Feeling Media: Potentiality and the Afterlife of Art

Miryam Sas explores the potentialities and limitations of media theory and media art in Japan, offering a framework of analysis called the affective scale. She examines intermedia, experimental animation, and Marxist theories of the culture industries, and how twenty-first-century Japanese artists adapt and adopt this earlier work to reframe ideas about collectivity, community, and connectivity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 25 October 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

Miryam Sas delves into the realm of media theory and media art in Japan, pushing the boundaries of these disciplines to engage with a broader spectrum of works and theorists beyond the confines of Euro-America. Through her innovative framework, known as the affective scale, Sas facilitates a profound exploration of the interplay between individual experiences and larger global and historical shifts. She examines a range of artistic expressions, including intermedia, experimental animation, and Marxist theories of the culture industries during the 1960s and 1970s. Sas's analysis encompasses the works of artists and thinkers such as filmmaker Matsumoto Toshio, photographer Nakahira Takuma, the Three Animators Group, art critic Hanada Kiyoteru, and landscape theorist Matsuda Masao. Furthermore, she highlights how twenty-first-century Japanese artists, particularly those responding to the Fukushima disaster, have embraced and adapted this earlier work to reimagine concepts of collectivity, community, and connectivity within the space between the individual and the system.

Sas's approach challenges the traditional boundaries of media studies and affect theory, encouraging a more inclusive and interdisciplinary exploration of artistic practices. By embracing a global perspective, she sheds light on the unique ways in which Japanese artists and thinkers have responded to social, political, and environmental challenges, contributing to a rich and evolving understanding of media and its impact on society. Through her meticulous research and insightful analysis, Miryam Sas offers a valuable contribution to the field of media studies, expanding our understanding of the potentialities and limitations of media theory and media art in Japan and beyond.

Weight: 486g
Dimension: 228 x 152 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478018490