IT-Universitetet i København
 
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Kursusbeskrivelse
Kursusnavn (dansk):Digital medieæstetik 
Kursusnavn (engelsk):Digital Media Aestethics 
Semester:Forår 2017 
Udbydes under:cand.it., digital design og kommunikation (ddk) 
Omfang i ECTS:7,50 
Kursussprog:Engelsk 
Kursushjemmeside:https://learnit.itu.dk 
Min. antal deltagere:12 
Forventet antal deltagere:0 
Maks. antal deltagere:40 
Formelle forudsætninger:This course is the first part of the specialisation Digital Aesthetics. 
Læringsmål:After the course students should be able to:
• Engage with processes of design, innovation and aesthetic practices
• Identify aesthetic perspectives within a creative business context
• Develop experiential aspects of engagement with emerging IT services
• Structure an explorative design process driven by aesthetic imperatives
• Critically analyse, contextualise and argue from aesthetic perspectives on real-world cases
• Analyse and evaluate self-initiated aesthetic prototypes and speculative design probes 
Fagligt indhold:This course provides an introduction to aesthetic perspectives, contexts and strategies.
The emerging designs, services and artefacts related to IT are increasingly embedded in everyday life and working practices. The possibilities for innovation and artistic engagement evolve a range new interesting possibilities, often reaching beyond current media, expressions and audiences. We will approach these challenges form aesthetic and experiential perspectives, including a rigorous engagements with a variety of arts practices, innovative business areas and critical contexts.

Core to the course is an integrated approach to innovative processes and aesthetic expression, where a combination of critical analysis, speculative design processes and real-world testing form the basis for the development of creative capacities and ambitions.

Every session will involve all these aspects: the explorative design practice, the critical theoretical analysis and contextualisation, and the engagement with real-world contexts. The relevance and application of the developed insights, methods and theoretical capacity will be challenged by visiting artists and innovative designers, who represent the forefront of aesthetically infused businesses.

Topics:
As an inspiration and context for innovation and artistic engagement, we will explore aesthetic theories, both from traditional and contemporary perspectives. We will take stock of the expressive potential of different media and identify the particularities of digital media. The theoretical approach to aesthetics will be instrumental in critically analysing both concepts and artworks, and will be helpful in shaping an understanding for the implementations of venerable cultural techniques in new circumstances.

The relationship between the body and technology has always had an impact practically as well as theoretically. We will focus on materiality, the senses and interaction; an approach that is not screen based but rather integrates into the relationship between bodies, materials and surroundings. Wearables, (soft) robotics and smart materials will be explored and discussed within an aesthetics, ethic, historic and contemporary frame.

The emergence of biotechnologies and have opened up new possibilities to relate IT and digital artefacts with the biological/organic world. These possibilities also impact the emergence of novel questions, e.g. concerning life / artificial life, and in a larger context humans relation to ‘nature’. We will critically explore from an art & design perspective; emerging possibilities, context, and questions surrounding the creation of new types of hybrid entities and ecologies that combine technological and biological matter. These include human enhancement, biotechnology-based design, robotics with AI, and ecology as a critical concept.

IT technologies have increasingly become part of the build environment, influencing design practice as well as how the architecture functions. We will look at particular aspect of the inhabited space, such as adaptive lighting and telemediated work practices, and in collaboration with world leading architectural companies engage in the development of aesthetic strategies for future designs.

Creative entrepreneurship will be one of the focus points in the course. We will focus on the practice of business – in the creative industries. The focus of the creative entrepreneur differs from that of the typical business entrepreneur or the social entrepreneur in that it is concerned first and foremost with the creation and exploitation of creative or intellectual capital. Essentially, creative entrepreneurs are investors in their own or other people’s talent. 
Læringsaktiviteter:14 ugers undervisning bestående af forelæsninger, øvelser og vejledning

14 weeks of teaching. One day a week with four hours of lectures and exercises.

The activities include:
• lectures and discussions engaging with aesthetic perspectives and contexts,
• exercises and prototyping with design, coding and testing of artefact and services,
• reading on aesthetic issues and critical writing on key topics and design processes

The teaching methods are based on an integration of several modes of learning:
• exploration and experience of practice,
• critical analysis and contextualization,
• speculative and explorative investigations,
• continuous exercises with processes of documentation and critical writing

As a means to inform the learning with real-world contexts, we will:
• take excursions to visit arts exhibitions and creative industries
• have presentations and workshops with artists and innovative designers
• present the developed aesthetic speculations and critical thinking to a panel of artistic and industry representatives 

Obligatoriske aktivititer:During the course there will be two mandatory essays (15-2500 words or 3-6 pages) The essays will be part of a critical reflection on the learning activities. The essays are evaluated on a pass/fail basis, and if failed, a mandatory re-submission is required within two weeks.

If a student fails to pass a mandatory activity, the student will consequently receive the grade NA (not approved) at the ordinary exam. 
Eksamensform og -beskrivelse:C: Skriftlige arbejder uden mundtlig eksamen., (7-scale, external exam)

The final exam will be a 10-12 pages essay dealing with some of the topics relevant to the course. The topic will be decided in collaboration with the teacher, and developed in supervision sessions.  

Litteratur udover forskningsartikler:Reading will be provided during the course