Art, Technology, Culture 3

This course provides a reading of discourses, artistic and non-artistic practices that looks at technology as culture and the impact of technology in society. This course focuses on aesthetics that are widely described by the term “post-digital.” The term implies that the digital revolution has become a rather trivial matter of fact and the digital has turned into the main condition of everyday life. The course turns to artistic and cultural practices as critical tools for analyzing current technological developments and their influence on art, society and politics. It considers the role of artists as critical thinkers, designers and makers. It may involve the role of networks and collective practices, live and mediated encounters, digital disobedience, smart citizens, prosthetic devices, human/machine interfaces, feminist and queer science fiction, affective networks, online persona, self tracking and quantification, vision machines, writing machines, artificial intelligence, surveillance, robotics, big data and digital archives, virtual sexuality and porn.

During this module, students should acquire specific knowledge in the history of art and technology, aesthetic theories within the field of art and technology, central works of selected art periods and genres and current digital cultural practices. Students develop skills in applying concepts and analytical methods, as a framework for reflection and inspiration within their artistic practice.
The course's construction develops a methodology, formulated in the proposition of contemporary theory, artworks, and artifacts of visual culture, through which students may reflect on and articulate the significance of art to media and digital culture.

In the teaching forms of lectures, workshops, and seminars, the course exposes students to relevant theories and practices of the intermediary aspects of artistic creativity, technological knowledge, and related art theory. Participants may work in any medium, format or discipline to course activities.

The course will take into account the conceptualization and design of research and art projects and enter a closer reading and analysis of exemplary studies, through texts, artworks, films and field trips. The course will continuously monitor and follow up on developments of upcoming technologies and will try to find an angle on how all of this is likely to influence the future of art productions.