dear rosanne,

thanks for your response. (also to johannes for re-iterating the
lessons that can be learned from the 'computer music' experience; i
think we may have to brave a step ahead and actually draw the
conclusions from these considerations ...) - thinking aloud:

rosanne emphasises a point which i also tried to make in my paper:
'media art' might be less of a specific type of work, but a 'way of
looking' - which would mean that the term 'media art' is not very
precise (as _the term_ suggests that there are works which *are*
media art, rather than it being a method of looking at all sorts of
different types of artworks).

this would take us from a discussion of 'production aesthetics' into
the realm of 'reception aesthetics', and would dislodge debates
around 'media art' from the narrowing aspects of technology and
innovation. if, as rosanne suggests, 'code-awareness' becomes the
criterion, then the gates are wide open to merge the field of
technologically based art with the broader field of contemporary art.
(i like rosanne's image of mediality as a 'blind spot' of
contemporary art discourses.) and this would imply that the mere
'creative engagement' with new technologies is no longer enough as a
criterion.

regards,
-a


>rosanne wrote:
>But media theory is too often left out of the equation when a work of art is
>assessed. This is where the media art institution – whether the permanent
>Media Art center or the festival – steps in. It is a place where we can put
>on media-colored glasses (which look very much like X-ray glasses) and view
>art in terms of its “mediality”. This also means exhibiting and examining an
>artwork from a media-theoretical standpoint even if it is pure painting or
>straight-up performance/dance.

(...)

>Let’s move closer to that saying, “Media Art is about knowing the codes and
>breaking them.” This is definitely no all-encompassing definition but it is
>helpful and it is something that can be found in work by the artists Andreas
>cited (Export, JODI, Peljan, Weiser, etc.). There is plenty of room here for
>technology or protest and “anti” as well as the breaking of aesthetic codes,
>social codes, or breaking open the codes of commercial art.