The Relationship between Art and Technology

https://www(dot)moma(dot)org/calendar/exhibitions/5033?locale=en
TOPICS/AREAS OF FOCUS:Some of the key ideas of these artworks include the following. Use these as ways of thinking about and better understanding your selection and to anchor your final assignment.•REPRODUCIBILITY:As Walter Benjamin discussed, reproducible forms (photography, film) encourage us to rethink uniqueness since we create with the intention of making copies. However, not all copies are equal, and new aesthetics of the reproduced image or object have emerged as a result, especially in extreme forms. Reproducibility also gave rise to appropriation, remix, and sampling as a means of creating. It has become a language of its own but also can be a step toward something else.•IDENTITY:Photography (after the mirror!) changed the way we see ourselves andseeeach other, allowing us to hold our images in our hands and essentially create new realities from it. Moreover, beyond the photographic image, technologies help us experiment with our individual and collective identities: through them we express, shape, and create new identities.•THE PHYSICAL BODY/HUMAN-­‐MACHINE INTERFACE:We have worked on our human-­‐machine relationship for about a century. Today our “machines” are relatively small, lightweight, and
more powerful and integrated in our lives than ever before. Some artworks encourage and explore this idea —how we relate to machines/computers/technologies —through various means.•REMOTE AGENCY:With increased networked capabilities (the internet), we can experience agency remotely, which is to say we can change, affect, or be affected at increased distances. Telepresence technologies are obvious ways in which this is possible, but so are augmented realities, networked interactions, and VR, etc.•MACHINE UNDERSTANDING/TRANSLATION:As computers get more sophisticated in their ability to calculate, we rely on them to determine or show us many things that we couldn’t possibly or wouldn’t care to compute ourselves. As such, we are beginning to recognize a kind of machine logic and personalitybothemerge as they struggle to think, see, and sometimes feel like humans do. This ranges in approaches from programming a system to locate or detect something, to visual and language translation, to data visualization, etc. OUTLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:Use thefollowing outline to organize your submission. Presenters also will submit this outline in addition to giving their in-­‐class presentation on the due date.•PAPER TITLE•STATED TOPIC, PURPOSE, AND SOURCE MATERIAL:Here you will state what you plan to focus on (the artwork title, artist, date of creation) and what you plan to say about it and how. Example:Andy Warhol’s “Marilyn Diptych” (1962) uses reproducibility and extreme repetition as a core aesthetic to explore cult celebrityand offer social commentary on the oversaturation of reproduced imagery by echoingMonroe’s ubiquitous presence in the media months after she died. Using Harrison and Benjamin as frameworks, I will discuss how Warhol’s conceptual and technical approaches to this work makes him a true postmodern artist, and how he helped set the stage for increased informality, humor, and social commentary in artworks for years to come.•MAIN IDEAS ORGANIZED BY RELEVANCE OR SIGNIFICANCE:Next, you will offer more substance to your stated idea by getting to the heart of your critical analysis. What are the most salient aspects of the artist and artwork in question? In what ways are they related to the time period, particular movements, relationships to technologies, and other external factors that influence the creative process?The most effective approach is to describe the work in extraordinary detail, which will help you reveal certain aspects about the work and how it was created that might not be immediately obvious to you.Example:The first thing one notices when looking at “Marilyn Diptych” is the use of excessive repetition but also extreme organization, order, and design: 50 reproductions of the same image of Marilyn Monroe are situated in a grid comprised of two panels arranged side-­‐by-­‐side with 25 color reproductions on the left and 25 color reproductions on the right. The color images on the left refer to what is now a signature style of Warhol’s. In the same year he created “Campbell’s Soup Cans” in a very similar composition, a grid of 32 reproduced Campbell’s soup cans. This isn’t merely an aesthetic choice. It’s an observation of the ubiquity of imagery and mass reproduction. The use of Monroe’s overly reproduced image both reveres the movie star, but it also reduces her to an overly present image in the public sphere: as ubiquitous and mundane as Campbell’s soup. This is not a criticism of Marilyn Monroe, rather a reflection on the effects of mass reproducibility observed by Walter Benjamin. (Insert quote from Benjamin.) Additionally, the use of an everyday object and the appropriation of images from magazines,
films, and other popular and mass produced media, are values of postmodern art. (Insert quote from Harrison.)•SUPPORT FOR YOUR MAIN IDEAS:Offer examples of what you mean by your main points by critically analyzing/describing the work and what the artist is doing or trying to do. Think about the context of the work and how that informs these choices. Use your source materials (readings) to help frame and offer support for your observations. Example:Warhol is a study in extremes: his techniques and aesthetic sensibilities aim to push the boundaries of expectation and application, opting for excess over utility. With this in mind, he used appropriation as a creative basis, Warhol made silkscreen prints from a still image taken from the film “Niagara”, in which Monroe starred in 1953, and reproduced them in both color and black-­‐and-­‐white, arranging both panels into a diptych, which is a practice that began in Medieval times. The use of color is a contemporary choice, fitting of the film from which it came and the use of color more generally in the artworld. The use of black and white alludes to the reproduced images of newspapers and periodicals that were widely circulated both as promotional material for the film and following the actress’s death.•CONCLUSION:Restate the main points and some of the conclusive ways you’re thinking about the work. Keep this brief (about a paragraph) as it will just reiterate what you already outlined. •IMAGES OF ARTWORK (IF APPLICABLE):If you have images you’d like to include, please provide them after the body of your text so they don’t interfere with the format and flow of your arguments. •BIBLIOGRAPHY: Include the readings and source materials you used for your analysis. You can use any citation style (so long as you include the title, author, and date of the work), but please avoid merely including a link to your source (that is not an appropriate citation).TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:PAPERS:6-­‐8 full pages (double-­‐spaced; 1-­‐inch margins; 12pt. font maximum); include title; images and bibliographydo not count toward 6-­‐8 page minimum.PRESENTATIONS:10-­‐15 minutes (maximum); any clips should not dominate your presentation; outline completed and submitted prior to presentation, no exceptions; delivery in class on May 1.Any late submissions will be automatically discounted by 20% of the grade you would have earned; no submissions will be considered after May 3: no exceptions.