What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art

Focusing on the paradox of embodiment/ disembodiment in virtual space, and on the recent history of Net Art, this article proposes to go back to Roy Ascott’s metaphor of the ‘telematic embrace’ in order to examine different artistic and theoretical approaches to online affectivity. While the first g...

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Main Authors: Rita Xavier Monteiro, Helena Barranha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Católica Portuguesa 2018-01-01
Series:Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.ucp.pt/index.php/jsta/article/view/7302
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author Rita Xavier Monteiro
Helena Barranha
author_facet Rita Xavier Monteiro
Helena Barranha
author_sort Rita Xavier Monteiro
collection DOAJ
description Focusing on the paradox of embodiment/ disembodiment in virtual space, and on the recent history of Net Art, this article proposes to go back to Roy Ascott’s metaphor of the ‘telematic embrace’ in order to examine different artistic and theoretical approaches to online affectivity. While the first generation of artists who founded the net.art movement was openly fascinated by the novelty of cyberspace as a medium, currently artists are adopting online tools to produce also offline works, revealing the presence of Internet culture in contemporary society instead of focusing on the nature of the medium in itself. In this scenario, marked by the current Post-Internet discourse, real and virtual worlds overlap, and hybrid artistic forms emerge. But are Net artists still reinterpreting the idea of virtual embrace? Or have they moved away from a romantic stance, highlighting the perils of the digital revolution in the so-called Post-Digital age? Adopting a phenomenological perspective, this essay aims to address these questions, exploring the paradox of affectivity in contemporary networked cultures through the analysis of emblematic artworks.
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spelling doaj.art-0211c6a206354eb2b1ab614bd88a06792022-12-22T03:17:05ZengUniversidade Católica PortuguesaJournal of Science and Technology of the Arts1646-97982183-00882018-01-0110110.7559/citarj.v10i1.380What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet artRita Xavier MonteiroHelena BarranhaFocusing on the paradox of embodiment/ disembodiment in virtual space, and on the recent history of Net Art, this article proposes to go back to Roy Ascott’s metaphor of the ‘telematic embrace’ in order to examine different artistic and theoretical approaches to online affectivity. While the first generation of artists who founded the net.art movement was openly fascinated by the novelty of cyberspace as a medium, currently artists are adopting online tools to produce also offline works, revealing the presence of Internet culture in contemporary society instead of focusing on the nature of the medium in itself. In this scenario, marked by the current Post-Internet discourse, real and virtual worlds overlap, and hybrid artistic forms emerge. But are Net artists still reinterpreting the idea of virtual embrace? Or have they moved away from a romantic stance, highlighting the perils of the digital revolution in the so-called Post-Digital age? Adopting a phenomenological perspective, this essay aims to address these questions, exploring the paradox of affectivity in contemporary networked cultures through the analysis of emblematic artworks.https://revistas.ucp.pt/index.php/jsta/article/view/7302Net artVirtual spaceDisembodimentAffectivityPost-humanismPost-internet culture
spellingShingle Rita Xavier Monteiro
Helena Barranha
What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art
Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts
Net art
Virtual space
Disembodiment
Affectivity
Post-humanism
Post-internet culture
title What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art
title_full What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art
title_fullStr What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art
title_full_unstemmed What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art
title_short What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art
title_sort what can and cannot be felt the paradox of affectivity in post internet art
topic Net art
Virtual space
Disembodiment
Affectivity
Post-humanism
Post-internet culture
url https://revistas.ucp.pt/index.php/jsta/article/view/7302
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