essay

Visual Culture and Technology: History of New Media
Artist Research Essay: Research a new media artist and, in a 1000 essay,
describe them and their work. Most likely, this will involve choosing a few of their
works and analyzing them in the context of the artist. Be sure to also attend to the
time period they are working in- no artist works outside of history
Class 1 – Monday, July 27
What’s New About New Media?
Who am I?/What is this class?/How does it work?/What is new media?/How can we
build a definition of new media?/Is it even useful to consider the category of new media
at all?
Readings:
● Lisa Gitelman, Always Already New, “Introduction: Media as Historical Subjects”p.
1-22
● Vannevar Bush, “As We May Think” (in The New Media Reader, p. 37-47)
Screenings:
● Radical Software Group, Carnivore, http://r-s-g.org/carnivore/
● Poke around on https://www.artechouse.com/
Class 2 – Wednesday, July 29th
Art and Technology
What is the role of art and the artist in a technological age?/What anxieties come with
the mixing of art and technology?/What benefits come with it?/How do technological
advancements, especially reproduction, change art?/Who has access to art, and who
has access to technology?
Readings:
● Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, p.1-31
Screenings:
● MonkeyKingHero, “A walk around a complete Art Gallery in Animal Crossing: New
Horizons (All Painting, Statues, etc)” (2:12), https://youtu.be/4nWg4mjpjFc
● John Berger, “Ways of Seeing, Episode 1” (1972), 30:04,

Class 3 – Monday, August 3rd
Experimental Film
What art can we make if we consider film a technology, and not a medium?/What kind
of work did people do to push the boundaries of film as a medium?/Generally, how do
artists explore technologies of any kind?
Screenings:
● Maya Deren, “Meshes of the Afternoon” (1943), 13:29, https://vimeo.com/218042283
(watch muted- original had no score)
● Isaac Julien, “Looking for Langston (excerpt)” (1989), 5:04,

● Stan Brakhage, “Mothlight” (1963), 3:12, https://youtu.be/S5P5vkegmvU
● Martin Arnold, “Pièce Touchée” (1989), 15:36, https://youtu.be/AnDagpv4kUk
Class 4 – Wednesday, August 5th
Video and Poetry
Can old media be made new again?/How can new technologies change old
mediums?/How can we appreciate old, new media?
Readings:
● Barrie Tullett, Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology, “The Golden Age” p.43-78(stop at
the interview)
● The New Media Reader, “Cybernated Art by Nam June Paik” p.227-229
Screenings:
● Poke around the Ubuweb visual poetry section: http://www.ubu.com/vp/
● A bit of a Lorna installation, plus Lynn Hershman Leeson talking about it:

Class 5 – Monday, August 10th
Net.Art and Cyberfeminism
How was the internet first turned to social movements?/What’s the role of feminism on
the internet?/How can the format of the internet be used as art?/Do we have a body
online?
Readings:
● Melinda Rackham, Manifesto, https://vnsmatrix.net/essays/manifesto
● Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto, p.1-37
Screenings:
● Electronic Disturbance Theater, Floodnet,
https://anthology.rhizome.org/floodnet
● JODI, Automatic Rain, https://anthology.rhizome.org/automatic-rain
● Shu Lea Cheang, Brandon, https://anthology.rhizome.org/brandon (cw:
nudity,graphic description of sexual violence)
● Poke around at other things on https://anthology.rhizome.org/