Void Set
- About Emptiness in Virtual Space
Autor*in
Herausgeber*innenschaft
Verlag, Ort, Datum
Valerie Messini, Universität für angewandte Kunst in Wien, Wien, Österreich, 13. September 2024
Schlagwörter
Digital Technologies, Digitale Kunst, Virtual Space, Phd, Void, Emptiness, Nothing
Abstract
The era we live in is deeply defined by the advancement of digitalization, coming alongside with abundance of information, resources, and technology. This, being available to individuals and businesses alike, does not only have a positive imprint on our society, but is also overwhelming. Currently, the omnipresence of digital interfaces and the overstimulation they engender, particularly social media, is often yielding a perception of digitalization as negative, dangerous, capitalist, surveillant, and as a disjunctive force alienating us from the “real” world. This research advocates for a reevaluation of digital environments as spaces that can foster soothing and beneficial experiences. It argues for the integration of digital virtuality with the physical world, harnessing virtual spaces to alleviate the overstimulation pervasive in contemporary society and to meet the escalating demand for tranquility and emptiness in our hyper-connected era. The research explores the confluence of digital virtuality and the conceptualization of the void within Western art and architecture throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This interdisciplinary inquiry employs a blend of theoretical exploration elaborated in five papers as well as artistic and practical experiments to propose “virtual voids,” an experiential concept realized through immersive digital art works. Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality, are utilized to delineate how these technologies can effectively bridge the physical and digital realm, engendering a state of visual and sensory calmness through digital virtuality. The diverse theoretical framework departs from Weibels disappearance of the distance and media-centric perception, crosses Doesinger’s notion of bastard space and its differentiation of gaming vs. playing, which through the theory of affect (Deleuze, Guattari, Angerer) and Barad’s agential realism, leads to Butler’s performativity and Haraway’s posthumanism to reveal that digital design tools and processes, viewed through these theoretical lenses, inaugurate new possibilities for understanding identity beyond traditional human boundaries. The concept of the void in digital spaces, coupled with inquiries into the nature of “nothing,” catalyzes a paradigm shift in critical thinking about the world, positioning the void not as emptiness but as a space brimming with potential. Looking forward, this research invites further exploration of the ideological implications of digital nothingness. It raises questions about how these voids relate to capitalist consumption and production, and sheds light on the potential for art to challenge new forms of control imposed by digital technologies, of virtual spaces to transcend traditional power structures, and prevent new forms of exclusion by the development of non-ableist digital environments that integrate multiple sensory experiences. The hope is that such advancements would enhance accessibility and contribute to a comprehensive approach to inclusive societal knowledge formation and education.
Band, Seiten
278
Sprache, Format, Material, Ausgabe/Auflage
Englisch
Mediendateien
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