Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
From the lectures presented and the readings required participants:
1. Learn about the discourses and terminology associated to the subject (or topic) of the School.
2. Exposure to literature related to the topic being discussed in the School.
3. Participate in interdisciplinary discussions about the subject of the School.
Credits: 0
Schedule: 03.10.2019 - 04.10.2019
Teacher in charge (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022): Lily Diaz-Kommonen
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Lily Diaz-Kommonen
Contact information for the course (valid 03.09.2019-21.12.2112):
lily.diaz@aalto.fi
CEFR level (applies in this implementation):
Language of instruction and studies (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022):
Teaching language: English
Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Every year we select a topic for discussion as part of the Doctoral School at the Department of Media. In general the School last 2-3 days. This includes direct contact with invited guest speakers and faculty members. There are lectures, seminar discussions and candidates make presentations.
Applies in this implementation:
Technical infrastructures, regimes of observation
Department of Media / doctor of arts school 2019
During recent years there has been an intensive debate regarding the impact of digital media in the lives of citizens. Nevertheless, the discussion regarding the qualitative distinctions between the different infrastructures supporting computation devices and media formats remain mostly the purview of engineers and computer scientists. Very little is said about the impact of new cultural and social ‘image environments’ for example where digitization and computing play a big role. The objective of this doctoral school is, from the perspective of arts and design, to discuss and reflect on about the notion of ubicomp – or ‘ubiquitous’ computing that is present everywhere and all the time.
In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing is the term used since the late 1990s and early years of the millennium to describe the new forms of applications and interaction emerging as a result of 1) the increase in capacity of memory handling and computation power of micro-processors together with 2) the miniaturization of computing devices which allows for their embedding into the fabric of everyday life. Some of the questions to be discussed are:
1. What is the ubicomp paradigm? What are some of its key aspects? How does it affect our everyday life?
2. How has the shift towards ubicomp paradigm affected creative production in media, art and design practices?
3. Drawing from a selected sample of ubicomp applications. What can we say about its negative as well as positive contributions?
Some keywords: Big data, citizens journalism, interactive visualizations, distributed interfaces, pervasive computing, surveillance culture, social media.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Participation in the School and quality of work presented.
Workload
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Candidates are supposed to engage in readings and prepare their own presentations for the school.
DETAILS
Study Material
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Study materials are given prior to each edition of the School.
Applies in this implementation:
READING LIST:
The Elephants in the (Server) Room: Sustainability and Surveillance in the era of Big Data. Simon Penny. http://simonpenny.net/2010Writings/Ekman_elephant_final.pdf
Cutting and Folding the Borgesian Map. Film as Complex Temporal Object in the Industrialization of Memory, Patricia Pisters (PDF. Emailed)
Peekaboo, I See You! About Observation, Surveillance, and Human Agency in the Age of Ubicomp, Lily Diaz (PDF. Emailed)
(IN)Visibility, (UN)Awareness, and A New Way of Seeing Through Complex Cinema. Maria Poulak (PDF. Emailed)
http://kauppinen.net/tomi/contextual-information-gio2015.pdf
http://kauppinen.net/tomi/AW4city2018.pdf
http://kauppinen.net/tomi/kauppinen-et-al-smartmuseum-2009.pdf
Prerequisites
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
The course is meant for doctoral students but advanced MA students can attend, if there is space available.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Details on the schedule
Applies in this implementation:
Participants are asked to submit a statement (300-word max.) regarding their interest in the school. They are given a literature list which they need to read before the seminar. After the seminar they will submit a five-page report (to their supervisor) about how the materials discussed will be used (or not) in their work.
THURSDAY, 3 October
Väre // R107
9:30:10:00 Coffee and Introductions
10:00-11:00 Introduction by Professor Lily Díaz-Kommonen
11:00-11:50. Presentation by Tomi Kauppinen
12:00-13:00. Lunch
Väre // Q203
13:30-14:30 Panel Discussion
Lily Diaz-Kommonen (Professor of New Media. Department of Media. Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture).
Masood Masoodian (Professor. Visual Communication Design Department of Media. Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture).
Harri Laakso (Professor (Associate professor). Photography research Department of Media. Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture).
Tomi Kauppinen (Project manager, academic coordinator docent, PH.D. Department of Computer).
TBA
14:30-15:00 Coffee Break
15:30- 17:00 Keynote: Hasan Elahi, artist
17:00-19:00 Druken Gods and a Box of Colours– opening of Prof. Heli Rekula’s exhibition at Helsinki Contemporary.
https://helsinkicontemporary.com/exhibition/drunken-gods-and-a-box-of-colours-humalaiset-jumal
19:30 onwards. Dinner w. participants
FRIDAY, 4 October
Väre // Q103
09:00-13:15
Students will work on exercises related to mapping surveillance within their own environments. The objective is to bring to the forefront technological infrastructures that are in the process of being naturalized. Should artists (and designers) be concerned about these? Why is it important? Why not?
Väre // Q203
13:15 – 17:00 Student presentations of work
- Teacher: Lily Diaz-Kommonen