Aesthetics of Media and Post-Media Practices: Artworks and the Paradoxes of Media-Transmitted Reality. (original) (raw)

This article is a result of my participation at the International Congress of Aesthetics (2019). The conference presentation and full text were published in the proceedings book (ISBN 978-86-7924-224-2). After a selection was made, the editorial board of Art and Media, AM Journal of Art and Media Studies (ISSN 2217-9666 – printed, ISSN 2406-1654 – online) also decided to publish this article. Abstract: This article analyzes selected classic artworks, which exert influence over contemporary images. The basis of this research proposal is the analysis of the transformation of long-established and internationally recognized artworks through digital technology and social media. The investigation will also highlight the symbolic meaning of absolute values of the human being, such as the primary emotions regarding different forms of representation and reproduction of images broadcast by media, concerning the political impact of global visual culture. The first concern is that visual culture consists of an “image” of reality in constant reconfiguration. Thus, visual arts have been presented consensually based on democratic ideals and freedom of expression. Nonetheless, forms of transgression have been transformed. Among the most significant factors are the lack of criteria and the dissolution of values to explain why visual culture, in its purpose, is often not understood or assimilated. In some cases, real tragedies are confused with artistic performances. In fact, the general tendency is for fiction to imitate reality even more closely. Therefore, the second concern is the context of visual arts in current media, i.e., the meaning of the images, when manipulated and instrumentalized according to political-ideological interests, concerning society (especially regarding the power of capital and consumption), and their global and cultural impact through social networks. The objective of this study is to discern facts from fiction to better understand and interpret emerging society towards democracy. The relationship between ethics and aesthetic values is not only in art’s formal elements but also as content in human achievements. The images are analyzed through art history, iconology, and iconography, to investigate, select, and evaluate the visual object as a form of communication in the current social impact of political images. Finally, the objective is to show the real-digital interface as a means of interpretation and aesthetic experience as part of this perception process, also considering the artifice of the images in configuration. Hence, absolute reference values of human existence in visual arts are questioned, eliminating any illusion, given the sense of novelty, in the face of mercantile injunctions and technical progress concerning the impact it exerts on social networks. Cites as: Wagner, Christiane. 2019. “Artworks and the Paradoxes of the Media-Transmitted Reality.” In Proceedings book of International Congress of Aesthetics, Art and Media, AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, (October): 71– 85. DOI: http://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i20.324