Elena Giulia
Rossi
Through a series of research-related activities, she has been exploring the intersection of art, science and technology since the late 1990s. The analysis of new forms of experimental and multidisciplinary production has often coincided with that of the many socio-anthropological facets of contemporary culture. After graduating from La Sapienza University with a degree in Arts and Philosophy – specialising in Contemporary Art History – she went on to complete a Master’s degree in Arts Administration at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In the United States, she has collaborated with the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection (2002) at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (2001) in New York. She has taken part in various conferences and seminars in Italy and abroad. Her research also includes the projects she curated at the MAXXI Museum in Rome, with which she collaborated from 2003 to 2012: NetSpace (2005–2008) and NetinSpace (2010). In 2015, she contributed to the 9th Appendix of the Treccani Encyclopaedia, writing entries on: “Internet art” and “Bio Art”. She is currently the editorial director of the online platform Arshake. Reinventing Technology (www.arshake.com), which she founded in 2013. She occasionally writes for catalogues, magazines and newspapers. She is the author of Archeonet. Viaggio nella storia della net/web art e suo ingresso nei musei tradizionali (Lalli Editore, Siena 2003) and Mind the Gap. La vita tra bioarte, arte ecologica e post internet (postmedia, Milan 2020), as well as numerous essays published in Italy and abroad, including: Sulla soglia di spazi liminali. Dall’architettura live all’Object Oriented Space in Chiara Passa, Object Oriented Space. Viaggio nelle dimensioni invisibili dello spazio, Gangemi Editore, Rome, 2019, pp. 38 – 47; The Vitalist Museum. Entre l’art de la vie et la vie de l’art, in “Bioart Et Éthique”, published by Marion Laval –Jeantet, Paolo Stellino, and Guillaume Bagnolini, Édition CQFD, Mentreuil 2019, pp. 155-179; The Touch of Language in art, science, and in shaping the world, in: “The New and History art*science 2017 Conference Proceedings”, published by Pier Luigi Capucci and Giorgio Cipolletta, NOEMA Media & publishing, 2018, pp. 179 – 185 – 187 (English); Photographing within the Ubiquitarian Image, in “Searching for a New Way. Critical Engagement in Contemporary Art since 2000”, Metronom Books, Modena, 2017, pp 111 – 116; Nuove sensibilità elettroniche, in “Omaggio a Gillo Dorfles. Atti del Convegno”, Fondazione Filiberto Menna, Salerno 2012.
Formerly Theory of Multimedia Arts
The objective of the New Media Aesthetics course is to provide the necessary tools to be able to navigate the vast panorama of multimedia arts and to place them in the broader context of contemporary culture and history. Having provided an overview of the subject, the course then delves into the heart of the subject and explores its various forms in detail: video art, telepresence art, infographics, video mapping, climate art, bio art, nano art, sound art, art and blockchain, and art and Artificial Intelligence.
Broadly speaking, the course explores multimedia in as cross-disciplinary a manner as possible, until it reaches its most subtle form: that of the “interfacial image”. Each topic is structured around a series of links to its historical precedents in the history of art. The research work will take place over time and will require active participation throughout the course.
The course is held in person at Campo Boario, as indicated on the provisional timetable. At the same time, the Teams platform will be used solely to share course materials, provide information about field trips or other matters that are complementary to and relevant to the course. Please use the official email address for all communications.
Guidelines for the project and exam:
During the course, prior to the exam, students will be required to complete a series of exercises to be discussed in class. The exercises completed will serve as a pre-exam assessment and will account for 80% of the work assessed. It will be necessary to ensure that they fit in with the other classes being taken. The oral exam will consist of a discussion of the topics covered during the course, the notes and handouts provided, and the book of your choice.
Teams: bwxjpf8
Office hours: Thursday: 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm: Teams / Office hours: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Campo Boario (by appointment)
Essential: Lecture notes (uploaded in PDF format on Teams)
Text of your choice from:
2004 – L. Valeriani, Dentro la Trasfigurazione. Il dispositivo nell’arte nella cibercultura, Meltemi, Rome
2006 – A. Ladaga e S. Manteiga, Strati Mobili: video contestuale nell’arte e nell’architettura, Edilstampa, Rome (updated English version, Moving Layers, Edilstampa, 2014)
2006 – T. Bazzichelli, Networking. La rete come network, Costa & Nolan, Genova
2008 – M. Bolognini, Post-digitale, Carocci, Rome
2008 – T. Tozzi, Arte di opposizione. Stili di vita, situazioni e documenti degli anni Ottanta, Shake Edizioni, Milan
2009 – F. Fishnaller, E-Art. Arte, società e democrazia nell’era della rete, Editori Riuniti, Rome
2013 – C. Guida, Spatial Practices. Funzione pubblica e politica dell’arte nella società delle reti, Franco Angeli Editore
2014 – Luca Panaro, Casualità e controllo. Fotografia, video, web, postmedia books, Milan 2014
2016 – E. Kac, Telepresenza e Bioarte. Interconnessioni in rete fra umani, conigli e robot, Italian edition edited by P. L. Capucci and Franco Torriani, CLUEB, Bologna 2016 (original edition: Telepresence & Bioart. Networking Humans, Rabbits, Robots, Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 2005)
2017 – C. Zanni, Art in the age of the cloud, Diorama Edizioni, Milan (English)
2017 – G. Galati, Duchamp meets Turing. Arte, modernismo, postumano, postmediabooks, Milan
2017 – M. Di Paola, L’arte che traduce. La traduzione visuale nell’opera di Antoni Muntadas, Mimesis, Milan
2017 – V. Valentini (a cura di), Studio Azzurro. L’esperienza delle immagini, Mimesis, Milan – Udine
2018 – Omar Kholeif, Looking at Art in the Digital Age, Sternberg Press, Berlin (English)
2018 – Timothy Morton, Iperoggetti, Nero editore 2019 (Hyperobjects, University of Minnesota Press 2013)
2018 – Hito Steyerl, Duty Free Art. L’arte nell’epoca della guerra civile planetaria, Johan & Levi, Milan (Art in The Age of Planetary Civil War, Verso, 2017)
2018—Simone Arcagni, L’Occhio della macchina, Piccola biblioteca Einaudi, Turin
2018 – Marco Mancuso, Arte, tecnologia e scienza. Le art industries e i nuovi paradigmi di produzione nella new media art contemporanea, Mimesis
2019 – Caterina Tomeo (a cura di), Sonic Arts. Tra esperienza percettiva e ascolto attivo, Castelvecchi, Rome
2019 – James Bridle, Nuova Era Oscura, Nero Edizioni (original edition New Dark Age. Technology and the End of the Future, Berso Books, London 2018
2019 – Margaret A. Boden, L’Intelligenza Artificiale, il Mulino, Bologna (original edition Artificial Intelligence. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press 2018)
2020 – Matteo Bittanti, GAME OVER. Critica della ragione video ludica, Mimesis
2020 – Marco Mancuso, Intervista con la New Media Art, Mimesis
2020. E.G. Rossi, Mind the Gap. La vita tra bioarte, arte ecologica e post internet, postmedia.books
2020 – Valentina Tanni, Memestetica, Nero Edizioni
2020 Domenico Quaranta, Media, New Media Post Media, postmedia.books
2020 – Valentino Catricalà e Domenico Quaranta (a cura di), Sopravvivenza programmata. Etiche e pratiche di conservazione. Dall’arte cinetica alla Net Art, Collana Imprese Mediali, Edizioni Kappabit, Rome 2020
2021- D. Quaranta, Surfing con Satoshi. Arte, blockchain e NFT, postmedia.books, Milan 2021
2022 – C. Saba e V. Valentini (a cura di), Il video rende felici, Treccani, Rome
2022 – J. Bridle, Modi di essere. Animali, piante e computer: al di là dell’intelligenza umana, Rizzoli
2023 – M. Mancuso, Chimera. Il corpo espanso per una nuova ecosofia dell’arte, Mimesis
2024 – Francesco D’Isa. La rivoluzione algoritmica. Arte e intelligenza artificiale, Luca Sossella Editore
Alcuni classici consigliati che saranno utilizzati anche a lezione (in ordine cronologico):
Edwin Abbot, Flatlandia. Storia di un Quadrato, 1884
Geroge Orwell, 1984, 1946
Italo Calvino. Le città invisibili, 1972
Gianni Rodari, Grammatica della Fantasia, 1973
Bruno Munari, Fantasia. Invenzione, creatività e immaginazione nelle comunicazioni visive, 1977
William Gibson, Neuromante, 1984
Italo Calvino, Lezioni Americane, 1993
Blog, riviste e siti consigliati (selezionati):
Leonardo Electronic Almanac (English)
Neural. Digital Culture and media arts
Digicult
Arshake (progetto editoriale)
James Bridle (scrittore)
Lev Manovich (teorico, autore di The Language of New Media)
Matteo Bittanti (artista, ricercatore, teorico, scrittore)
Rhizome.org (una delle prime piattaforme ad occuparsi di arte digitale)
The course begins by tracing a path that links the early 1990s experiments with the internet to the history that preceded and followed them, right up to the most recent works, those centred on algorithmic images and their power of seduction, whether they take the form of interfaces, simple images, or generative intelligence, operating within blockchains or in the creation of individual images.
The medium in which this field has developed (the internet), long regarded as specific to a particular area of experimentation, is now at the heart of economic, social and creative life (these three aspects are increasingly converging). Art, society and politics often run on parallel tracks, portraying the contemporary landscape on a different scale, condensing vast amounts of data so that they can be taken in by a gaze that does not merely observe but engages with the content, each time from a different angle.
The course also involves the completion of a series of projects, which will be launched together and finalised in the second half of the course. Materials and platforms required: pencils (pens, coloured pencils, etc.), + the Miro platform (free access with student email addresses) + your own work tools. The assessment will focus on logical design skills and the ability to reflect on the process. The details will be discussed in class.
The course will take place in person (in the classroom, as indicated on the timetable). The Teams platform will be used for communications, distribution of materials, office hours and other matters, bearing in mind that it will be used as a space complementary to the lessons, which will be exclusively in person.
Wednesday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm | Team code: oydanr3
First semester office hours: Thursday 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Campo Boario or online (on request)
Compulsory texts: Notes/lecture notes uploaded on Teams: oydanr3
A text of your choice from the following recommended texts:
2003 – M. Deseriis, G. Marano, Net.Art. L’arte della connessione, 2003, Shake, Milan (available free of charge in pdf)
2005 – L. Campo (a cura di), Connessioni leggendarie. Net Art 1995-2005, cat. di mostra, Mediateca di Santa Teresa, Ready Made, Milan
2006 – T. Bazzichelli, Networking. La rete come network, Costa & Nolan, Genoa
2007 – G. Celant e G. Maraniello (a cura di), Vertigo – Il secolo di arte off-media dal Futurismo al web, cat. di mostra, Bologna, MAMBO-Museo d’Arte Moderna, Skira, Milan
2008 – T. Tozzi, Arte di opposizione. Stili di vita, situazioni e documenti degli anni Ottanta, Shake Edizioni
2014 – L. Panaro, Casualità e Controllo, Fotografia, video e web, postmedia.books
2019 – A. Tolve, Me, myself and I. Arte e vetrinizzazione sociale ovvero il mondo magico del selfie, Castelvecchi
2020 Valentina Tanni, Memestetica, Nero Edizioni
2021 – Chiara Passa – Ideasonair. Blogging as an Open Art Project, Gangemi Editore 2021
2022 – James Bridle, Modi di essere. Animali, piante e computer: al di là dell’intelligenza umana, Rizzoli
2022 – Paolo Benanti, Human in the Loop. Decisioni umane e intelligenze artificiali, Mondadori Università
2023 – Valentina Tanni, Exit Reality, Nero edizioni
2024 – Tommaso Tozzi, Le radici dell’hactivism in Italia. 1969 – 1996, Academy of Fine Arts in Florence (3 volumes downloadable free of charge in pdf form)
2024 – Tiziana Terranova, Dopo Internet. Le reti digitali tra capitale e comune, Nero edizioni (Italian translation of the original text from 2022)
2024 – Francesco D’Isa, La rivoluzione algoritmica delle immagini. Arte e intelligenza artificiale, Luca Sossella Editore
2024 – N. Cristianini, Machina Sapiens. L’algoritmo che ci ha rubato il segreto della conoscenza, Il Mulino
SELECTED RESOURCES (I recommend you visit these websites right from the start)
Rhizome.org (online platform based in New York)
Ars Electronica (Festival and museum dedicated to multimedia arts), Linz
Runme.org (this site dedicated to software art was updated until 2012 but is an excellent archive resource)
Turbulence http://turbulence.org
DIA Art Foundation Artists web project (institution based in New York)
Whitney Artport (dedicated portal of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York)
Guggenheim Museum Internet art
Nettime (mailing list in English)
Eyebeam (institution), New York
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (gallery 9)
Tate online. Intermedia Art
ZKM- Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie
Link Edition (you can download numerous texts and ebooks for free here (most of them are in English)
A selection of recommended blogs, magazines and websites
Leonardo Electronic Almanac (English)
Neural. Digital Culture and media arts
Digicult
Random Magazine (Updated in 2011, it has been one of the leading websites for promoting net art since 2001. It therefore contains valuable documents that you can browse through and consult to get an idea of the work
Arshake (progetto editoriale)
James Bridle (scrittore)
Lev Manovich (teorico, autore di The Language of New Media)
Matteo Bittanti (artista, ricercatore, teorico, scrittore)
The course explores the dynamics involved in the production of multimedia works and projects when engaging with museums, collectors and galleries. From the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century to the emergence of AI in the art market, and on to the emergence of NFTs, the increasingly performative and conceptual nature of art has raised a number of issues relating to the acquisition and conservation of artworks. Where these involve technological media, or content that exists within a data stream (from net art projects to AI projects), the issues surrounding acquisition become even more acute.
Having outlined the key players and developments in the art world, we now turn our attention to the aspects that link the ownership and preservation of multimedia projects to their creators.
How do we go about preserving ephemeral works? To what extent does this factor affect the value of the work? What has the convergence of art and blockchain technology meant? Who is considered the author in the case of works created using Artificial Intelligence?
These are some of the questions we will be exploring during the course, using selected case studies and insights from key figures in the art world.
Exam. During the course, I will provide handouts (and extracts from the texts listed below, translated into Italian in the case of foreign-language texts). In addition, I will ask you to choose a text from those listed below and to carry out a short research project (to be agreed upon), either individually or (even better) in a group. We will discuss the details and work together on this during the course. The list of texts may be updated as the course progresses.
Compulsory texts: handouts and lecture notes provided during the course.
A text of your choice from the following titles (or another to be agreed together based on the different lines of research:
A. Alberro, Arte concettuale e strategie pubblicitarie, Johan & Levi, Milan 2011
A.L. De Simone (a cura di), NFT and Cultural Heritage, postmedia.books, Milan 2024
A. Cervelli, La Crypto Art. Nuove prospettive digitali per l’arte contemporanea, Edizioni Efesto, Rome 2023
V. Catricalà, D. Quaranta, Sopravvivenza programmata. Etiche e pratiche di conservazione, dall’arte cinetica alla net art, Kappabit 2020 (conservation)
A. Curti, A. Fusi, Intelligenza artificiale e fotografia, seipersi, Siena 2024
F. Dell’Aversana (a cura di), Saggi di diritto del mercato dell’arte, PM Edizioni, Varazze 2020
A. Donati e N. Fourin, L’opera d’arte in tribunale, postmedia.books, Milan 2003 (legal aspects)
N. Heinich, Il paradigma dell’arte contemporanea. Strutture di una rivoluzione artistica, Johan & Levi, Milan 2022
F. Poli. Il Sistema dell’arte contemporanea, Editori Laterza 2011 (edition updated from 1999)
D. Quaranta, Surfing con Satoschi. Arte, Blockchain e NFT, postmedia.books, Milan 2021
D. Thompson. Lo squalo da 12 milioni di dollari. La bizzarra e sorprendente economia dell’arte contemporanea, Mondadori, Milan 2017 (orig. title The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, 2008)
O. Velthuis, Imaginary Economics. Quando l’arte sfida il capitalismo, Johan & Levi 2009 (orig. 2005)
A. Vettese, L’arte contemporanea, tra mercato e nuovi linguaggi, Il Mulino 2017 (second edition)