The lecture-based course examines how media technologies are used in contemporary art practices to better understand how media adds meaning and innovation. Key properties of media art including interactivity, telepresence, networking, data visualization, body/technology hybrids, artificial intelligence, machine learning and others are defined and placed in a larger framework of art as a social practice contingent to a greater social-cultural-technological framework. Key questions are discussed that pertain to the nature of artistic media, the interaction between art and technology, the evolution and ecology of information technologies, the social and political aspects of avant-garde art, the nature of experimentation and other themes which are illustrated by key works from around the world. The course will also study how the merging of art with science has occurred in various art movements over the past century and how the two are being linked today.

Continuous Assessment: 100%