On the Concept of Recognition in Media Art: Emotional reactions, empathetic interactions

Biometric technologies have transformed recognition into an empirical and automated activity. But recognition is not just a matter of identification or surveillance. As computer systems become capable of detecting human emotion, we are reminded of philosophical approaches to recognition that place it as central activity of human self-realization and social existence. Bringing together these dual notions of recognition, this paper considers how artists are taking hold of the technical possibilities of recognition to make political the media artwork. Specifically, it turns to Karen Palmer’s interactive film RIOT (protoype) (2016), in which the narrative depends on the recognition of the participant’s emotive facial expressions, and Erin Gee’s Project H.E.A.R.T. (2017), a virtual reality artwork in which the participant’s “enthusiasm” is harnessed via a biosensor. Through these examples, the paper proposes a way to think the politics of media art by pivoting on the technologies, practices and philosophies of recognition.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Aleksandra Kaminska

Conference

Publication date: May 2018

Publication date (Print): May 2018

Pages: 1-7

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Communication, Université de Montréal

Canada

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.34

SO-VID: 7a7a1227-48cd-40b4-85be-28db721b8ab1

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Politics of the Machines - Art and After

Conference acronym: EVA Copenhagen

Conference number: 7

Conference location: Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Conference date: 15 - 17 May 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Digital arts and culture

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.34

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

H Arendt 1977 The Life of the Mind Harcourt New York
J. Durham Peters 2000 Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication University of Chicago Press Chicago
J Gagnon 2016 Viewer-Instrumented Play: Very Nervous System In S. BianchiniE. Verhagen Practicable The MIT Press Cambridge
K Gates A. 2011 Our Biometric Future: Facial Recognition Technology and the Culture of Surveillance New York University Press New York
E Gee 2017 Project H.E.A.R.T. Personal website: http://eringee.net/project-h-e-a-r-t/ 1 May 2018
A Margalit 2001 Recognizing the Brother and the Other Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society: Supplementary Volumes 75 pp.127 139
X Marquez 2012 Spaces of Appearance and Spaces of Surveillance Polity 44 1 6 31
New World Notes blog 2018 Project H.E.A.R.T: A Virtual Reality War Game Where Soldier Morale is Controlled by the Player’s Real Emotions http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2018/03/vr-game-empathy-joy-project-heart-erin-gee.html 1 May 2018
K Palmer (n.d.) Riot Personal website: http://karenpalmer.uk/portfolio/riot/ 1 May 2018
Phi Centre website. 2017 How do you Deal with Fear? http://phi-centre.com/en/post/en-lucid-realities-karen-palmer-riot/ 1 May 2018
C Robertson 2010 The Passport in America: The History of a Document Oxford University Press New York
C Taylor 1992 The Politics of Recognition A. Gutmann (ed.). Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition Princeton University Press Princeton
I. Van der Ploeg 1999 Written on the Body: Biometrics and Identity SIGCAS Computers and Society 29 1 37 44

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] H Arendt 1977 The Life of the Mind Harcourt New York

[2] J. Durham Peters 2000 Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication University of Chicago Press Chicago

[3] J Gagnon 2016 Viewer-Instrumented Play: Very Nervous System In S. BianchiniE. Verhagen Practicable The MIT Press Cambridge

[4] K Gates A. 2011 Our Biometric Future: Facial Recognition Technology and the Culture of Surveillance New York University Press New York

[5] E Gee 2017 Project H.E.A.R.T. Personal website: http://eringee.net/project-h-e-a-r-t/ 1 May 2018

[6] A Margalit 2001 Recognizing the Brother and the Other Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society: Supplementary Volumes 75 pp.127 139

[7] X Marquez 2012 Spaces of Appearance and Spaces of Surveillance Polity 44 1 6 31

[8] New World Notes blog 2018 Project H.E.A.R.T: A Virtual Reality War Game Where Soldier Morale is Controlled by the Player’s Real Emotions http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2018/03/vr-game-empathy-joy-project-heart-erin-gee.html 1 May 2018

[9] K Palmer (n.d.) Riot Personal website: http://karenpalmer.uk/portfolio/riot/ 1 May 2018

[10] Phi Centre website. 2017 How do you Deal with Fear? http://phi-centre.com/en/post/en-lucid-realities-karen-palmer-riot/ 1 May 2018

[11] C Robertson 2010 The Passport in America: The History of a Document Oxford University Press New York

[12] C Taylor 1992 The Politics of Recognition A. Gutmann (ed.). Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition Princeton University Press Princeton

[13] I. Van der Ploeg 1999 Written on the Body: Biometrics and Identity SIGCAS Computers and Society 29 1 37 44

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