MFA IN INTERMEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE

The MFA in Intermedia is not intended to be a traditional art degree even though it has a studio focus. We have chosen the term Intermedia to reflect our aim and intent – that is to work with, and study, creative processes and resulting works which fall conceptually between media that are already known/used as well as between traditional disciplines such as art and computer science. This sense of Intermedia (and by extension our intended program) is directly taken from the art theorist Dick Higgins who is primarily responsible for determining the contemporary use of this term. In 1966 Higgins wrote the following:

For the last ten years or so, artists have changed their media to suit this situation, to the point where the media have broken down in their traditional forms, and have become merely puristic points of reference. The idea has arisen, as if by spontaneous combustion throughout the entire world, that these points are arbitrary and only useful as critical tools, in saying that such-and-such a work is basically musical, but also poetry. This is the intermedial approach, to emphasize the dialectic between the media. A composer is a dead man unless he composes for all the media and for his world.
Published in:Wolf Vostell (ed.): Dé-coll/age (décollage) * 6, Typos Verlag, Frankfurt – Something Else Press, New York, July 1967

The three key factors in this are (for the program and the faculty involved):
1. Traditional media distinctions are only reference points not limits for current practice.
2. A key component in current studio practices are intellectual/critical tools, (what we call praxis in our program).
3. The necessity of new forms result from dialectic between media.

Located on the University of Maine Campus our brand new (opened April 2013) Innovative Media, Research and Commercialization Center (IMRC Center), at Stewart Commons, is a 15,000+ square foot facility provides comfortable, state of the art prototyping facilities, audio and video production spaces, a resource library, performance and installation spaces, classrooms, and offices. IMRC is outfitted with a variety of tools and equipment, including a full shop, 3D printers and 3D scanner, computer controlled machine tools, a cutting and engraving laser, plastic vacuum former, large format printers, a range of design and production software, electronics workbenches, video and still cameras, audio recording and mixing equipment, and a variety of tools for supporting interactive environments and installations, IMRC Center is a hub for learning, creating and producing. Supported by a range of expert instructors and a community of collaborators to help you problem-solve and achieve your vision, the IMRC Center has everything necessary for you to research, invent, create, and innovate! Please visit our facilities website here: http://www.imrccenter.com/