Instructor:
Digital technologies and emerging interactive media such as video games, the internet, 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI), and immersive virtual realities(VR/AR/MR) continue to provide contemporary artists with new expressive possibilities for social and political engagement. In this course, we will critically examine the capacity of digital art for provoking social change and the ways by which artists creatively deploy new media tools to visualize, perform, and propel activism. Through encounters with a variety of original digital artworks, we will map technologically-enabled aesthetic practices that effectively address, raise awareness, and inspire dialogue about pressing issues of our time including human rights violations, climate change, and civil, economic or political inequalities. We will explore the reach and impact of digital art both as a form of social engagement and as a method for challenging existing perceptions and cultural narratives while offering alternative possibilities about the world around us. In addition to examining the creative potential of digital art for social change and reflecting on the implications and limitations of the practice, we will also deepen our ability to interpret and evaluate socially-engaged works of digital art. Ultimately, we will apply new media tools and technologies to imagine creative solutions for promoting social activism and advocacy.