ARTH 3650 - [History and Theory of Digital Art]

(crosslisted) INFO 3660, VISST 3650
(CA-AS)

Not offered 2017-2018. 4 credits. Student option grading.

M. Fernandez.

In this course students will examine the role of mechanical, electronic and digital technologies in the arts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries with emphasis on Europe and North America. Beginning with kinetic art and the cybernetically inspired work of the late 1960s, we will explore early uses of computer technology, including early synthetic video in the 1970s. An overview of pre-internet telematic experiments will lead to an investigation of net.art. The ongoing development of behavioral art forms including interactive installations, robotics, generative art, artificial life art, responsive environments, bio art and video games will be a central theme. Students will be encouraged critically to evaluate a variety of theoretical discourses concerning modern technologies.