Concept: fluctuating images. Contemporary media art.
Start: March 14, 2004, association since February 7, 2006.
Venues: 2004-2008 Stuttgart, 2009-on Berlin
- contemporary media art
- independent
- non-commercial
- international and regional orientation
- interface between art – science – public
- discursive reflection and information on art
Publications.
Concept:
What is media art? First, media art can be defined as an art which uses media for aesthetic purposes. It also is an art which visibly questions the use of media as such. Media art, in brief, offers aesthetic products presenting reflections on media and mediality.
The notion of ’media art’ was established in the 1980s in connection with the digital New Media. For a long time, all forms of art using New Media for aesthetic purposes have been regarded as ’media art’. ’Media art’, according to this definition, does not necessarily contain reflections on media or mediality.
This very reductive notion of ’media art’, however, soon became an object of critical discussion among art theorists who felt that the the exclusive focus on New Media should be replaced by an analysis of specific artistic ways of dealing with media – digital and analogue – in general. This attempt was supported by the decline of the New Economy. Once the hype about New Economy had passed, a critical discussion of 'media art' could finally take place.
One could say that the reflection on media and mediality actually started to develop during the Renaissance. Important steps in this process were: the increasing significance of the individual, the institutionalization of artistic education and the theorization of the artistic genres (painting, sculpture and architecture). The paragone, the competition between the genres, was particularly contributing to the increasing awareness of specific uses of media. Artistic specialization and the concept of the uomo universale are two sides of this process.
The avantgardist positions of the late 19th century and the avantgardes of the early 20th century finally led to the so called “media turn“, theoretically condensed in MacLuhan’s famous dictum “the medium is the message“.
Since this media turn, artists have been extensively using the possibilities of aesthetic reflection on mediality in different media. The art gallery fluctuating images. contemporary media art wants to offer a platform to contemporary works of art which add new and innovative perspectives to this kind of self-reflecting mediality. Medial authenticity has been questioned for a long time, and since the war in Iraq (2003) one could even say that authenticity has imploded. The artistic consequences of this critcal analysis of media are the intensified search for new, authentic media forms as well as the search for valid metareflective methods. fluctuating images. contemporary media art wants to show these newly developed artistic strategies.
Interface between art and science: fluctuating images. contemporary media art is intended as a platform for the presentation of works of art as well as for reflection on art. The aesthetic reflection on mediality shall be supplemented by scientific analysis in collaboration with scientific institutions in order to create an interface between art and science. The interface between art and science has been rather neglected in Germany until now, even though projects based on this concept such as Artist-Research-Programmes are common practice in the international context.
fluctuating images. contemporary media art also wants to establish a regular intercourse between international and regional artistic productions, for example by combining local and international artistic production in group-exhibitions. Accordingly, the gallery is going to be closely associated with the local Stuttgart art scene and its activities will also give the local art scene the chance to get directly in touch with international artists.
A broader public shall be reached through programmes such as presentations, discussions with artists and guided tours open to the public. As a forum and interface between aesthetic and scientific reflection fluctuating images. contemporary media art is not only a platform for specialists but also wants to make current discussions accessible to the interested public through activities such as conferences or workshops. source: Fluctuating Images.