Screens are ubiquitous in contemporary life – be it in the shape of
mobile phones or tablets, cinema, television or computer screens, gaming
consoles, e-book readers or urban screens such as advertising panels or
the screens of ticket vending machines. We interact with screens daily
in numerous ways – at work, for recreation, navigation, education,
creation, and communication. We gain information about ourselves, other
people, our surroundings, and the world from and through screens. We
navigate, communicate, and commemorate via screens. Learning about
screen culture therefore also means learning about our relationship to
ourselves, other beings, and the world around us. This course explores
the theory and history of screen practices, and their relevance for
personal and cultural identity. While particular attention is paid to
digitization, which caused an enormous rise in screen interactions, this
class considers a long history of screen practices, which massively
exceeds that of electronic media. Emphasizing materials and objects and
highlighting qualities of the past in the present, this course explores
today’s screen media’s ancestors.
Through examples ranging from ancient times to computerised media, this
course analyses screen media practices’ interconnection, mutual
inspiration, and tradition as well as the discourses of power that
screen practices generate and continue. To this end, we will combine
analysis of texts, films and artworks in discussions and presentations
with visits to museums and exhibitions.
- Kursleiter*in: Dr. phil. Katharina Rein