Hey Natalia, I just got my acceptance to Cooper Union and will be there this fall as a freshmen. I'm really excited about it and am so ready to do photography there (along with the other foundation courses). But I was just wondering if you could give me an insiders view of what I can expect next year or any good advice;) I'm assuming from your profile your a photographer...but if I'm wrong I'd love to know what your interests at Cooper Union are too. thanks! Antonia
Photography isn't really a foundation course, it's a class you can take soph, junior, and senior years. :-\ (I wish it was though, I was it was!) There are four sections of the first year--it's to get everyone to be basically at the same level, so they separate the kids into sections where their work/style/method/etc. are similar.
Here are the classes that are in Foundation year:
Color: Fall term. It's basically color theory. We learn how colors interact with each other, and a lot of it is painting.
Basic Drawing: All year. Self explanatory. :-p
2DD: All year. 2-dimensional design; some sections are more graphics oriented, some are more conceptual.
3DD: All year. 3-dimensional design; it's like a sculpture class.
4DD: Spring term. 4-dimensional design; it's a very time-oriented class--we do most of our pieces with regards to time and paying attention to it, etc.
Foundation Project: Spring term. "A course that brings together all Foundation year students around a series of presentations that introduce various artistic practices, critical languages, and criticism. The course intends to present contrasting historical and contemporary models of creating, seeing, speaking and thinking about art." (taken from cooper.edu).
HSS1/2: All year. It's the humanities class (it's like English class, but not like English class in that you have English curriculum stuff). It's very analytical of texts and art and such things. Also, this is the only class where you'll have mixed students: engs, archs, and arts.
Art History: All year. Self explanatory. Except this year they did it from "Modern to Contemporary" instead of starting from ancient times, so it's from Jacques-Louis David (pre-French Rev) to today.
Intro to Techniques: All year. Introduction to all the metal, wood, plaster, and computer shops. If you fail this course, you aren't allowed to use the metal and wood shops.
I hope that explains everything...!
And yes, I am a photographer for the most part, but I do enjoy doing a lot of things. Actually, 3DD is super interesting and I'm really getting into sculpture, and 2DD is super conceptual for my section, which I'm really enjoying. We just started 4DD, but it looks very promising. :-)
