3rd Annual Digital Salon

The third annual Digital Salon, an exhibition of new media projects by UW-Madison students, is taking place April 15-20, 2012. The exhibition showcases videos, animations, podcasts, games, graphic novels, websites, blogs, multimedia presentations, installations, and posters by undergraduate and graduate students. The projects demonstrate a range of disciplinary approaches, genres, media, and styles. Some projects are personal and reflective, and others are academic and research-based. The majority are created in courses from departments across campus while some projects were created independently.

The forty three items in this year’s Salon were selected by a curation committee of students, faculty, and staff. And, this year for the first time, the Curation Committee awarded prizes in order to recognize exceptional work from across campus. This year’s prize winners include:

· Best in Show: Topologic Biographies, a mixed-media installation by Paul Lorenz and Dominique Haller, graduate students in the Art Department

· Honorable Mention: Mapping the Qualitative Spaces of Dance, a graphic essay created by graduate student Sarah Bennett for the course Geographies of Dance

· Honorable Mention: Luke, a video created by undergraduate senior Leah Rae Rusu for an assignment in Curriculum 322: Art and Design in Teaching

Prize winners received certificates of recognition and gift cards to the University Book Store.

Jon McKenzie, Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of the Digital Humanities Initiative, says of the Digital Salon’s unifying themes, “The Digital Salon enables students to showcase digital media created for courses or other learning experiences, such as study abroad programs or even their own ‘let’s create something cool’ projects. While students consume lots of media, UW now offers them increasing opportunities to produce digital work and reflect on it in informed ways. Not only do they gain valuable skills in creating such projects—including multimedia argumentation, collaboration, project management, and media design—students share them publicly and come away with portfolio-quality work that can supplement their resumes after graduation: it’s work they’re proud to show family, friends, and potential employers.”

The majority of the Digital Salon is on display in College Library’s Open Book Cafe April 15-20, 2012. All the projects may be viewed in the online exhibition. The website also links to projects from previous Digital Salons, providing campus with an archive of students’ digital work, and individual students with a link to provide in their portfolios and resumes. In addition, some undergraduate projects are part of the Undergraduate Symposium and will be displayed Wednesday, April 18th at Union South. This year’s Digital Salon is part of “Ideas to Excellence,” a month-long initiative to display student work across campus.

The Digital Salon is sponsored by the UW–Madison Libraries and the Digital Humanities Initiative, with support from DesignLab.