Class Media Arts and Immersion

The contents of the programme focus on some of the main issues that have affected immersive media throughout its history, focusing on moments of evolution that have not implied ruptures or the discontinuation of previous media. The course aims to investigate immersion as a historical paradigm of media art and as a permanent challenge to technology.

1. Immersion as a paradigm of the 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.

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adopted is theoretical, based on expository classes where concepts, texts, case studies and diverse examples of historical documents (iconographic, press and material culture) will be presented, making possible the handling and visual experience of immersive images through suitable optical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

The texts will correspond to the various points of the program, being able to be selected by the students for presentation and oral discussion.

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.