Description

Haptic visuality in video interactive installations

In the last decades many contemporary artists have been exploring the tactile qualities of motion image as a critical response to the excess of visuality that characterizes today's visual culture. A large number of these works employs multisensory strategies of affection that call for the engagement of the spectator's body in the process of experiencing art. Those strategies were acknowledged and recognized by art theorists (Laura Marks, 2000&2002) as constituting a haptic visuality. Digital video, interactivity and the use of digital interfaces can represent an important asset in this context by accepting in a new model of the active spectator, one having a key role in the process of effectuating art experience. This lecture will focus on exploring ways of employing visual haptic interaction models by discussing several body visual affection strategies, and suggesting the human perceptual system as a privileged means for experiencing new art forms.


The students will be encouraged to create their own video installation project by playing with interactive open source hardware and software.

Regular attendance, active participation and the development and production of a prototype is a prerequisite for obtaining a mark.

Examination: 80% attendance; Literature study and preparation of project; Research material with design and schematics; Short text explanation of the project; prototype.