Art and Design in the Digital Age

We tend to think of art and technology as two separate, almost opposite things. But what if we showed you that the development of technology owes its debt to artists? And that art would not be what it is, without technology? "The digital age", born out of the scientific and technological revolutions of the last 500 years, exposes the artificial divergence of disciplinary categories.

It is an exciting moment in art and design history. On the one hand, technological tools change what we are capable of doing – and contemporary artists/designers indeed use those technologies with much imagination: from image processing to immersive virtual environments; from social networks to flash mobs and cyber-attacks; from fake news to surveillance systems - art had never had so many tools to play while directly interacting with us within our social realities. On the other hand, art does so while examining, distorting, criticizing and inventing new technologies as it allows us to imagine the furthest frontiers of what technology may be able to do.

This course aims to look at these inter-disciplinary cross-overs between art, design and technology while asking: how does this new technological age is changing our culture, society and life? What do these teach us about ourselves? How can we reflect through it about our pasts, presents and futures?

The course is aimed at anyone who is curious about what it means to be born and to live in "the digital age". The course combines lectures, interviews with theoreticians and artists, artwork analysis, case studies and stimulating discussions. The course also offers some practical exercises that will introduce you to basics in programming, digital image processing and 3D printing.

You would not need preliminary knowledge of art history, but such knowledge may be helpful.

This course was created and produced by Shenkar - Engineering. Design. Art.

1. Provide a comprehensive review of the history and theory of art as it is seen in the digital age, informing them of the reciprocal relationship between art, design and technology

2. Engage students in active discussions and provide them tools to critically think of art and technology

3. Provide students with a set of terms and a language that will enable them to assess and analyse contemporary art and design

4. Provide students with knowledge of digital tools that are used in today’s developing industry

5. Introduce students to some of the leading thinkers in the field