The Opticality Unconscious

Lecture by Amanda Wasielewski

Tue May 28, 2024, 7pm, Room E.O2.29, Neubau, AdBK München

Inspired by Rosalind Krauss’s book The Optical Unconscious, Amanda Wasielewskis lecture explores how a hybrid practice of writing and image creation can shed light on the often-derided strictures of mid-century modernism in New York, namely the ideas of opticality and visual autonomy.

The lecture investigates the relationships between Modernist key figures such as Krauss and seeks to generate “new” images that elucidate these theoretical perspectives. Wasielewski uses both AI image and text generation techniques as a means not only of executing the project but also as tools of knowledge creation. Can AI methods refresh, renew, or otherwise add new insights to art theory of the past? 

Bio

Amanda Wasielewski is Associate Senior Lecturer of Digital Humanities and Associate Professor of Art History at Uppsala University. Her recent research focuses on the use of artificial intelligence techniques to study and create art, with a particular focus on the theoretical implications of AI-generated images. Wasielewski has exhibited her artwork internationally and is the author of three monographs including Computational Formalism: Art History and Machine Learning (MIT Press, 2023).

Photo (c) Amanda Wasielewski