Artmedia
Encyclopedia
Artmedia, Seminar and Laboratory of the Aesthetics of Media and Communication, was one of the first scientific projects concerning the relationship between art, technology, philosophy and aesthetics
. It was founded in 1985 at the University of Salerno
. For over two decades, until 2009, dozens of projects, studies, exhibitions and conferences on new technologies made Artmedia a reference point for many internationally renowned scholars and artists, and contributed to the growing cultural interest in the aesthetics of media
, the aesthetics of networks
, and their ethical and anthropological
implications.
at the University of Salerno. The basic principles of the aesthetics of technological communication were identified and conceptualized in 1983. A conference on "Technological Imaginary", held in 1984 at the Museo del Sannio in Benevento
, discussed the issue of the new relationship between art and technology and the consequent need to re-evaluate aesthetics, warning that "all our future existence will be played at the crossroads between technology and imaginary".
The comprehensive relationship between art and technoscience
, technology, and philosophy has also been the theoretical subject of the ten international "Artmedia" conferences which were held in Salerno and Paris between 1985 and 2008. Particularly relevant were conferences held in Paris between 2002 and 2008, which took place at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France
(BNF) and the Institut National d'Histoire de l 'Art (INHA), with the partnership of the Société Française d'Esthétique, the Université du Québec à Montréal
, the University of Toronto
, the Universidade de São Paulo, the Université de Paris 1 Sorbonne, and the U.S. magazine Leonardo
.
Theorists who worked with Artmedia and participated in its activities included Bernard Stiegler
, René Berger
, Abraham Moles
, Derrick De Kerckhove
, Pierre Levy
, Gillo Dorfles, Paul Virilio
, Frank Popper
, Roger Malina, Daniel Charles, José Jiménez
, Anne Cauquelin, Edgar Morin
, Thierry de Duve
, Catherine Millet
, Filiberto Menna, Andreas Broeckmann, Rudolf zur Lippe, Edmond Couchot
, Dominique Chateau, Yannick Geffroy, Philippe Queau, Arlindo Machado, Tetsuo Kogawa, and Bernard Teyssedre.
Artists included Fred Forest
, Roy Ascott
, Takahiko Iimura, Maurizio Bolognini
, Tom Klinkowstein, Tom Sherman
, Eduardo Kac
, Enzo Minarelli, James Dashow, Peter D'Agostino
, Mit Mitropoulos, Shawn Brixey
, Bruno Di Bello, Antoni Muntadas
, Orlan
, Kit Galloway, David Rokeby
, Miguel Chevalier, Norman White
, Richard Kriesche, and Casey Reas.
The questions raised in various projects promoted by Artmedia, in a continuous dialogue between artists and theorists, led to discussions on topics including Aesthetics of Communication and the anthropology of the future (1985), Global aesthetic communication (1986), Electronic performativity and the art system (1990), Neo-technological arts between aesthetics and communication (1992), Aesthetic research and technology (1995), Developments in aesthetics: change or mutation? (1999), From the Aesthetics of Communication to Net art (2002), and Ethics, aesthetics and techno-communication. The future of meaning (2008).
All Artmedia symposiums have been followed by many publications. For the two held in Paris, a complete video recording is also available, and can be viewed at the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel
.
An assessment of 25 years of Artmedia activity was made into a seminar on The aesthetic object of the future, held at the University of Salerno in 2009. The Artmedia project produced a large number of publications and documents that are being catalogued, with a view to their proper placement and use.
Artmedia II (1986)
Artmedia III (1990)
Artmedia IV (1992)
Artmedia V (1995)
Artmedia VI (1997)
Artmedia VII (1999)
Artmedia VIII (2002)
Artmedia IX (2005)
Artmedia X (2008)
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
. It was founded in 1985 at the University of Salerno
University of Salerno
The University of Salerno is a university located in Salerno, Italy. It is organized in 10 Faculties.-History:Salerno, a city in which, as Michelet said, “emperors, kings, popes, and the richest barons all had their own doctor”, developed during the Middle Ages around its prestigious School of...
. For over two decades, until 2009, dozens of projects, studies, exhibitions and conferences on new technologies made Artmedia a reference point for many internationally renowned scholars and artists, and contributed to the growing cultural interest in the aesthetics of media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
, the aesthetics of networks
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
, and their ethical and anthropological
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
implications.
Beginnings and international events
Since the late 1970s, a permanent Seminar of the Aesthetics of Media and Communication has been directed by its founder Mario CostaMario Costa (philosopher)
Mario Costa is an Italian philosopher. He is known for his studies of the consequences of new technology in art and aesthetics, which introduced a new theoretical perspective through concepts such as the "communication aesthetics", the "technological sublime", the "communication block", and the...
at the University of Salerno. The basic principles of the aesthetics of technological communication were identified and conceptualized in 1983. A conference on "Technological Imaginary", held in 1984 at the Museo del Sannio in Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
, discussed the issue of the new relationship between art and technology and the consequent need to re-evaluate aesthetics, warning that "all our future existence will be played at the crossroads between technology and imaginary".
The comprehensive relationship between art and technoscience
Technoscience
Technoscience is a concept widely used in the interdisciplinary community of science and technology studies to designate the technological and social context of science...
, technology, and philosophy has also been the theoretical subject of the ten international "Artmedia" conferences which were held in Salerno and Paris between 1985 and 2008. Particularly relevant were conferences held in Paris between 2002 and 2008, which took place at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
(BNF) and the Institut National d'Histoire de l 'Art (INHA), with the partnership of the Société Française d'Esthétique, the Université du Québec à Montréal
Université du Québec à Montréal
The Université du Québec à Montréal is one of four universities in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Basic facts:The UQAM is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québec , a public university system with other branches in Gatineau , Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec City, Chicoutimi, and...
, the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, the Universidade de São Paulo, the Université de Paris 1 Sorbonne, and the U.S. magazine Leonardo
Leonardo (journal)
Leonardo is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the MIT Press covering the application of contemporary science and technology to the arts and music.- History :...
.
Continuous debate between artists and theorists
Artmedia wanted to gather theorists and artists from all over the world and encourage both joint and complementary work, beginning with the need to give attention to theoretical and artistic practices and developing both together. These also contributed towards spreading the spirit of the project, both in a number of festivals and shows, and through their own artworks and research.Theorists who worked with Artmedia and participated in its activities included Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
, René Berger
René Berger
René Berger was a Swiss writer, philosopher and a historian of art.- Titles :"Docteur ès lettres" of the University of Paris...
, Abraham Moles
Abraham Moles
Abraham Moles was an engineer of electrical engineering and acoustics, and a doctor of physics and philosophy. He was one of the first researchers to establish and analyze links between aesthetics and information theory....
, Derrick De Kerckhove
Derrick de Kerckhove
Derrick de Kerckhove is the author of The Skin of Culture and Connected Intelligence and Professor in the Department of French at the University of Toronto, Canada...
, Pierre Levy
Pierre Levy
Pierre Lévy is a French media scholar, most notable for the "collective intelligence" concept he introduced in a 1994 book, Levy's theory of knowledge spaces and the cosmopedia foreshadowed the emergence of Wikipedia, anticipates wikinomics, and the efficacy of shared distributed knowledge...
, Gillo Dorfles, Paul Virilio
Paul Virilio
Paul Virilio is a cultural theorist and urbanist. He is best known for his writings about technology as it has developed in relation to speed and power, with diverse references to architecture, the arts, the city and the military....
, Frank Popper
Frank Popper
Frank Popper is a historian of art and technology and Professor Emeritus of Aesthetics and the Science of Art at the University of Paris VIII. He has been decorated with the medal of the Légion d'honneur by the French Government...
, Roger Malina, Daniel Charles, José Jiménez
José Jiménez
José Jiménez Fernández , commonly known as Joselito, was a child star in Spain during the 1950s and 1960s.Joselito was born in Beas de Segura, Jaén, northeast Andalucia in Spain...
, Anne Cauquelin, Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin is a French philosopher and sociologist born Edgar Nahoum in Paris on July 8, 1921. He is of Judeo-Spanish origin. He is known for the transdisciplinarity of his works.- Biography :...
, Thierry de Duve
Thierry de Duve
Thierry de Duve is a Belgian professor of modern art theory and contemporary art theory, and both actively teaches and publishes books in the field...
, Catherine Millet
Catherine Millet
Catherine Millet is a French writer, art critic, curator, and founder and editor of the magazine Art Press, which focuses on modern art and contemporary art....
, Filiberto Menna, Andreas Broeckmann, Rudolf zur Lippe, Edmond Couchot
Edmond Couchot
-Life and work:Couchot is a Doctor of aesthetics in the visual arts. From 1982-2000 he headed the department of Arts and Technologies of the Image at the University Paris VIII. He continues to take part in speculative and hands-on study of digital imagery and virtual reality at University Paris...
, Dominique Chateau, Yannick Geffroy, Philippe Queau, Arlindo Machado, Tetsuo Kogawa, and Bernard Teyssedre.
Artists included Fred Forest
Fred Forest
Fred Forest is a French new media artist making use of video, photography, the printed press, mail, radio, television, telephone, telematics, and the internet in a wide range of installations, performances, and public interventions that explore both the ramifications and potential of media space...
, Roy Ascott
Roy Ascott
Roy Ascott is a British artist and theorist, who works with cybernetics and telematics. He is President of the Planetary Collegium.- Biography :...
, Takahiko Iimura, Maurizio Bolognini
Maurizio Bolognini
Maurizio Bolognini is an Italian post-conceptual artist. His installations explore the potential and implications of new media technologies starting from the minimal and abstract activation of processes that are beyond artist's control, at the crossroads between generative art, public art and...
, Tom Klinkowstein, Tom Sherman
Tom Sherman
Thomas Joseph Sherman was an American football quarterback for the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals , Boston Patriots , and Buffalo Bills . In two seasons in the AFL, he played in 19 games and completed 92 of 228 passes for 1,219 Yards, 13 touchdowns and 16 interceptions...
, Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac is an American contemporary artist internationally recognized for his interactive net installations and his bio-art. Kac was born in 1962, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He lives and works in Chicago....
, Enzo Minarelli, James Dashow, Peter D'Agostino
Peter D'Agostino
Peter d'Agostino is an artist working in video and new media. He is a Professor in the Film and Media Arts Dept, and Director of the NewTechLab, Temple University, Philadelphia.-Life:...
, Mit Mitropoulos, Shawn Brixey
Shawn Brixey
Shawn Alan Brixey is Associate Professor of Digital Arts and Experimental Media, and the Floyd and Delores Jones Endowed Chair for Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle...
, Bruno Di Bello, Antoni Muntadas
Antoni Muntadas
Antoni Muntadas is a multidisciplinary, media artist, sometimes also referred to as Antonio Muntadas or, simply, Muntadas. Since 1971, he lives and works in New York. Muntadas was a Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT,1977–1984, and is currently Visiting Professor with...
, Orlan
Orlan
ORLAN is a French artist, born May 30, 1947 in Saint-Étienne, Loire. She lives and works in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. She was invited to be a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, for the 2006-2007 academic year...
, Kit Galloway, David Rokeby
David Rokeby
David Rokeby is an artist who has been making works of electronic, video and installation art since 1982.His early work Very Nervous System is acknowledged as a pioneering work of interactive art, translating physical gestures into real-time interactive sound environments...
, Miguel Chevalier, Norman White
Norman White
Norman White is a Texas-born Canadian New Media artist and pioneer of using electronics and robotics in art.-Life:White grew up in and around Boston, Massachusetts, and obtained his B.A. in Biology from Harvard University in 1959...
, Richard Kriesche, and Casey Reas.
The questions raised in various projects promoted by Artmedia, in a continuous dialogue between artists and theorists, led to discussions on topics including Aesthetics of Communication and the anthropology of the future (1985), Global aesthetic communication (1986), Electronic performativity and the art system (1990), Neo-technological arts between aesthetics and communication (1992), Aesthetic research and technology (1995), Developments in aesthetics: change or mutation? (1999), From the Aesthetics of Communication to Net art (2002), and Ethics, aesthetics and techno-communication. The future of meaning (2008).
All Artmedia symposiums have been followed by many publications. For the two held in Paris, a complete video recording is also available, and can be viewed at the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel
Institut national de l'audiovisuel
The Institut national de l'audiovisuel , is a repository of all French radio and television audiovisual archives. Additionally it provides customers with a free and immediate access to archives of countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia...
.
An assessment of 25 years of Artmedia activity was made into a seminar on The aesthetic object of the future, held at the University of Salerno in 2009. The Artmedia project produced a large number of publications and documents that are being catalogued, with a view to their proper placement and use.
Key areas of investigation
- Electronic musicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
- PhotochemicalPhotographic filmPhotographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...
versus digital photographyDigital photographyDigital photography is a form of photography that uses an array of light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film... - Aesthetics of radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
- ElectroacousticElectroacoustic musicElectroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
poetry - Electronic writing and poetryElectronic literatureElectronic literature is a literary genre consisting of works of literature that originate within digital environments.-Definitions:N. Katherine Hayles discusses the topic in the online article...
- Video artVideo artVideo art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
- Generative artGenerative artGenerative art refers to art that has been generated, composed, or constructed in an algorithmic manner through the use of systems defined by computer software algorithms, or similar mathematical or mechanical or randomised autonomous processes....
and software artSoftware artSoftware art refers to works of art where the creation of software, or concepts from software, play an important role; for example software applications which were created by artists and which were intended as artworks. As an artistic discipline software art has attained growing attention since the... - Computer artComputer artComputer art is any art in which computers play a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, videogame, web site, algorithm, performance or gallery installation...
- Aesthetics of networks
- Net art
- Aesthetics of virtualVirtual (computing)The word virtual has been applied to computing and information technology with various meanings.It is used of software systems that act as if they were hardware systems , of computer-generated simulations of reality , and of internet gaming environments wherein entire worlds are created or the...
- TeleroboticsTeleroboticsTelerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections , "tethered" connections, or the Internet...
and remote interactivityInteractivityIn the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:... - Aesthetics of (technological) flux versus aesthetics of form
Proceedings and Catalogs
Artmedia I (1985)- Mario Costa (ed.) (1985), Artmedia, Salerno: Opera Universitaria di Salerno (Catalog, pp. 206).
Artmedia II (1986)
- Mario Costa (ed.) (1986), Artmedia, II Convegno Internazionale di Estetica della comunicazione, Salerno: Università di Salerno (Catalog, pp. 80).
Artmedia III (1990)
- Mario Costa (ed.) (1990), Artmedia. Terzo Convegno Internazionale di Estetica dei Media e della Comunicazione. Catalogo, Salerno: Università degli Studi di Salerno (Catalog, pp. 80).
- Mario Costa (ed.) (1990), Artmedia. Terzo Convegno Internazionale di Estetica dei Media e della Comunicazione. Atti, Salerno: Università degli Studi di Salerno (Proceedings, pp. 96).
Artmedia IV (1992)
- Mario Costa (ed.) (1992), Nuovi media e sperimentazione d’artista, Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane (including Artmedia IV Proceedings, pp. 1-156).
Artmedia V (1995)
- Università degli Studi di Salerno, Comune di Salerno (1995), Quinto Convegno Internazionale di Estetica dei Media e della Comunicazione, Salerno (maquette).
Artmedia VI (1997)
- Università degli Studi di Salerno, Fondazione Filiberto Menna (1997), Artmedia VI, Salerno (maquette).
Artmedia VII (1999)
- Mario Costa (ed.) (1999), Artmedia VII, Settimo Convegno Internazionale di Estetica dei Media e della Comunicazione, Salerno: Università degli Studi di Salerno (Catalog, pp. 60).
Artmedia VIII (2002)
- Dossier Artmedia VIII, in "Ligeia", Paris, 2002, pp. 21-245 (CNRF journal, including Artmedia VIII Proceedings).
- Mario Costa (ed.) (2004), New Technologies: Roy Ascott, Maurizio Bolognini, Fred Forest, Richard Kriesche, Mit Mitropoulos, Salerno: Artmedia, Museo del Sannio (Catalog, pp. 64).
Artmedia IX (2005)
- Mario Costa (ed.) (2005), Phenomenology of New Tech Arts, Salerno: Università di Salerno (Catalog, pp. 56).
Artmedia X (2008)
- Mario Costa, Fred Forest (eds) (2011), Ethique, esthétique, communication technologique dans l'art contemporain ou le destin du sens, Paris: Institut National Audiovisuel, Editions L'Harmattan (including Artmedia X Proceedings).