Aesthetics of the New Media: Music and Colour
A.Y. 2022/2023
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with a philosophical foundation regarding how new media are changing our perception of the world. In particular, the relationship between new media, music and color will be explored. We will examine the repercussions of digital images and music in aesthetics, in the spheres of both art and everyday-life. Along with the notion of "medium", other related themes will be investigated each year, such as digital image and music, digital performance, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to develop a critical approach to the aesthetic transformations implied by the new media. Students will be able to apply this knowledge to the contemporary philosophical and artistic debate. They will be able to investigate and evaluate a digital image, a piece of digital music, or a work of art that makes use of virtual reality or artificial intelligence, and think in-depth about the presence of these new technologies and the new responsibilities that they imply.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course intends to investigate from a philosophical point of view some forms of art related to new technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI) and NFT (non-fungible tokens).
PART A will consider different works created through artificial intelligence. Particular attention will be given to some works that combine music, color, gestures and verbal language. The path will unfold from the first images produced with Deep Dream, through the art of GANs (generative adversarial networks), to the most recent experiments with systems that convert language into images (Midjourney, Dall-e, Stable Diffusion).
PART B will be dedicated to the use of NFTs in the artistic field. It will be necessary to examine the creation and functioning of this technology and the changes, risks and new possibilities that it implies. Moreover, we are going to analyze also some artists who belong to the so-called "Cryptoart", addressing this new context from a theoretical and philosophical point of view.
PART A will consider different works created through artificial intelligence. Particular attention will be given to some works that combine music, color, gestures and verbal language. The path will unfold from the first images produced with Deep Dream, through the art of GANs (generative adversarial networks), to the most recent experiments with systems that convert language into images (Midjourney, Dall-e, Stable Diffusion).
PART B will be dedicated to the use of NFTs in the artistic field. It will be necessary to examine the creation and functioning of this technology and the changes, risks and new possibilities that it implies. Moreover, we are going to analyze also some artists who belong to the so-called "Cryptoart", addressing this new context from a theoretical and philosophical point of view.
Prerequisites for admission
The course aims at introducing some topics that are relatively new, therefore there are no prerequisites. An interest is required in the different forms of art (figurative, literary and musical arts), in particular in their mutual intersection, and in new technologies. Knowledge of English is not mandatory but is recommended, as one of the exam texts is in English (in case of difficulty with this language, please ask the teacher).
Teaching methods
The lectures will alternate theoretical analyzes based on texts with concrete analyzes of individual artworks, which will be questioned from a philosophical point of view. Some meetings with artists and writers are planned. Especially for non-attending students, a careful reading of the additional essays in Ariel is also recommended, to understand the proposed philosophical path.
Teaching Resources
PART A:
-A. Barale, Arte e intelligenza artificiale: be my GAN, Jaca Book, Milano 2020.
-A. I. Miller, The artist in the machine, MIT Press, Cambridge Ma. 2019
- Saggi di approfondimento caricati su Ariel
PART B:
-A. Concas, Crypto Arte: tutto quello che devi sapere sugli NFT, blockchain e arte digitale, Piemme, 2021
- D. Quaranta, Surfing con Satoshi, Postmedia Books, 2021
Non-attending students will have to add:
Gli studenti non-frequentanti dovranno aggiungere:
J. Zylinska, AI Art: Machine Visions and warped Dreams, Open Humanities Press, 2020
L. Manovich, E. Arielli, Artificial Aesthetics: A critical Guide to AI, Media and Design, 2021
-A. Barale, Arte e intelligenza artificiale: be my GAN, Jaca Book, Milano 2020.
-A. I. Miller, The artist in the machine, MIT Press, Cambridge Ma. 2019
- Saggi di approfondimento caricati su Ariel
PART B:
-A. Concas, Crypto Arte: tutto quello che devi sapere sugli NFT, blockchain e arte digitale, Piemme, 2021
- D. Quaranta, Surfing con Satoshi, Postmedia Books, 2021
Non-attending students will have to add:
Gli studenti non-frequentanti dovranno aggiungere:
J. Zylinska, AI Art: Machine Visions and warped Dreams, Open Humanities Press, 2020
L. Manovich, E. Arielli, Artificial Aesthetics: A critical Guide to AI, Media and Design, 2021
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will be oral and will focus both on the texts and on the philosophical path proposed in class (non-attending students will be able to use the additional essays on Ariel). Candidates will be asked to choose and comment one artwork for each of the two parts of the course.
Professor(s)