Description

This course examines the impact of new technologies on the aesthetics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Issues explored in the course include the structure of synthetic pictorial spaces, creating art in a global scale, responding to images of pure light, the aesthetics of motion, behavior in virtual environments and the experience of interactive artworks. In some cases the emphasis is on a particular new medium and the multiple artistic approaches to it; in other cases, the emphasis is on particular artists and their experimental work. Main lecture topics include: Moholy-Nagy's work, early radio and the impact of auditory images, kinetic art, robotic art, telecommunication art, computer art, digital photography, virtual reality, telepresence, holographic art, and bio art Readings include texts by featured artists and historians including Dieter Daniels, Rudolf Frieling, Philip Auslander, as well as original texts by the instructor. Course work will include weekly reading assignments, in-class discussions, a midterm research proposal, a 15-page research paper, and a final presentation. 

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT:

Every week (starting with the second week), any time before class, you’ll send to the instructor (E. Kac) and the TA (Rose Ansari), via email, three comments or questions about the course material (texts, websites and/or videos). These comments or questions are meant to stimulate class discussion — so be prepared to read them out loud in class.

Introduction

Week 1: September 05

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

The Electromagnetic Landscape

Week 2: September 12

Radio Art and the Disembodied Voic

Week 3: September 19

Moholy-Nagy: From the Telephone Pictures to the Light-Space Modulator

Week 4: September 26        

Kinetic Art: From Representation to Actual Motion

Week 5: October 03

Five Kinetic Artists: Fischinger, Bute, Palatnik, Tinguely and Liliane Lijn

 The New Image: Electronic and Digital

 Week 6: October 10

Television and Video: Art and Mass Media

Week 7: October 17

Computer Art: From Digital Graphics to Interactivity and VR 

Behavior, Awareness, and Interactivity

Week 8: October 24

Cyborg Performance: Technology and the Human Body

“Prosthetics, Robotics and Remote Existence: Postevolutionary Strategies,” Stelarc, Leonardo

Week 9: October 31

Art and Robotics: Behavioral Aesthetics

Week 10: November 07

Telecommunications, Web Art, and Telepresence: Global Scale in Real Time

Life as an Art Medium

Week 11: November 14

Bio Art

Student Presentations

Week 12: November 21

5 Student Presentations.

Week 13: November 28

5 Student Presentations.

Week 14: December 05 

Critique week – no class

--> DECEMBER 4–8: Critique Week

Week 15: December 12 (Our last day of class)

5 Student Presentations.

Research papers due.

SAIC Classes end: December 18

Learning Outcomes

Students will learn how artists employed a wide range of new technologies in their practice throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Students will be able to identify different strategies employed by artists in their use of new media and will understand how artists channeled these strategies in the production of specific works of art. A midterm Research Proposal, participation in class discussion, a final presentation, and the final Research Paper will evaluate students' grasp of the historical and conceptual issues relevant to this aim.

Students may vary in their learning; achieving course goals requires work on the students' part.

Class Schedule and Readings

The readings are included below in the form of links (webliography) and online Flaxman sources. Students are expected to read the assigned texts before class. Please note that the lecture plan and the reading list are subject to change without notice. Students are advised to monitor and refresh the Canvas Home page.

Class Participation

Please prepare three questions/comments for every class. Class participation is required. This means that students must ask questions, make comments and discuss the topics raised by both classmates and the instructor. Students may participate via video, voice and/or text.