record

Thesis Info

LABS ID
00677
Thesis Title
Aesthetic informational systems: Towards an ontology of computer-generated aesthetic artefacts
Author
Rodrigo Hernandez Ramirez
2nd Author
3rd Author
Degree
PhD
Year
2018
Number of Pages
xx, 241
University
University of Lisbon
Thesis Supervisor
Victor dos Reis
Supervisor e-mail
vdosreis AT fba.ul.pt
Other Supervisor(s)
Miguel Carvalhais
Language(s) of Thesis
English and Portuguese
Department / Discipline
Faculty of Fine Arts
Copyright Ownership
Rodrigo Hernandez Ramirez
Languages Familiar to Author
Spanish, English, Portuguese
URL where full thesis can be found
www.researchgate.net/publication/325320515_Aesthetic_Informational_Systems_Towards_an_ontology_of_computer-generated_aesthetic_artefacts
Keywords
Aesthetic Informational Systems; Computer-generated Aesthetic Artefacts; Method of LoAs; Philosophy of Information; Philosophy of Technology
Abstract: 200-500 words
Computer-generated aesthetic artefacts and the technology employed to create them have brought serious challenges for art scholarship. How should they be understood, described and categorised in relation to non-computational artworks, and how current technological developments are affecting aesthetic practices and our understanding of art in the Information Age are two of the most pressing questions in this field. To address them, this dissertation proposes a scientifically-informed conceptual inquiry and historical account of the relation between computational technology and art. The analysis here presented is based on insights provided by contemporary philosophy of technology and philosophy of information. These styles of analysis give access to a broader understanding of information and communication technologies (and computational technology in particular) that mitigates some of the epistemic shortcomings of media studies and critical theory. This dissertation shows computers are the ultimate modelling machines; tools that allow us design, represent, interact with, and objectify entities and experiences that need not exist in concrete (Modern or “Newtonian”) reality, but merely as information. It shows computational aesthetic objects may be better described as simulations: as dynamic, persistent, technically mediated renderings of a source system at different levels of abstraction (granularities). But also that they may also be regarded and analysed as complex informational systems: as patterns, programs, or interfaces which, upon being interpreted, not merely convey but generate new factual information. Ultimately, this dissertation shows that regarding computational technology and computational aesthetic objects as systems illuminates their complexities and shows why monolithic and overarching characterisations of either of them are unlikely to provide valuable knowledge in the long run. While only explicit on certain sections, the underlying argument advanced by this dissertation is that art scholars should care to develop a more robust computational literacy, as well as to question certain (Romantic) prejudices concerning the relationship between art, science, and technology.