Universidad del Futuro
Art and the future
It’s my pleasure to offer a short course on art, technology, and the future for my friends at Universidad del futuro, Mexico, the first bilingual online school that provides multidisciplinary education with a focus on the future, for October, 2024. Gracias for su confianza.
“In universities we need to prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet”. — Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod
This course is more broadly a seminar on creativity in art, science, and leading edge technology and technique and considers how these efforts are dependent on human nature. This survey invites understanding and validation of the transformative power of the marriage of art, teaching, high technology, and humanistic concern.
Expanding on my presentation Truly Human Technology I’ll start by surveying the philosophy of artist and educator György Kepes, founder of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From there I make the connection to CAVS Fellow Dale Eldred's 1980 Art Museum of South Texas Exhibition. Eldred was a fellow at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies in 1985 and 1986.
“MIT gave me a new perspective of the social and ecological horizon. I learned that to be angry or unhappy is not enough. To give reality to one's social beliefs and sense of solidarity with fellow men, a disciplined, clear interpretation of the human condition is a must”. — György Kepes
For whatever broad field we hope to act in, Kepes suggests the work has to begin with a return to the individual. Feeling and imagination in relation to values that give meaning to science and technology as well as literature and the other arts will be examined.
As an example, when astronauts return from their historic orbits made possible by science and technology, their first few words commenting on their trips are significantly personal and poetic. They shed all their technological language and speak freely about the deepness of the colors of earth, or of being very personally impacted. Students will gain insight in the way ideas are communicated, drawing on the case study of Kepes and Eldred.
Increasingly, artistic and technological thinking are intertwined with large-scale systems, such as digital platforms, regions, and even the world. With such increases in scale, the lines between fields soften and many aspects of those disciplines become intermixed. For that reason the topics are valuable for those working and studying in fields other than art or technology. Philosophy, psychology, and literature will be considered.
I’ll offer time and space for students to discuss their predictions on how AI and art might evolve, and lead participants through some practical futures-thinking fundamentals. The course is in English.
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