Capsule Aesthetic: Feminist Materialisms in New Media Art

New media art informed by feminism provides valuable and original insights into our interaction with technologies. Kate Mondloch's book, A Capsule Aesthetic, explores how three diverse artists contribute to the conversation about everyday technology and its impact on our bodies. Through in-depth readings of works by Rist, Piccinini, and Mori, the book establishes the unique insights that feminist theory offers to new media art and new materialisms. It highlights the role of the contemporary art museum in our experience of media art, the conception of the human by biotechnologies, and the complexities of installation art in enriching our understanding of the brain. Mondloch's vivid descriptions of the artworks take the reader inside immersive installation pieces, allowing them to inhabit challenging theoretical concepts and nonanthropomorphic perspectives. The book encourages us to think beyond the anthropocentric and fully consider the material world, offering new approaches to questions surrounding our technology-saturated culture and its proliferation of human-to-nonhuman interfaces.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 23 January 2018
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

In her book "A Capsule Aesthetic", Kate Mondloch delves into the realm of new media installation art, exploring its intersection with technoscience and new materialism. Through a comprehensive examination of the works of three diverse artists, namely Pipilotti Rist, Patricia Piccinini, and Mariko Mori, Mondloch highlights the significance of feminist theory in shaping our understanding of technology and its impact on our bodies.

A Capsule Aesthetic establishes the unique insights that feminist theory offers to new media art and new materialisms, offering a fuller picture of human-nonhuman relations. In-depth readings of works by Rist, Piccinini, and Mori explore such critical questions as the role of the contemporary art museum in our experience of media art, the conception of the human by biotechnologies, and the potential complexities and enrichments that installation art can bring to contemporary sciences' understanding of the brain.

Mondloch employs vivid, firsthand descriptions of the artworks to transport the reader into the immersive realms of these installation pieces. By doing so, she demonstrates how these artworks enable us to inhabit challenging theoretical concepts and nonanthropomorphic perspectives.

Through her exploration, Mondloch seeks to transcend the anthropocentric mindset and fully consider the material world. A Capsule Aesthetic offers fresh approaches to questions surrounding our technology-saturated culture and its proliferation of human-to-nonhuman interfaces. By delving into the intersection of feminism, new media art, and technology, Mondloch provides valuable insights into the complex and ever-evolving relationship between humans and technology in the modern world.

Weight: 244g
Dimension: 354 x 215 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781517900496