online presence do

fast food companies have?

‘‘Revolutionary Impulse’’,

‘‘New Activism’’, and

‘‘Meme Wars’’ in Culture Jam

by Lasn [6]

What do corporate or ‘‘brand’’

web sites offer?

How do fast food sites compare to

sites that promote and advertise

software?

Class 6

Students will create simple

web pages using different tools:

BBEdit, Dreamweaver, and

Microsoft Word

Edit and change your

menu web site using

either Dreamweaver

or Word

‘‘Consumer Culture and the

Technological Imperative:

The Artist in Dataspace’’

by Penny [7]

Which software application do you

prefer for web authoring?

What is a WYSIWYG interface

and why is this acronym ironic?

Can artists’ projects have a

measurable effect on the global

economy?

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368364

In a class technically devoted to comparing laborious

HTML scripting to Dreamweaver’s point and click

interface, the Penny article provides an appropriate

backdrop for students who struggle all semester to

master the basics of software like BBEdit and Dream-

weaver as well as PhotoShop and Director. Penny’s

description of a condition called ‘‘technofatigue’’ seems

particularly resonant with students. Throughout the

semester, I select readings that will expand our dialogue

during technical demonstrations beyond the basic

queries regarding drop-down menus and file sizes.

Penny’s essay is a must-read for all beginning students.

For this sixth class, I design technical demonstrations

and studio problems using Dreamweaver that enhance

our afternoon dialogue with the readings. In the

morning session, I first review how to create web links

using HTML code in BBEdit, then demonstrate how to

create links in Dreamweaver. I also explain by example

how to create a web page with links in Microsoft Word

using the ‘‘Save as HTML’’ option. As an in-class

exercise, students choose one software program to create

a page devoted to the ingredients of French fries with

multiple links to the manufacturers of each item. Many

students create text-based animations for the assignment

(Fig. 2).

In the discussion after lunch, we compare Penny’s

perception of the limited freedom allotted to each

software applications’ GUI with the factors that affect

the flavor of French fries. According to Schlosser, the

taste of a French fry depends exclusively on the oil:

For decades McDonald’s cooked its French fries in a

mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93

percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their

unique flavor—and more saturated beef fat per ounce

than a McDonald’s hamburger [2], p. 120.

Our conversation leads to the hazards of consuming

processed foods with hidden health risks or prepackaged

meals with ‘‘secret recipes’’ like Colonel Sanders’ fried

chicken. We noted big-name manufacturers’ tendency to

hide crucial details about food products in small print

on packaging. For example, Subway’s fat-free turkey

sub must be made without dressing and without cheese

to fulfill its healthy promise. Students compare the

omissions inherent in ingredient lists boasting nonspe-

cific ‘‘natural flavors’’ with Microsoft’s overly casual

warning to the user that all margin and font settings

would be changed during the conversion of a Word

document to a web page. What you see is not necessarily

what you get in a browser window or in a fast food

restaurant.

After the discussion, we examine the Adbusters web

site, the creation of a group of Canadian media artists

who take an activist approach to cultural critique. The

following quotation comes directly from their online

mission statement:

ADBUSTERS is dedicated to reinventing the out-

dated paradigms of our consumer culture and

building a brave new understanding of living. We

relish all truly political materials, whether they are

scholarly probes into the decline of civilization,

environmental forays into the forests, sci-fi carpet

rides into cyberspace or humorous spoofs about

commercial culture. More than anything, we seek

compelling ideas that further the critical perspective

and offer activist solutions. Our language is culture

jamming: the new activism [11].

Table 1 (continued)

Technical objectives Studio project Assigned reading Discussion questions

Class 7

Students will manipulate

HTML tables and embed

media using Dreamweaver

Zine site that parodies,

educates, or politicizes

content related to

processes of consumption

‘‘Brand Bombing: Franchises

in the Age of the Superbrand’’

in No Logo by Klein [8]

How is Naomi Klein’s take on

food different from Schlosser’s?

What is a super-brand, according

to Klein?

Class 8

Students will learn

troubleshooting techniques

and examine cross

platform differences in

web design

Zine site that parodies,

educates, or politicizes

content related to

processes of consumption

Identify a URL that is an

interesting web zine

What is a web zine?

How is information organized on

web zine sites?

What advertising techniques are

employed to draw you into a zine?

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368 365

Our discussion concludes with a debate about

the possible outcomes of culture jamming campaigns

such as Adbusters’ Buy Nothing Day. Can artists’

projects have a measurable effect on the global

economy? Most students felt comfortable arguing either

side of this issue.

3.4. Final project: online zines

As a final project, students create a web site that

parodies or politicizes some aspect of the fast food

business or another corporate entity. The table of

contents for the selection of web zines links to the main

class site [12]. Weary of the topic of fast food at this

point, several students made work about false advertis-

ing or cultural stereotyping in other industries—retail

clothing, hip hop music, and ethnic cuisine (Fig. 3).

Thus, the table of contents features web zines on

everything from Betsy Waddell’s parodic ‘‘Ronald

McDonald’s School for the Gifted’’ to Chris Zappe’s

fictitious corporation that markets wearable electrical

sockets (Fig. 4).

Fig. 2. Animation of French fry ingredients, Jeff Mitchell, 2001.

Fig. 3. Personalized food portal, May Wang, 2001.

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368366

3.5. Student evaluation of ‘‘fundamentals’’

In general, students are responding positively to the

new curricular initiative although no one who ate fast

food prior to the class stopped eating French fries. Final

written evaluations indicate that the majority of students

perceive the studio assignments, readings, and discus-

sions as relevant and meaningful to the course. Two

students continue to make artwork about patterns of

consumption in our culture in advanced-level classes in

the Art and Technology Department. For example, I am

working with a student in my ‘‘Interactive Multimedia’’

course who is designing a breakout game designed to

confound the user’s food preferences that were estab-

lished previously in an online survey (Fig. 5).

Most students indicate a desire on their evaluations to

learn more in-depth skills to manipulate and control

software. This outcome is very positive, the course was

designed to entice a diverse group of students to focus

their BFA study in our department. However, some

students are discouraged that the class touched on

several software applications instead of just one in

depth. This kind of complaint seems to be common

among students who hope to begin lucrative careers in

web and multimedia design after graduation. Yet

advanced software instruction can be easily accom-

plished with a manual or an online tutorial. From my

standpoint, the critical ingredients of success in the class

are first, the lively discussions provoked by the readings

and screenings of artists’ work, and second, the

tumultuous critiques during which we debated

the conceptual validity of each student’s class projects:

the ad spoof, menu design, and web zine.

4. Conclusion

While some reading selections and study assignments

will change, I plan to teach the Fundamentals class using

the theme of fast food to spark interest and generate

meaningful critique of the software industry and its

products. Admittedly, the business of fast food is an

Fig. 4. Zap Tech, invented corporation, Chris Zappe, 2002.

Fig. 5. Game animation still, Lidia Wachowska, 2002.

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368 367

arbitrary choice—interchangeable in some ways with

other industries dependent on public taste and conve-

nience. The comparison might not work as well in a

different context. In downtown Chicago, we are all but

surrounded by the competing logos and combo deals

offered by the restaurant chains desperate to lure us to

lunch. The Big Mac will remain a favorite subject of

mine to begin an important dialogue with aspiring

media artists—the tools we use in the classroom come

prepackaged with all of the convenience, freshness and

flavor that we demand from our burgers. How possibly,

can we make art with software before we have some

understanding of forces that generated that software’s

popularity? That question can feed a class for a year.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Art and Technology faculty at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago for supporting

this curricular initiative.

References

[1] Holmes T. ARTTECH 2101: fundamentals of art with

technology: deep fried software: http://www.tiffanyhol-

mes.com/fundamentals. New York: ACM Siggraph, 2002,

p. 30–32 (a short version of this paper was published in

Siggraph 2002 Conference Abstracts and Applications).

[2] Schlosser E. Fast food nation. New York: Houghton

Mifflin Company, 2001.

[3] Kaplan DA. The silicon boys and their valley of dreams.

New York: Perennial Harper Collins, 2000.

[4] Lasn K, editor. Adbusters zine. Adbusters Media Founda-

tion, http://adbusters.org

[5] http://adbusters.org/creativeresistance/spoofads/food/bigmac/

[6] Lasn K. Culture jam: how to reverse America’s suicidal

consumer binge-and why we must. New York: Harper

Collins, 1999. p. 99–136.

[7] Penny S. Consumer culture and the technological im-

perative: the artist in dataspace. In: Critical Issues in

Electronic Media. Albany, NY: State University of New

York Press, 1995.

[8] Klein N. No logo: taking aim at the brand bullies. New

York: Picador USA, 1999. p. 129–41.

[9] Check the syllabus for links to artists’ works relevant to

the course. Sample: http://www.tiffanyholmes.com/funda-

mentals/docs/class3.html

[10] Penny S. http://www-art.cfa.cmu.edu/penny/texts/Artist

in D’space.html

[11] Adbusters mission statement: http://www.adbusters.org/

information/network/

[12] Class zines 2002: http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/art-

tech2102/classzines

Tiffany Holmes is a multimedia artist whose practice

blends traditional materials and new media in large-scale

interactive installations. Her work explores the relation-

ship between digital technology and culture with an

emphasis on technologies of seeing. Her recent work

explores the movement of both human and animal

bodies and the visual languages from different dis-

ciplines used to capture that movement. She exhibits and

lectures in international and national venues, including

the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the

Interaction ’01 biennial in Japan, ISEA, SIGGRAPH

2000, World@rt in Denmark, Digital Salon ’99 in New

York and Madrid, and the Viper media festival in

Switzerland.

With a diverse academic background in painting,

animation, and biology, Holmes situates her work at

the intersection between artistic, biomedical, and linguis-

tic modes of bodily representation. To promote her

interdisciplinary artistic practice, the Society of Fellows at

the University of Michigan awarded Holmes a prestigious

3-year fellowship. With a BA in art history fromWilliams

College, Holmes received an MFA in painting from the

Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in digital

arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

She is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and

Technology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

where she teaches courses in interactivity and the history

and theory of electronic media.

T. Holmes / Computers & Graphics 27 (2003) 361–368368