Media Arts and Immersion

Presentation

This curricular unit is focused on some of the main issues that have affected immersive media throughout its history, addressing moments of evolution that did not imply ruptures or the discontinuation of previous media. On the other hand, by approaching in detail immersion both in screen practices and in peep practices, this unit enables a historical perspective for the critical analysis of immersion in the present, namely in the experiences of virtual reality. This archaeological perspective on the culture of immersion will also allow an understanding of how Portugal was positioned in the first European media systems for the production, distribution, and exhibition of images. The selected case studies will also foster the development of critical knowledge about the uses of immersive technologies in the sectors of cultural heritage and the creative industries.

Part of this Programme

Media Art and Communication

Level of Qualification|Semesters|ECTS

| Semestral | 7,5

Year | Type of course unit | Language

1 |Mandatory |Português

Code

ULHT6335-23141

Recommended complementary curricular units

Digital Aesthetics

Prerequisites and co-requisites

n/a

Professional Internship

Não

Syllabus

1. Immersion as a paradigm of media arts;

1.1. Illusion and immersion in the history and thinking of images;

1.2. The aesthetic experience of proximity: attraction and danger;

1.3. The importance of immersion in the modern project;

1.4. Optics and haptics in theories of perception;

2. The archaeological studies of the immersive optical spectacles;

2.1. Immersion in screen practices: panorama, neorama and cinerama;

2.2. Immersion in the peep practices: optical boxes, cosmoramas and stereoscopes;

2.3. The immersive visual culture in Portugal and its media system in Europe;

3. Immersion as an artistic and cultural mediation strategy;

3.1. The use of virtual reality for the recreation of monuments, sites and historical exhibitions;

3.2. The study and remediation of stereoscopic photography in virtual reality;

3.3. Artistic experimentation in virtual reality: case studies.

Objectives

a) Understand immersion as a historical paradigm of media arts;

b) To know how to recognize immersion as one of the lines of continuity between pre-photographic and photographic media;

c) To know the culture of immersive media in Portugal since the 19th century;

d) To know the origin of the media system of immersive media in Europe;

e) To know how to analyze the contemporary artistic remediations of modern immersive devices;

f) To know how to identify the intermedial practices of optical spectacles and know their rhetoric about immersion;

g) to know how to analyze cultural and artistic uses of early immersive media through virtual reality;

Teaching methodologies and assessment

The teaching methodology adopted is theoretical, based on expository classes where concepts, texts, case studies and diverse examples of historical documents (iconographic, press, and material culture) will be presented, making possible the handling and visual experience of immersive images through suitable optical equipments.

The texts will correspond to the various topics of the program, and students will be asked to select them for presentation and oral discussion.

The evaluation is continuous, encompassing an essay on one of the topics of the program with around 20,000 characters (60%), as well as an oral presentation of one of the texts indicated in the bibliography (30%). Attendance and participation in classes will have also be reflected in the final grade (10%).

References

• Crary, J. (1992). Techniques of the Observer. On Vision and Modernity in the Nineteenth Century. Massachussets, The MIT Press.

   

  Flores, V. (org.) (2019). The Third Image. Stereo Photography in Portugal, Lisbon: Documenta.

   

  Grau, O. (2003). Virtual Art. From Illusion to Immersion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

  Grau, O. (2019). ‘Alguma vez nos vamos habituar à imersão? Histórias da Arte dos Média & Ciência da Imagem’, in A Terceira Imagem. A fotografia estereoscópica em Portugal (org. Victor Flores). Lisboa: Documenta.

   

  Griffiths, A. (2013). Shivers Down Your Spine. Cinema, Museums, and the Immersive View. New York: Columbia University Press.

   

  Huhtamo, E. (2006). ‘The pleasures of the peephole: An archeological exploration of peep media’. In Book of imaginary media: Excavating the dream of the ultimate communication medium. Rotterdam: NAI.

   

  Musser, C. (1984). ‘Toward the History of Screen Practice’. Quarterly Review of Film Studies 9, no.1.

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