Any topic (writer’s choice)

Choose only one of the following 2 assignments:

Assignment 1: In the Poetics of Digital Media, Paul Frosh writes that ‘media are systems for the production and disclosure of worlds’ (2019, xiii). Drawing on existing research, explore ‘the world-creating capacities of media’ (p. 10) through a self-chosen case study in the form of a specific media product from contemporary visual culture (e.g. a picture, comic, animation, or video game).

OR

Assignment 2:  Drawing on existing research and using a self-chosen specific media product (e.g., a picture, comic, animation, or video game) as a case study, explore forms of postdigital aesthetics in contemporary visual culture.

Instructions:

5 5006 000 words, excluding title, TOC, bibliography, and notes. The assignment should include in-depth engagement with existing research as well as a detailed case study. Basic expectations are (1) that the answer engages with relevant literature (”Poetics of Digital Media” by Paul Frosh and ”Postdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation and Design” by David M. Berry, Michael Dieter) in order to discuss conceptualizations of the aesthetic with regard to contemporary visual culture; and (2) that the answer illustrates the latter via an analysis of a specific media product (e.g., a picture, comic, animation, or video game). Furthermore, such an answer will connect the discussion of remediation to discussions of medium-specific concepts from literature on the specific type of media product the candidate has chosen for their case study, the choice of which should be well considered and demonstrate a consistently high degree of independence of thought. (with a bibliography of at least 15-25 relevant academic sources).

Literature that must be used:
1.    Poetics of Digital Media, Paul Frosh
2.    Postdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation and Design, David M. Berry,Michael Dieter