Encountering the Otherwise

3 units

The real is saturated with the spaces of projection, possibility, and the new that we now designate as virtual in order to keep them contained behind the glassy smoothness of the computer screen. The virtual reality of computer space is fundamentally no different from the virtual reality of writing, reading, drawing, or even thinking: the virtual is the space of emergence of the new, the unthought, the unrealized, which at every moment loads the presence of the present with supplementarily, redoubling a world through parallel universes, universes that might have been. Elizabeth A. Grosz Focused on Media and Materiality, we will be mapping the genealogy of the formation of materiality as a concept and will investigate ways that media mediate material relations. Heavy emphasis is given to possibilities for the media to be understood as varied environments. The course format consists mainly of small lecture sessions and active reading discussions which are moderated by the faculty but led by the students. There is a semester-long hands-on project. Through this project, we will utilize visualization and 3D projection mapping to bring focus on the moments when material relations point to incorporeal environments.