57043 New Media Aesthetics

UTS: Communication
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Handbook description

This subject introduces students to contemporary concerns in new media aesthetics through presentation of works and readings. The main focus is multimedia but other hybrid works such as sound/performance/multimedia installation are also considered. Interface design, use of sound, and the ways that new forms are being and can be developed are addressed critically and theoretically. Students examine their own work (including in production) and other works to tease out why certain forms are being reproduced and what creative developments in new media aesthetics are possible.

Subject objectives/outcomes

This subject:

enables students to develop skills in critically engaging with and analysing new media works
introduces students to contemporary concerns in new media through presentation of new media works and readings
introduces students to new media industry issues, within the landscape of media production in general
addresses theoretical issues through in-depth discussion of case studies
encourages students to engage with issues of aesthetics in their own production work.

Contribution to graduate profile

Students completing this subject:

have some knowledge of aesthetics and new media industry issues, within the landscape of media production general
have had the opportunity to develop some conceptual skills and critical thinking in relation to various areas of media production
are able to develop and critically revise their own work.

Teaching and learning strategies

Weekly seminars and flexible learning
An extensive audition/viewing program of new media works
Reading and analysis of texts
Student presentation of seminar papers and participation in workshops
Student online activities and projects
Major project, such as an essay or net.art project.

Content

Introduction to questions of new media and aesthetics
Digital aesthetics: affects and the senses
Precursors to new media art
Interactive cinema
Hypertext
Questioning technology and art
Net art and CD Rom art and electronic art
Locative media
Emerging forms.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: Leading tutorial discussion

Objective(s):	a, b, c, d, e
Weighting:	30%
Task:	Consult with other student presenting in your week to avoid overlap and use the discussion time productively. Lead the tutorial discussion by: preparing your summary (about 300 words altogether maximum) of 2 or 3 significant arguments from one of the readings (this is not to be a summary of the entire reading, but of some of the arguments fostering a dialogue around the readings/issues raised preparing 3 questions for class discussion of that reading. These are to be handed in at the end of the class and posted to UTS Online.
Assessment criteria:	Use of the concepts discussed in the lectures and readings Thoughtfulness, depth of reading, and quality of argument Ability to work effectively with other students.

Assessment item 2: Reflection on aesthetic issues in production work

Objective(s):	a, b, c, f
Weighting:	30%
Task:	Students engage with aesthetic issues in new media production work, through reflecting on their own new media practice, or on new media art / culture or industry (either in Australia or internationally). Students make a 10-15 minute presentation to the class, where they analyse and reflect on: either their own practice and the issues and concepts motivating them; or work in an exhibition, installation, online or wireless environment and the issues and concepts the work gives rise to. The report must refer to at least 2 of the readings or references. Approximately 300-500 words. Students can utilise additional a/v materials e.g. files, images, animations etc where appropriate.
Assessment criteria:	Use of the concepts discussed in the lectures and readings Engagement with the work both on its own terms and in relation to the student's concerns

Assessment item 3: Major project

Objective(s):	a, b, d, e
Weighting:	40%
Task:	Develop a major project, such as to produce a new media work or essay which takes into account theoretical concepts from the readings and discussions. If an essay is the form, it must be around 2,500 words. If an essay, the topic will be framed by the student (with approval from lecturer by the end of Week 8) around issues of digital aesthetics raised during the semester. This may involve analysis of their own practice or in depth research/analysis of other work or groups of work. If the work is new media art (with approval from lecturer by end Week 8), it must be accompanied by, or contain an analytical discussion of approximately 750 words in which they refer directly to readings from course outline and their own research to discuss the theoretical and empirical basis of the project. This discussion is not an essay but rather an exegesis – an elaboration and summary of the research/conceptual process that went into production. Note: UTS does not provide any resources or production support for production work for this subject.
Assessment criteria:	Demonstrated ability to: Use and engage with the concepts discussed in the seminars and readings Engage with the new media art work both on its own terms and in relation to the student's own concerns Undertake sustained research Successfully complete an extensive conceptualised, researched and argued project, either as a Net work or essay.

Minimum requirements

Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject,you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. Should you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence from class (e.g. illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Indicative references

ML – Markets Library
CR – Closed Reserve
ER – Electronic Reserve (full text). From library catalogue, click on 'Reserve Collection by Subject'. Enter 57043 or 'New Media Aesthetics'.

Works to view/ use/ listen to/ interact with:
A full list of works to be used in conjunction with classes will be provided on UTSOnline and may be updated during semester as further references come to hand. Students preparing to lead a tutorial discussion should familiarise themselves with these works prior to the class.

Week 2
Readings:
Darren Tofts, 'What is Media Art' in Interzone: Media Arts in Australia, (Australia: Craftsman House/ Thames and Hudson, 2005) pp 12-29 (ER)
Andrew Murphie and John Potts, 'Digital aesthetics: new labels for the new aesthetic,' in Culture and Technology (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) pp 84-94 (ER ML)
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, 'Introduction: The Double Logic of Remediation' in Remediation: Understanding New Media (Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 2000) (ER) http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/file/9071/57043_bolterdouble.pdf
Lev Manovich, 'What is New Media?' The Language of New Media (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001). (ER ML)
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 9070/ 57043_manovichwhat.pdf

Further reference:
Timothy Murray, Digital Incompossibility: Cruising The Aesthetic Haze Of The New Media, Ctheory,
http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=121

Week 3
Readings:
Charles Grivel 'The Phonograph's Horned Mouth' in Douglas Kahn and Gregory Whitehead, (eds.), The Wireless Imagination, (Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 1992) (ER)
Margaret Morse, "What do Cyborgs Eat", in Gretchen Bender and Timothy Druckrey, Culture on the Brink, 1994. (ER):
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 1851/ 50252_morsewhat.pdf Full book: 303.483 Bend Also available in Margaret Morse, Virtualities: Television, Media Art, and Cyberculture (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press 1998)
Paolo Atzori and Kirk Woolford, 'Extended-Body: An Interview with Stelarc', Ctheory,
http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=71
John Sutton: 'Porous Memory and the cognitive life of things' in Darren Tofts, Annmarie Johnson and Alessio Cavallero (eds) Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History, (Australia and USA, Power Publications and MIT Press, 2002) (ER)

Further reference:

Distributed aesthetics: http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue7/ index.html
Critical Art Ensemble, 'The Coming of Age of the Flesh Machine' in Timothy Druckrey (ed.) Electronic culture: technology and visual representation, (New York: Aperture, 1996).

Week 4
Readings:
Annmarie Chandler and Norie Neumark (eds.) At a Distance: Precursors to Art and Activism on the Internet (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2005). Chapter 1, Introduction by Norie Neumark and Chapter 5, 'Fluxus Praxis: An Exploration of Connections, Creativity, and Community,' by Owen F. Smith. (ML ER)
Craig Saper, "Fluxus as a Laboratory" in Ken Friedman (ed.), The Fluxus Reader. Chicester, West Sussex, New York: Academy Editions, 1998. (ER)
Fluxus: The History of an Attitude: Books: Owen F. Smith
Owen Smith, A PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/ atca/ subjugated/five_13.htm
Owen, Smith. 1998. Fluxus: The History of an Attitude. San Diego: San Diego State University. Press.
Melanie Swalwell (2003) 'New/Inter/Media', Convergence, special issue: What is Intermedia? vol. 8, no. 4 (ER)

Week 5
Readings:
George Landow, 'Hypertext as collage writing' in Hypertext 2.0: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology (Baltimore, Parallax, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997) pp123-166 (ER ML)
Espen J. Aarseth 'Nonlinearity and Literary Theory' in George Landow (ed) Hyper / Text/ Theory, Baltimore, MA, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994) pp 51-86 (ER ML)
Jody Dean "Blogging Theory"
http://bad.eserver.org/ issues/ 2006/ 75/ dean.htm.
http://www.long-sunday.net/

Further reference:
J.Yellowlees Douglas 'How Do I Stop This Thing? Closure and Indeterminacy in Interactive Narratives' in George Landow (ed) Hyper / Text/ Theory, Baltimore, MA, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994) pp 159-188 (ML)
Michael Joyce, Of Two Minds; hypertext pedagogy and poetics MIT Press, Leonardo Book 2000. ML 800 JOYC (CR)

Week 6
Readings:
Ross Gibson, 'The Rise of Digital Multimedia Systems:, (ER)
Peter Weibel, 'Expanded Cinema,' in Jeffrey Shaw and Peter Weibel (eds.) Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003) (ML ER)
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 8706/ 57043_weibelexpanded.pdf
Michael Joyce, 'Interactive Planes: Toward Post-Hypertextual New Media' in in Brunhild Bushoff (ed) Sagasnet reader: Developing Interactive Narrative Content, ( Munich, High Text Verlag 2005) pp 126-147 (ER),
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 8713/ 57043_hobermanlets.pdf
Jean-Louis Boissier, 'The Relation Image' and 'La Morale Sensitive' in Jeffrey Shaw and Peter Weibel (eds.) Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003) (ER)
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 8710/ 57043_boissierrelation.pdf

Further reference:
'Let's make a monster,' in Jeffrey Shaw and Peter Weibel (eds.) Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003) (ER)
Vivian Sobchak, 'Nostalgia for the Digital Object,' in Jeffrey Shaw and Peter Weibel (eds.) Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003) (ER)
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 8714/ 57043_sobchaknostalgia.pdf

Week 7
Readings:
Guy Debord, 'Theory of the Derive', from Internationale Situationniste #2. The Situationist International Text Library

http://www.library.nothingness. org/ articles/ SI
Ross Gibson, 'Land Gone Wrong' from Seven Versions of an Australian Badland (Australia: University of Queensland Press, 2002) pp 1-21 (ML ER)
Lev Manovich, 'The Poetics of Augmented Space: Learning from Prada' http://64.233.161.104/ search?q=cache:1Fv10cjcCGgJ:www.manovich.net/ DOCS/ augmented_space.doc+lev +manovich+augmented+reality&hl=en
Howard Rheingold, ' The era of sentient things' from Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution (Cambridge, Mass, Perseus, 2002) (ML CR ER)

Further reference:
Darren Tofts, 'The Mystic Writing Pad' from Memory Trade: A Prehistory of Cyberculture (Australia: Interface/ 21C, 1997) pp 61-69 (ML)
Frances Yates, The Art of Memory, (London:Pimlico, 1996) (ML)
Bas Raijmakers and Yanna Vogiazou, 'CityTag: Designing for the Emergence of Spontaneous Social Play in a Mixed Reality game' in Brunhild Bushoff (ed) Sagasnet reader: Developing Interactive Narrative Content, (Munich, High Text Verlag 2005) pp 246- 262 (ML ER)
Christian Paul, 'Chapter 2, Digital Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 2003) (ER)

Works to look at and listen to:
Chris Caines: http://madeupstuff.com/ go/
Drift: http://www.mediascot.org/drift/ html/index.php
http://murmurtoronto.ca/
Terri RuebL:http://www.terirueb.net/
34 North 118 West: http://34n118w.net/ 34N/
Right as Rain: http://thepharmakon.org/ RightAsRain/

Week 9
Readings:
Jeremy Turner, 'The Microsound scene: An Interview with Kim Cascone,' ctheory,
http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=322
Christiane Paul, Digital Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 2003) 132-137 'Sound and Music
DJ Spooky, http://www.l-m-c.org.uk/ LMCframeset3.html
Charles Mudade, 'the Turntable' ctheory, http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=382

Works to look at and listen to:
Negativland: http://www.negativland.com/
Ian Andrews: http://radioscopia.org/
DJ Spooky aka that subliminal kid: http://www.djspooky.com/ index2.html
Radioqualia: http://radio-astronomy.net/

Further reference:
Chris Cutler, 'A history of plunderphonics':
http://www.l-m-c.org.uk/ texts/plunder.html

Week 10
Readings:
Jill Walker, 'How I was Played by Online Caroline,' in Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan (eds.) First Person New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004) 302-309 (ER)
http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 9073/ 57043_walkerhow.pdf
Rachel Greene, Internet Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 2003) extracts: 92-104 (ER)
Eugene Thacker, Fakeshop: Science Fiction, Future Memory & The Technoscientific Imaginary, Ctheory.net 87.
http://www.ctheory.net.com/ event/ e087.html
Eugene Thacker, 'Networks, Swarms and Multitudes' Ctheory,
http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=422

Works to look at:
R. Bevan and T. Wright, Online Caroline: http://www.onlinecaroline.com
Suzanne Triester: http://ensemble.va.com.au/ tableau/suzy/
Fakeshop, Fakeshop: http://www.fakeshop.com.
Randall Packer: http://www.experimentalparty.org/
http://www.braintec.info/
http://www.icols.org/pages/ MainFrame.html
http://www.oldton.com/
http://rent-a-negro.com/
http://mouchette.org/index.html
http://www.turbulence.org/ Works/ nature/ intro.html
The concise Model of the Universe, The Paul Annears
http://www.xxos.net/index.php
Bit Index
http://www.bureauit.org/ bitindex.html
Eyes of Laura
http://eyesoflaura.org/ index3.php?bandwidth=hi

Week 11
Readings:
Jordan Crandall, 'Anything That Moves: Armed Vision' ctheory.net 72
http://jordancrandall.com/ main/ writings/ writingsmenu.html
John E. McGrath, Loving Big Brother: Performance, privacy and surveillance space. London: Routledge, 2004. Preface and Chapter 5, 'Staging the Spectator' (ER)
'Wired Ruins" Ctheory.net Multimedia
http://ctheorymultimedia.cornell.edu/ issue3/digiterr.htm

Timothy Murray, 'Digital Terror' Ctheory,
http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=420
'Ludology,' in Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan (eds.) First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004) (ER) http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/ file/ 9072/ 57043_eskelinenludology.pdf See also:
http://www.electronicbookreview.com/ v3/ threads/ threadtoc.jsp?thread=firstperson
and Jane McGonigal, 'Notes Toward a More Pervasive Cyberdramaturgy'
http://www.electronicbookreview.com/ v3/ servlet/ ebr?essay_id= mcgonigalr1&command= view_essay
Jane McGonigal, "A Real Little Game: The Performance of Belief in Pervasive Play." Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) "Level Up" Conference Proceedings. November 2003 http://avantgame.com/ writings.htm# ARTICLES%20&%20 PAPERS
Jonathon Crary, Suspensions of Perception: Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture, London (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1999) pp. 1-5, 72-5 (ER)

Works to look at:
Selectpark's game art archives, www.selectparks.net
http://www.escapefromwoomera.org/
Jonah Bruckner-Cohen see especially Bumplist
http://www.coin-operated.com/projects
http://www.underash.net/
http://www.hackaday.com/
http://www.thehacktivist.com/ index.php
Electronic Disturbance Theatre
http://www.thing.net/ %7Erdom/ ecd/ecd.html
http://www.critical-art.net/

Further reference:
William Bogard, Distraction and Digital Culture (ctheory.net 88)
http://www.ctheory.net/ text_file.asp?pick=131

'game' issue of MC,
http://www.media-culture.org.au/ past_vol_3.html
Henry Jenkins 'Games, the New Lively Art.'
http://web.mit.edu/21fms/ www/ faculty/ henry3/ GamesNewLively.html
John Johnston, 'Machinic Vision', Critical Inquiry 26, Autumn 1999, pp. 27-48.
Lev Manovich, 'The Paradoxes of Digital Photography',
http://www-apparitions.ucsd.edu/ ~manovich/ text/ digital_photo.html
Paul Virilio, The Vision Machine (London: BFI, 1994)
Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb (London: Verso 2000) chapter 7.

General:
Further useful references in Markets Library are:
Sean Cubitt, Digital Aesthetics (London: Sage, 1998) (ML. 004.019 CUBI)
Andrew Murphie and John Potts, Culture and Technology, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. (ML 306.36 MURP)
Annmarie Jonson, Alessio Cavallero (eds), Prefiguring Cyberculture: an intellectual history, Power Press, 2003 (303.4833 TOFT CR)
Oliver Grau, From Illusion to Immersion (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003)
Darren Tofts, Parallax: essays on art, culture and text (700.1 TOFT CR)
Ken Goldberg (ed.), The robot in the garden : telerobotics and telepistemology in the age of the Internet, (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2000)
Randall Packer and Ken Jordan, (eds), Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality (NY: Norton, 2001) (ML 006.7 PACK.)
Peter Lunenfeld (ed.) The Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2000) (ML 303.4834 LUNE)
Timothy Druckrey (ed.) Electronic culture: technology and visual representation (New York: Aperture, 1996) (ML 701.105 DRUC. CR)
Timothy Druckrey (ed) Ars Electronic: facing the future: a survey of two decades (Linz: Ars Electronica, 1999) (ML. 700 DRUC. CR)
Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb (London: Verso, 2000)
Verena Andermatt Conley (ed), Rethinking technologies (Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1993)
Peter Weibel and Timothy Druckrey (eds.), Net-condition: art and global media (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001)
Verena Andermatt Conley (ed), Rethinking technologies, Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1993. (ML 601/12)
Michael Joyce, Of Two Minds; hypertext pedagogy and poetics MIT Press, Leonardo Book 2000. (800 JOYC CR)
Friedrich Kittler, 'There is no software', literature, media: information systems, London: Routledge, 1997. (ML 302.23 KITT)
John Johnston, 'Machinic Vision', Critical Inquiry 26 (Autumn, 1999)
Manuel de Landa, A Thousand Years of Non-Linear History, (Cambridge, MA: Zone Books, 2000) (ML 501 DELA)

Useful online theory sites:
Ctheory, http://www.ctheory.net/ default.asp (A huge array of digital / culture articles)
Lev Manovich online http//:www.manovich.net
http://www.dichtung-digital.org/ english.htm
http://www.netartreview.net/

Lists you might want to join:
Fibreculture, http://www.fibreculture.org
Empyre http://www.subtle.net/ empyre/
Please circulate info about other useful or interesting lists on through UTSOnline, on the 'Useful Resources' thread.

Net art resources:
http://www.furtherfield.org/
http://www.rhizome.org/
http://www.whitney.org/ artport/ Whitney Museum portal to net art
http://www.turbulence.org/ another big net art site
http://www.tate.org.uk/ netart/ default.htm tate gallery net art site
http://www.netartreview.net/ this also has exc links to net art — see the new media fix
http://www.rhizome.org/
http://www.altx.net mark amerika's online portal
http://www.javamuseum.org/ start1.htm
http://www.subtle.net melinda rackham's net art site
http://www.cyberpoiesis.net/shortcuts/ interviews/ FAQs with net artists
www.selectparks.net game art archive
http://www.alternativemuseum.org/

Look at one or both of the new hypertext-ish journals that have recently come out: an issue of JoDI http://jodi.ecs.soton.ac.uk/ Articles/ v03/i03/ editorial.html
and 'inflect', hosted by the University of Canberra www.ce.canberra.edu.au/inflect
http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/ newmedia/ lexia/ index.htmTalan Memmott From Lexia to Perplexia
http://www.ineradicablestain.com/ Shelley Jackson
Trace online writing http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/ index.htm

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