New Media Art & Speculative Programming

Lecture
Software code – speculative, creative, experimental (Monika Szűcsová)
During the lecture the term speculative programming will be used as a synonym for the creative practice called software art. This artistic genre was born in the late 1990s. It represents an attempt to understand the software code as an artistic means of expression, which may not be merely a tool for producing artistic artifacts (image, music, video), but can (and does) become an artistic work itself. Software art points the dynamic properties of software, its processes and metaphors. Artists devoted to this artistic genre reveal the creative potential of software and develop innovative strategies to work with it creating alternative software models. How can the software code write a love letter, work as a set of instructions for a soup recipe, or help the program user to write a suicide letter? The lecture will introduce some of creative tactics that artists – programmers use in software art.

Case study I.
On the laical edge of software, art and activism (Andreas Gajdošík)
Case study focuses on recent (artistic) projects which operate on the edge of software development, art and activism. Following the few examples of practice of my own and other artists and programmers we will try to examine the laical dimension of socially or politically engaged software art. Not really a proper software, not really a campaign, not really a gallery piece, what is it?

Lectures and case studies will be held in English. Full syllabus available here, the list of all lectures available here. Lessons take place every Thursday at 14.00 as a part of New Media and Entertainment (M_VIRTUAL) course held at TIM FF MU. In case of any questions, please contact us at virtual@phil.muni.cz.