Interaction with information as an aesthetic experience

Lev Manovich' Studia Generalia lecture

• Date: 08.10.2007, 14-15:30

• Place: Tallinn University Tallinn auditorium, Uus Sadama 5

Organizers:

• IMKE, Department of Informatics, Tallinn University

Sponsors:

• EITSA Estonian Information Technology Foundation

• Tallinn University Guest Fund

Audience:

• Open for the public

Lev Manovich http://www.manovich.net

Dr. Lev Manovich, Professor in Visual Arts Department, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

• Author of Language of New Media (2000) and Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database (2005) among other books and articles

• One of the most prominent scholars of New Media

• Current foci include 'info-aesthetics'

Language of New Media http://www.manovich.net

Soft Cinema http://www.softcinema.net

Info-Aesthetics book to appear http://www.manovich.net

Have you realised that the phone which you own - assuming it is a model which came out in the last couple of years - constantly plays games with you? It seduces you with its animated icons and sounds, the shape and surface finishes, the feel of its buttons and every other detail of its material and media definitions. If you can recall the very first mobile phone you owned - let's say at the end of the 1990s or maybe even the first years of this decade - the difference in design is striking.

The change in the design of mobile phones is just one example of larger trend which I calll 'aesthetisation of information tools'. In my talk I will trace the history of this process over the last 10 years and discuss how it relates to other developmets such as the rize of "experience economy," branding, and democratisation of design. I will conclude by analyzing in detail the aesthetics of the most popular phone of 2006 - LG VX-8600 ("Chocolate").

The audience is invited to continue the discussion on the lecture wiki site. The wiki is open, but requires registration.

The wiki can be found through this page -> Discussion http://mkaipain

Question from the audience http://mkaipain

Manovich presenting http://mkaipain

The event takes place in the Tallinn University new building (2005), designed by Priit Pent and Illimar Truverk (Agabus, Endjärv & Truverk Arhitektid).

Uus Sadama 5 building