Digital Art and Aesthetics of Images

 Course Coordinator: Dr Bruce Wan Chi Kwong

Aims
This is a five-credit postgraduate level course. It is a core course of the Master of Arts in the Creative Industries and Cultural Assets programme. The course will introduce both the history and theories in the study of image representation as a dominant aspect in both classical and modern art. Issues in contemporary aesthetics and artistic practice in the fields of photography, video art, visual projection installation and digital media will be discussed. The connection and integration among images and other aspects of digital art, such as motion, interaction and immersion will also be explored. Students are encouraged to develop and realize their own critical framework in an individual work of art.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• Image representation and visual culture
• Traditional and digital means of image production
• Images and technologies
• Still, moving and expanded images
• Philosophy and aesthetics
• Reading image and aesthetic judgement
• Digital art theories
• Computational and generative images
• Aesthetic framework and artistic expression

Learning Support
Teaching methods include seminars, presentations as well as workshops. Students are expected to read all assigned readings and to conduct research for presentation and sharing at seminars. Faculty-supervised workshops will be designed to strengthen students' aesthetic ability.

Assessment
Assessment is based on students' performance in continuous assessment components including (1) class presentation, (2) an essay, and (3) an individual project (artwork + artist statement). These components are worth 30%, 30% and 40% of the total marks for the course respectively. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).