Aesthetics of the New Media: Music and Colour
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with a philosophical foundation regarding how new media are changing our perception of the world. In particular, the relationship between new media, music and color will be explored. We will examine the repercussions of digital images and music in aesthetics, in the spheres of both art and everyday-life. Along with the notion of "medium", other related themes will be investigated each year, such as digital image and music, digital performance, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to develop a critical approach to the aesthetic transformations implied by the new media. Students will be able to apply this knowledge to the contemporary philosophical and artistic debate. They will be able to investigate and evaluate a digital image, a piece of digital music, or a work of art that makes use of virtual reality or artificial intelligence, and think in-depth about the presence of these new technologies and the new responsibilities that they imply.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The first part of the course will focus on the relationship between art and artificial intelligence, considering several works made with this new technology. The course will run from the first images produced with Deep Dream, through the art of GANs (generative adversarial networks), to the most recent experiments with systems that convert language into images (Midjourney, Dall-e, Stable Diffusion) and GPT3 and 4. A particular focus will be made this year on the theme of dialogue: the Apology of Socrates will be read in class (reciting it together as a piece of theater and then commenting on it) and an attempt will be made to consider how and under what conditions chatGPT can be considered dialogical. Students will also have the opportunity to be involved in a theater project with chatGPT of which the teacher is PI, even attending part of the performance at the "Duende" theater and new technology festival in Brescia. Finally, the topic of writing with AI will be addressed through a talk by writer Davide Morossinotto, whose book "Viaggio oltre l'ignoto" (two short stories written by a human and an AI writer) will be brought up for examination.
The second part of the course will examine some philosophical inquiries that address this question: how have digital technologies transformed and are still transforming not only artistic practices, but also the very way humans perceive the world? A particular focus will be made this year on David Bolter, whose text "Digital Plenitude" will be covered in class and brought to the exam. Students will also be asked to read some of Philip Dick's short stories (from the collection "Electric Dreams") and from there to reflect (both in class and on the exam) on the traits of the digital already present in these texts and the changes that have taken place.
The second part of the course will examine some philosophical inquiries that address this question: how have digital technologies transformed and are still transforming not only artistic practices, but also the very way humans perceive the world? A particular focus will be made this year on David Bolter, whose text "Digital Plenitude" will be covered in class and brought to the exam. Students will also be asked to read some of Philip Dick's short stories (from the collection "Electric Dreams") and from there to reflect (both in class and on the exam) on the traits of the digital already present in these texts and the changes that have taken place.
Prerequisites for admission
The course aims at introducing some topics that are relatively new, therefore there are no prerequisites. An interest is required in the different forms of art (figurative, literary and musical arts), in particular in their mutual intersection, and in new technologies.
Teaching methods
The course will include several parts of collective discussion, during which students will be free to speak, and in view of which they will be invited to read, if they can (nothing will be mandatory, at this stage), some light texts (short stories) that will serve as an introduction to the discussion.
As for the face-to-face lectures, the first part of the course, on artificial intelligence, will alternate between theoretical and concrete analyses of individual works, which will be questioned from a philosophical point of view.
The second part, on the digital, will be articulated both through a reading of a text on the topic ("Digital Plenitude" by David Bolter) and through discussion all together from some of Philip Dick's short stories.
The stories that will be the subject of seminar discussion will be: 1. Journey Beyond the Unknown (to be read by Sept. 30) 2. Dirk Gently, holistic detective agency (for Oct. 11) 3. Electric Dreams by Philip Dick (for Nov. 4)
The last lesson will be devoted to a discussion of texts made by students with AI.
As for the face-to-face lectures, the first part of the course, on artificial intelligence, will alternate between theoretical and concrete analyses of individual works, which will be questioned from a philosophical point of view.
The second part, on the digital, will be articulated both through a reading of a text on the topic ("Digital Plenitude" by David Bolter) and through discussion all together from some of Philip Dick's short stories.
The stories that will be the subject of seminar discussion will be: 1. Journey Beyond the Unknown (to be read by Sept. 30) 2. Dirk Gently, holistic detective agency (for Oct. 11) 3. Electric Dreams by Philip Dick (for Nov. 4)
The last lesson will be devoted to a discussion of texts made by students with AI.
Teaching Resources
A. Barale, "The Art of AI: Philosophical Keywords," Cambridge Scholars, 2024; Italian edition, "L'arte dell'intelligenza artificiale: parole-chiave filosofiche," Jaca Book, 2024 (two chapters of your choice)
(for non-attending students, it is recommended to read the whole book)
Valentina Federici, Artificial intelligence, "Viaggio oltre l'ignoto," edited by P. Baccalario, D. Morossinotto, D. Magnone, Il Castoro, 2024.
Plato, Apology of Socrates, Bompiani, 2000.
Part 2:
D. Bolter, Plenitudine digitale. Il declino della cultura d'élite e lo scenario contemporaneo dei media, Minimum Fax, 2020.
Philip Dick, Electric Dreams, Fanucci, 2018 (three short stories of your choice).
(for non-attending students, it is recommended to read the whole book)
Valentina Federici, Artificial intelligence, "Viaggio oltre l'ignoto," edited by P. Baccalario, D. Morossinotto, D. Magnone, Il Castoro, 2024.
Plato, Apology of Socrates, Bompiani, 2000.
Part 2:
D. Bolter, Plenitudine digitale. Il declino della cultura d'élite e lo scenario contemporaneo dei media, Minimum Fax, 2020.
Philip Dick, Electric Dreams, Fanucci, 2018 (three short stories of your choice).
Assessment methods and Criteria
The test on both parts will be oral and will focus both on the texts and on the philosophical path proposed in class (non-attending students can still reconstruct the path through the lecturer's book). Each candidate will be asked to choose and comment on one work from each of the two parts of the course. In addition, each student will bring a small text made with artificial intelligence to the exam.
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