Admission requirements
The following courses need to be passed:
Freshman's Class
Academic Skills II
Description
As the impact of electronic media and other technologies becomes increasingly ubiquitous it is important to study the artistic response to this situation. With the advancement of telecommunication and computing technologies throughout the 20th century onwards artistic imagination has been a valuable source of profound insights into the implications of techno culture. By re-purposing electronic media, experimenting with their capacities and highlighting the social contexts of their production and usage artists help to expand our views on the present and create visions of the future.
In this course, we will discuss the variety of ways artists use technologies, such as telecommunication networks, robotics, locative media, genetic modification, biofeedback, machine learning, and sonic media. We will see how the technical tools become fertile ground for intervention and critique, as well as experimentation with sensory perception and with the boundaries of what is considered ‘human’. Among the issues that trigger artistic response and will be addressed in this course are the questions of increasing algorithmization of life, reconsideration of ecological relations and attention to material and non-human agency, transformation of the body (e.g. via medical technologies) and one’s sense of identity.
Electronic/ digital/ science/ media/ technological art challenges the traditional disciplinary and institutional boundaries, equipping art studies with new sets of methodologies and questions and stimulating alternative curatorial paradigms and collaborations. We will thus explore not only the historical and theoretical dimensions of art and technology but also the practical aspects of creation, presentation, and conservation of this type of art.
Course objectives
Students will
get acquainted with the history of the technological art, its taxonomies and the key issues;
gain insight into current theoretical debates that inform contemporary techno-artistic practice;
learn to critically evaluate individual techno-artistic projects and contextualize them within the relevant conceptual frameworks;
acquire familiarity with the specificities of the institutional infrastructure supporting technological art;
develop skills in responding to readings, formulating a research question, conducting creative group work and making a presentation.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Portfolio of smaller assignments
Final paper
Weighing
Portfolio of smaller assignments – 40%
Final paper – 60%
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To successfully complete the course the weighted average needs to be a passing grade (5.5 and higher).
Resit
If the end grade is insufficient (5,4 or below), it is possible to take a resit examination for one paper assignment.
It is not allowed to resit an examination or assignment for which the student has received a pass (5,5 or higher). The faculty rules relating to participation in resit examinations can be found in article 4.1 of the faculty Course and Examinationregulations (OER).
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The readings will be provided by the instructor via Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through My Studymap (Login | Universiteit Leiden) is mandatory.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
N/A