Dr Brigitta Zics, artist, media philosopher and interaction designer: How to think about Art and Design in the Age of Consciousness

Thursday, 29 April, 18:00 – 19:00

University College London

Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT

Garwood Lecture Theatre, South Wing

(Details how to get there at the bottom of the page)

Abstract

This presentation provides an overview
of the critical thinking in some creative practices through the study of consciousness. It argues that technology has brought such qualities and capacities to aesthetical production and meaning creation which might only be extractable through the understanding of the human factor in these experiences. The presentation proceeds from the assumption that philosophical accounts of consciousness and recent multidisciplinary approaches to cognition have provided valuable perspectives in the understanding of human aspects in the man-computer interrelationship and will develop this position in order to understand consciousness research as an aesthetic inquiry.

To illustrate this, the model of Transparent Act will be introduced as a paradigm that detaches itself from previous aesthetic models and argues for a novel philosophical conceptualisation of technology mediated creation. A consequence of such an approach is to bring design and artistic strategies to the same platform and, as it is will be argued, introduces a radical approach to creative production. As a practical example the presentation will introduce a discussion of the large scale interactive installation of Mind Cupola which aims to apply the approaches represent in Transparent Act and suggest new ways of meaning production through biofeedback interface.

Biography

Brigitta Zics is an award winning artist, media philosopher and interaction designer with particular interest in emerging technologies and their impact on creative practices. She is Senior Lecturer in Design and programme leader in the MA Design by Practice course at the School of Art, Media and Design, University of Wales Newport. She is also Visiting Fellow at the Trasntechnology Research, University of Plymouth and regularly presents her research and artistic work on international conferences and festivals. She is also panel member for the Leonardo Reviews and working on post-doctoral methodologies, supervising research students and developing a major creative project entitled the Mind Cupola for international exhibitions.

She is focusing on emerging technologies of interaction and their aesthetics capacities through the human cognition. In her recently finished interdisciplinary thesis Transparency, Cognition and Interactivity: Toward a New Aesthetic for Media Art (2008) she introduced a new philosophical model of the Transparent Act which proposes a radical re-evaluation of how interaction can be understand in disciplines of art and design. Her latest art work the Mind Cupola applies a modality of passive interaction which is an affective environment in which the user's experience initiates a cognitive feedback loop with a potential for spiritual-like states in their consciousness. Besides this major focus her innovative interest is to look at the potentialities of cognitive-based interface design for enterprise and business applications. One of recent examination is how the Mind Cupola might be implemented by ageing people as a tool for improvement of well being.

Website:

http://www.zics.eu, http://www.trans-techresearch.net/?page_id=26

Getting to UCL:

The nearest Tube stations are Euston Square and Warren Street. For full details, see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/location/public-transport

How to find the Garwood Lecture Theatre:

Once you enter the main gate of UCL in Gower Street, you will face the Portico in the UCL quadrangle courtyard. Please take the right hand side diagonal and walk to the right corner of the building. You will see the brass tablet indicating South Wing. Enter the second entrance door at the South Wing, and you will find the Garwood Lecture Theatre on the first floor. There will be signs from the entrance that will help you to find the exact location easily.

You may also consult the UCL maps at:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/location/maps

Entrance is free, all welcome.