Browsing by Author "Sandahl, Ann-Louise"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Instabila processer i visuell kultur
(2010-07-08) Sandahl, Ann-Louise; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
I uppsatsen undersöks instabila processer i visuell kultur på två plan: i tid och rum och i material och metoder. Den tar upp vad instabila processer i visuell kultur är uttryck för och vad processerna får för konsekvenser för konstbegreppet. Inledningsvis kartläggs hur Nicolas Bourriaud, Lev Manovich, Mieke Bal, Manuel Castells och Miwon Kwon beskriver kulturella instabila processer. I syfte att undersöka om teorierna går att tillämpa på visuella uttryck utförs därefter en empirisk analys av musikvideor av Coldplay, Radiohead och Röyksopp. Också en jämförande analys görs för att se om instabila processer går att finna även inom scenkonsten. Det som undersöks i detta fall är en teaterföreställning av 123 Schtunk. De instabila processer som beskrivs i texterna återfinns i hög grad i de analyserade verken. Processerna visar sig vara en spegling av en nomadisk och mobil diskurs som orsakas av nätverkssamhällets strävan efter att överskrida tid, rum och fasta begrepp. En omförhandling av konstbegreppet är nödvändig då samtidskonsten fundamentalt ändrar karaktär och hybridiseras i nya konstellationer och processer med många upphovsmän.
POSTHUMANISTISKA SUBJEKT I VISUELL KULTUR
(2012-08-29) Sandahl, Ann-Louise; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
The aim of the thesis is to explore how the human subject is depicted in contemporary posthuman cinema and how these films effect our comprehension of human subjectivity. The object of analysis is James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and the method of analysis is cybernetic and intermedial. The conclusion is that Avatar is a film that depicts a posthuman network society where existence and subjectivity in a great variety of forms is possible. The film presents posthuman subjects in symbiosis with avatars, terminals, extensions and prothesis. In Avatar the human body is exchangeable or even possible to do without, it is not an absolute condition for human life. The human subject can be transformed into a pattern of information and exist for eternity in information circuits. Another conclusion is that the way the human subject and the body are depicted in Avatar is a reflection of the medial and technological structure in our network society. Posthuman narratives is a way of connecting people’s mental worlds to this structure.
Temporalitet i visuell kultur. Om samtidens heterokrona estetiker
(Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 2016-08-15) Sandahl, Ann-Louise
In contemporary society temporalities in different scales coexist, cooperate and collide. Clock time serves as a main reference for time, although a lot of processes have nothing to do with clock time and can’t be measured by its scales. One of the dissertation’s points of departure is that temporal narratives is a key factor for affecting how people act and think, and therefore there is a need for visualizations, conceptual figurations and cognitive objects for complex forms of time. The dissertation evolves around art works, visualizations and theories that deal with today’s multiple temporal forms and narratives. One of the questions the dissertation sets out to answer concerns how temporality is visualized in contemporary art and visualizations. It also aims to demonstrate the relevance of visual studies in the new field of environmental humanities. A number of temporal concepts are explored in relation to art works. One such concept is heterochrony, a term referring to a multifaceted temporality, that art theorist Nicolas Bourriaud claims is common in contemporary art. Another is timescapes, a term for an entangled temporality, described by sociologist Barbara Adam, and chronoscopy coined by philosopher Paul Virilio, referring to an extremely short-termed perspective. Space of flows and space of places are concepts formulated by sociologist Manuel Castells, denoting the spatiotemporal logics that have emerged in the network society, where citizens simultaneousley can exist in physical and virtual spacetimes. Also two concepts for a vast time span are discussed: anthropocene, a suggested new geological era, and the long now, a perspective formulated by the artist and musician Brian Eno. One conclusion is that complex and sensous understandings of temporality can be accomplished through art works and visualizations. Artistic expressions have the potential to inspire, worry and affect viewers and produce narratives of the multiple temporalities embedded in climate changes. Multiple forms of temporality can be found in the discussed works, and the narratives that emerge are entangled and heterogenous and speak of heterochrony, chronoscopy, and anthropocene, that is, of temporal forms that cannot easily be related to a human lifetime or to everyday understandings of time.