While the euphoric, dynamic forms of computational artist Marius Watz are probably quite familiar to CAN readers, the artist’s curatorial and educational undertakings should definitely not to be overlooked. As an extension of his practice, Marius consistently organizes prescient and formative exhibitions and workshops (see the upcoming Generator.x 3.0: From Code to Atoms) and often teaches within various design and architecture schools across Europe and North America. Marius just posted the above slideshow of an upcoming teaching exercise that he’ll be overseeing at the The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) and it is worth clicking through. Entitled “Screensaver Culture” the assignment is a critical reflection on the current potential of the screensaver given that the days of CRT monitor burn-in have long passed. In setting up the exercise, Marius provides a chronological lists of essential precedents including scrnsave (1983), After Dark (1989), SETI@home Classic (1999-2005) and reconsiders that lineage in light of contemporary computing (and data practice) trends to extrapolate a range of approaches that his students might employ. Check out Marius’ slide deck and assignment brief – it offers a surprisingly compelling retelling of an easily overlooked topic within the broader history of computer graphics.