Two Trends in Contemporary Art: Digital Art and the Return to Craftsmanship
The contemporary art course concludes with a lecture exploring two seemingly opposite artistic trends, both representative of contemporary art: digital and technological art, on one hand, and art expressed through craftsmanship and traditional techniques, on the other.
Domenico Quaranta will explore the movements and artistic practices that use digital technologies: from Net Art to Post-Internet Art, through works by artists like Eva & Franco Mattes and the JODI collective. He will discuss the concept of innovation, including augmented reality, virtual reality, and NFTs. He will also delve into the work of artists using artificial intelligence, such as Hito Steyerl and Trevor Paglen.
On the opposite side, Fabio Cavallucci examines the return to craftsmanship and manual work in some contemporary artistic practices. Figurative or abstract painting, ceramics, and weaving are returning to the forefront of artistic research, through the recovery of traditional techniques. These trends will also be highlighted through the analysis of paradigm-shifting group exhibitions, such as "The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World" at MoMA New York (2014-2015).
Professors
Curator, art critic, lecturer
Domenico Quaranta
Art critic, curator, and director of the New Technologies in Art School at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera.
Curator, art critic, lecturer
Fabio Cavallucci
Fabio Cavallucci is the founder of Institution and a curator. He has directed several cultural institutions in Italy and abroad. He teaches Contemporary Art History at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara.
