Technology, Art and Innovation In New York

Catalog description

New York City has long been a center for experimentation at the intersection ofscience, technology and the arts. This course will explore the evolving relationshipbetween media technologies and contemporary art, examining how emerging tools - from early video and multimedia to smartphones and AI - have shaped artistic production and cultural critique. The class builds on my very popular Palo Alto course "The Rise of Digital Culture," but because it will be smaller and taught in New York, "Technology, Art and Innovation" will be project-based and arts-focused in ways that the California offering can't be. Course elements will include class discussions, engagement with New York's museums, galleries, and archives, analysis of critical texts, and an independent research project. Readings will incorporate primary sources (artist statements, essays, and manifestos) and contemporary scholarship. Guest speakers, including artists, curators, and media theorists, will provide firsthand perspectives on the intersections of art, technology, and science in contemporary practice. Students will be encouraged to critically analyze the role of technological innovation in visual culture (and vice-versa). They will ultimately propose their own research topics on themes emerging from the course.