Photography and New Media in Contemporary Art
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students withthe essential historical knoledge and methodological perspective for the in-depht study of Twentieth-Century art researches, based on photography and new media.
Expected learning outcomes
- explain the fundamental theoretical and thematic issues concerning the artistic practices based on photography and new media in Twentieth-Century;
- explain the main trends in Contemporary art based on photography and new media in Twentieth-Century;
- analyze artworks based on photography and new media (technic, form, style), according to the specific cultural and historic context and by using an historic or critical method;
- apply different theoretical approaches and methods, getting a specific historiographical methodology to study subjects of lessons.
- explain the main trends in Contemporary art based on photography and new media in Twentieth-Century;
- analyze artworks based on photography and new media (technic, form, style), according to the specific cultural and historic context and by using an historic or critical method;
- apply different theoretical approaches and methods, getting a specific historiographical methodology to study subjects of lessons.
Lesson period: Second 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
Second semester
Course syllabus
Part A (40 ore, 6 ects):
Photography, videoart and new media: theory, methods, themes and issues
Part B (20 ore, 3 ects; for the exam of 9 ects):
Sculpture, technology and new media in the second half of the 20th Century
Topics of lessons:
Part A: Photography, videoart and new media: theoretical topics, themes and issues, historical models, and significant examples
Part B: Sculpture, technology and new media in the second half of the 20th century: expansion of the concept and forms of sculpture in relation to the use of new materials, techniques and media.
The lessons include lectures by other professors and scholars, visits to museums, archives and exhibitions.
Attending lessons of Part A is requested for the exam of 6 ects; attending lessons of Part A and B is requested for the exam of 9 ects.
Photography, videoart and new media: theory, methods, themes and issues
Part B (20 ore, 3 ects; for the exam of 9 ects):
Sculpture, technology and new media in the second half of the 20th Century
Topics of lessons:
Part A: Photography, videoart and new media: theoretical topics, themes and issues, historical models, and significant examples
Part B: Sculpture, technology and new media in the second half of the 20th century: expansion of the concept and forms of sculpture in relation to the use of new materials, techniques and media.
The lessons include lectures by other professors and scholars, visits to museums, archives and exhibitions.
Attending lessons of Part A is requested for the exam of 6 ects; attending lessons of Part A and B is requested for the exam of 9 ects.
Prerequisites for admission
Very good knowledge of contemporary history and contemporary art history (since the Age of Enlightment to today), and of history of photography of Nineteenth-Century and Twentieth-Century.
Teaching methods
Different strategies and teaching methods:
- frontal lesson (by different approaches: analysis of single photographs, philological and archives paper-based analysis, critics and theoretical analysis, by studying historical, social and political background )
- interaction during frontal lessons
- Q&A and polling app
- group research projects
- guided tour in museums, exhibitions, archives
- seminars and study days
- after the end of lessons, the showed images will be available on Ariel website - Course on Photography and New Media in Contemporary Art
- frontal lesson (by different approaches: analysis of single photographs, philological and archives paper-based analysis, critics and theoretical analysis, by studying historical, social and political background )
- interaction during frontal lessons
- Q&A and polling app
- group research projects
- guided tour in museums, exhibitions, archives
- seminars and study days
- after the end of lessons, the showed images will be available on Ariel website - Course on Photography and New Media in Contemporary Art
Teaching Resources
Study program (bibliography) for students ATTENDING THE LESSONS:
(Part A is requested for the exam of 6 ects)
Part A (6 ects)
1. Topics of the lessons in Part A;
2. Selected parts of books:
. Rosalind Krauss, Teoria e storia della fotografia, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996 (ediz. italiana a cura di Elio Grazioli; 1a ediz. Le photographique. Pour une théorie des écarts, Paris, Macula, 1990) [Prefazione, Introduzione, Cap. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12];
. Roberto Signorini, Arte del fotografico. I confini della fotografia e la riflessione teorica degli ultimi vent'anni, Editore CRT, 2001 [Introduzione, Capitolo 1]
. André Gunthert, L'immagine condivisa. La fotografia digitale, Contrasto, Milano 2016 []
3. Selected parts of books:
. Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Le storie del video, Roma, Bulzoni editore, Roma 2003 [saggi: Valentina Valentini, La multimedialità fra video, teatro e arte; Jacques Deridda, Videor; Philippe Dubois, Video e scrittura elettronica. La questione estetica; Rosalind Krauss, Il video, l'estetica del narcisismo; Anne-Marie Duguet, Dispositivi; Raymond Bellour, Di un altro cinema]
. Cosetta Saba, Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Videoarte in Italia. Il video rende felici, Treccani, Roma 2022 [Premessa; cap. 1, 2, 3, 4]
4. Selected parts of books:
. Valentino Catricalà, Media Art. Prospettive delle arti verso il XXI secolo, Mimesis Editore, Milano 2016 [Premessa, Introduzione, cap. 1, 2, 3];
. Lev Manovich, Il linguaggio dei nuovi media, Edizioni Olivares, Milano 2002 [Introduzione, cap. 1];
. Edward Shanken, Art in the Information Age: Technology and Conceptual Art, "Leonardo", vol. 35, n. 4, 2002, pp. 433-438
Jack Burnham, Art and Technology. The panacea that failed, in The Myths of Information, a cura di K. Woodward, Coda Press, 1980
5. Selection of videos on streaming EAI (Electronic Art Intermix) and at Careof, Milan; list will be communicated during the lessons and published on Ariel
Part B (3 ects; it's requested for the exam of 9 ects)
1. Topics of the lessons in Part B;
2. A specific bibliography will be communicated at the beginning of the course.
At the end of lessons, images showed will be available on Ariel website - Course on Photography and New Media in Contemporary Art.
Study program (bibliography) for students NOT ATTENDING THE LESSONS:
(Part A is requested for the exam of 6 ects)
Attending lessons is strongly suggested and it is requested for students who aim to request a dissertation in History of Photography and History of Contemporary Art.
Part A (6 ects)
1. Selected parts of books:
. Rosalind Krauss, Teoria e storia della fotografia, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996 (ediz. italiana a cura di Elio Grazioli; 1a ediz. Le photographique. Pour une théorie des écarts, Paris, Macula, 1990) [Prefazione, Introduzione, Cap. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12];
. Roberto Signorini, Arte del fotografico. I confini della fotografia e la riflessione teorica degli ultimi vent'anni, Editore CRT, 2001 [Introduzione, Capitolo 1]
2. André Gunthert, L'immagine condivisa. La fotografia digitale, Contrasto, Milano 2016
3. Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Le storie del video, Roma, Bulzoni editore, Roma 2003
4. Selected parts of books:
. Cosetta Saba, Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Videoarte in Italia. Il video rende felici, Treccani, Roma 2022 [Premessa; cap. 1, 2, 3, 4]
. Christian Uva, L'immagine politica. Forme del contropotere tra cinema, video e fotografia nell'Italia degli anni Settanta, Mimesis, Milano 2015 [Introduzione, cap. 2]
5. Le seguenti parti dei volumi indicati:
. Valentino Catricalà, Media Art. Prospettive delle arti verso il XXI secolo, Mimesis Editore, Milano 2016 [Premessa, Introduzione, cap. 1, 2, 3];
. Lev Manovich, Il linguaggio dei nuovi media, Edizioni Olivares, Milano 2002 [Introduzione, cap. 1];
. Edward Shanken, Art in the Information Age: Technology and Conceptual Art, "Leonardo", vol. 35, n. 4, 2002, pp. 433-438
Jack Burnham, Art and Technology. The panacea that failed, in The Myths of Information, a cura di K. Woodward, Coda Press, 1980
6. A book to be chosen by the student from the list below:
. Lucy Lippard, Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972, University of California Press, 1997 (1° ed. 1973)
. Germano Celant, Precronistoria 1966-69, Quodlibet, Macerata 2017 (1° ed. 1976)
. Cristina Casero, Elena Di Raddo (a cura di), Anni Settanta. La rivoluzione nei linguaggi dell'arte, Postmedia books, Milano 2015
. Lara Conte, Materia, corpo, azione. Ricerche artistiche processuali tra Europa e Stati Uniti. 1966-1970, Electa, Milano 2010
7. Selection of videos on streaming EAI (Electronic Art Intermix); list will be published on Ariel
Part B (3 ects; it's requested for the exam of 9 ects)
1. A specific bibliography will be communicated at the beginning of the course.
It is recommended to the students not attending the lessons to consult images uploaded in Ariel website as support for the study of topics and photographers quoted in the books.
Notes
Eventual changes in bibliography will be communicated.
International students or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the professor in order to agree upon the program.
Assessement methods for students with disabilities and/or DSA due to be planned with the professor, according to specific Unimi Office.
Students can find information by consulting website:
Gli studenti potranno trovare tutte le principali informazioni organizzative consultando sul web:
- Unimi website
http://www.unimi.it/
- Humanities Faculty website
http://www.studiumanistici.unimi.it/
- Cultural Heritage and Environment website
http://www.bac.unimi.it/
- History and Criticism of Art Master's Degree website
https://arte.cdl.unimi.it/it/avvisi
(Part A is requested for the exam of 6 ects)
Part A (6 ects)
1. Topics of the lessons in Part A;
2. Selected parts of books:
. Rosalind Krauss, Teoria e storia della fotografia, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996 (ediz. italiana a cura di Elio Grazioli; 1a ediz. Le photographique. Pour une théorie des écarts, Paris, Macula, 1990) [Prefazione, Introduzione, Cap. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12];
. Roberto Signorini, Arte del fotografico. I confini della fotografia e la riflessione teorica degli ultimi vent'anni, Editore CRT, 2001 [Introduzione, Capitolo 1]
. André Gunthert, L'immagine condivisa. La fotografia digitale, Contrasto, Milano 2016 []
3. Selected parts of books:
. Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Le storie del video, Roma, Bulzoni editore, Roma 2003 [saggi: Valentina Valentini, La multimedialità fra video, teatro e arte; Jacques Deridda, Videor; Philippe Dubois, Video e scrittura elettronica. La questione estetica; Rosalind Krauss, Il video, l'estetica del narcisismo; Anne-Marie Duguet, Dispositivi; Raymond Bellour, Di un altro cinema]
. Cosetta Saba, Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Videoarte in Italia. Il video rende felici, Treccani, Roma 2022 [Premessa; cap. 1, 2, 3, 4]
4. Selected parts of books:
. Valentino Catricalà, Media Art. Prospettive delle arti verso il XXI secolo, Mimesis Editore, Milano 2016 [Premessa, Introduzione, cap. 1, 2, 3];
. Lev Manovich, Il linguaggio dei nuovi media, Edizioni Olivares, Milano 2002 [Introduzione, cap. 1];
. Edward Shanken, Art in the Information Age: Technology and Conceptual Art, "Leonardo", vol. 35, n. 4, 2002, pp. 433-438
Jack Burnham, Art and Technology. The panacea that failed, in The Myths of Information, a cura di K. Woodward, Coda Press, 1980
5. Selection of videos on streaming EAI (Electronic Art Intermix) and at Careof, Milan; list will be communicated during the lessons and published on Ariel
Part B (3 ects; it's requested for the exam of 9 ects)
1. Topics of the lessons in Part B;
2. A specific bibliography will be communicated at the beginning of the course.
At the end of lessons, images showed will be available on Ariel website - Course on Photography and New Media in Contemporary Art.
Study program (bibliography) for students NOT ATTENDING THE LESSONS:
(Part A is requested for the exam of 6 ects)
Attending lessons is strongly suggested and it is requested for students who aim to request a dissertation in History of Photography and History of Contemporary Art.
Part A (6 ects)
1. Selected parts of books:
. Rosalind Krauss, Teoria e storia della fotografia, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996 (ediz. italiana a cura di Elio Grazioli; 1a ediz. Le photographique. Pour une théorie des écarts, Paris, Macula, 1990) [Prefazione, Introduzione, Cap. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12];
. Roberto Signorini, Arte del fotografico. I confini della fotografia e la riflessione teorica degli ultimi vent'anni, Editore CRT, 2001 [Introduzione, Capitolo 1]
2. André Gunthert, L'immagine condivisa. La fotografia digitale, Contrasto, Milano 2016
3. Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Le storie del video, Roma, Bulzoni editore, Roma 2003
4. Selected parts of books:
. Cosetta Saba, Valentina Valentini (a cura di), Videoarte in Italia. Il video rende felici, Treccani, Roma 2022 [Premessa; cap. 1, 2, 3, 4]
. Christian Uva, L'immagine politica. Forme del contropotere tra cinema, video e fotografia nell'Italia degli anni Settanta, Mimesis, Milano 2015 [Introduzione, cap. 2]
5. Le seguenti parti dei volumi indicati:
. Valentino Catricalà, Media Art. Prospettive delle arti verso il XXI secolo, Mimesis Editore, Milano 2016 [Premessa, Introduzione, cap. 1, 2, 3];
. Lev Manovich, Il linguaggio dei nuovi media, Edizioni Olivares, Milano 2002 [Introduzione, cap. 1];
. Edward Shanken, Art in the Information Age: Technology and Conceptual Art, "Leonardo", vol. 35, n. 4, 2002, pp. 433-438
Jack Burnham, Art and Technology. The panacea that failed, in The Myths of Information, a cura di K. Woodward, Coda Press, 1980
6. A book to be chosen by the student from the list below:
. Lucy Lippard, Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972, University of California Press, 1997 (1° ed. 1973)
. Germano Celant, Precronistoria 1966-69, Quodlibet, Macerata 2017 (1° ed. 1976)
. Cristina Casero, Elena Di Raddo (a cura di), Anni Settanta. La rivoluzione nei linguaggi dell'arte, Postmedia books, Milano 2015
. Lara Conte, Materia, corpo, azione. Ricerche artistiche processuali tra Europa e Stati Uniti. 1966-1970, Electa, Milano 2010
7. Selection of videos on streaming EAI (Electronic Art Intermix); list will be published on Ariel
Part B (3 ects; it's requested for the exam of 9 ects)
1. A specific bibliography will be communicated at the beginning of the course.
It is recommended to the students not attending the lessons to consult images uploaded in Ariel website as support for the study of topics and photographers quoted in the books.
Notes
Eventual changes in bibliography will be communicated.
International students or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the professor in order to agree upon the program.
Assessement methods for students with disabilities and/or DSA due to be planned with the professor, according to specific Unimi Office.
Students can find information by consulting website:
Gli studenti potranno trovare tutte le principali informazioni organizzative consultando sul web:
- Unimi website
http://www.unimi.it/
- Humanities Faculty website
http://www.studiumanistici.unimi.it/
- Cultural Heritage and Environment website
http://www.bac.unimi.it/
- History and Criticism of Art Master's Degree website
https://arte.cdl.unimi.it/it/avvisi
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment of knowledge and skills: by oral exam about topics of the program and starting from identification and analysis of artworks of Twentieth-Century.
L-ART/03 - HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ART - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor:
Colombo Davide
Professor(s)
Reception:
On Tuesday, h. 2 pm; appointemt by email is requested.
Dipartimento di Beni culturali e ambientali, via Noto 8, Milan - 5° floor - classroom 2