BA Creative Media Arts

4MEST017W

Space, Place and Experience: Moving Image, Interactivity, and Sound

ASSESSMENT 2: Written Essay (2000 words)

Worth 30% of the marks for the module

Deadlines and submission:

(i) Essay plan (formative): Please decide upon your topic and begin to put together an essay plan (structure and ideas to include from your reading) bring to the essay tutorial session on Tuesday 8th April. Submit with final essay.

(ii) Written essay (summative): Monday 12th May 1pm through Blackboard

This assignment is designed to allow you to respond to key ideas and examples of the representation of media culture in the form. of an academic essay. It develops your abilities in choosing a subject; framing an argument; selecting appropriate sources; reflecting on creative practice, and written communication skills. As such, you will be required to makes specific reference to examples of media practice and related theories. This is an individual  assignment only, and tests learning outcomes 2, 6, 7 and 8.

The Written Essay will be assessed on the extent to which you have demonstrated:

•    Engagement with researching information, theories and ideas appropriate to a set theme

•   Communication of theoretical ideas and analyses

•   Critical analysis of the topic using appropriate theoretical methods

•   Clarity of communication in written form. and coherence of essay structure

Research and Referencing

Please select one of the questions or topics provided on the next page and write a 2000-word essay (+/- 10%), referenced with examples and illustrations. Although most of the questions are linked directly to one of the lectures and a specific paper, you are expected to incorporate research from other (academic) sources also, and these should be included in your essay and referenced. As well as sources that are included in the module handbook, you might look at the reference list at the end of each paper, or sources provided in relevant lectures, in this or other modules. Have a look at this page for guidance:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/current-students/studies/study-skills-and- training/research-skills

You are expected to include reference to underlying theories, and the essay should be fully referenced throughout using the Harvard referencing system. This requires that you include properly formatted in-text referencing in paraphrased sections, as well as properly formatted quotes where appropriate. Your bibliography/reference list should also be formatted according to the Harvard system. Failure to do so will result in a loss of marks.

To learn more about referencing, look at the resources

(i) here:https://www.westminster.ac.uk/current-students/studies/study-skills-and- training/research-skills/referencing-your-work

(ii) https://www.citethemrightonline.com/how-to-use-cite-them-right(you will need to log in via the institutional login)

(iii) https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/referencing

Please ensure that you fully understand the regulations around referencing, plagiarism, commissioning of work and use of Gen AI. You can find them here:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/current-students/guides-and-policies/academic-matters/academic-misconduct/plagiarism

Questions:

1) Reality, Hyperreality and the Virtualisation of Space

Rushton argues that “one should not concentrate on cinema’s capacities for representing reality, one should begin from the position that films are, in one way or another, part of reality”. (2011: 43-44) Using specific examples, examine the view that films and/or media are “part of reality".

Reference: Rushton, R. (2013) ‘Realism, Reality and Authenticity’, in The Reality of Film: Theories of Filmic Reality, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 42-78.

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/westminster/reader.action?docID=1069669&ppg=1

2) Post-Industrialisation, Late-Capitalism and Electronic Dance Music

Christodoulou argues that under “late capitalist conditions, the digitalisation of cultural production has intensified the appropriation of nature through technology” (2023).

Using examples from music and/or media, examine the view that our understanding of nature and the human body is increasingly simulated by technology.

Reference: Christodoulou, C. (2023) ‘Liquid Funk: Acceleration, Late Capitalism and the Signification of Nature in Jungle Drum and Bass Music’, Journal of Global Pop Cultures, ‘The Natures of Pop’, Issue 2 (2023)

https://www.journalofglobalpopcultures.com/issues/the-natures-of-pop/liquid-funk-acceleration-late-capitalism-and-the-signification-of-nature-in-jungle-drum-and-bass- music

3) Accelerationism, Big Tech and the Future

According to Andy Beckett, accelerationism addresses the “reshaping of our minds and bodies by ever-faster music and films” (2017). With reference to specific media and/or music, consider the impact of accelerationism and accelerated culture on our everyday lives.

Reference: Beckett, A. (2017) ‘Accelerationism: how a fringe philosophy predicted the future we live in’, The Guardian, Thursday 11 May 2017.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/11/accelerationism-how-a-fringe- philosophy-predicted-the-future-we-live-in

4)   The Past Inside the Present: Hauntology

For Mark Fisher, " What haunts the digital cul-de-sacs of the twenty-first century is not so much the past as all the lost futures that the twentieth century taught us to anticipate” (2012: 16). Using specific examples, discuss the presence of the past and/or the role of “lost futures” in contemporary media forms.

Reference: Fisher, M. (2012) ‘What is Hauntology?’ Film Quarterly, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Fall 2012), pp. 16-24.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2012.66.1.16

5)   Psychogeography and sensing

Psychogeography can change both you and society. Discuss with reference to relevant theory and specific examples from the lecture and other sources if necessary (including your own practice where appropriate).

(other references are from artists, provided in class)

6)   Failure

Failure is not the opposite of success, but the opposite of perfection. How can art embrace this failure? Discuss with reference to relevant theory and specific examples from the lecture and other sources if necessary (including your own practice where appropriate).

Reference: Hegel, G.W.F., 2010. The science of logic. Cambridge university press.

(other references are from artists, provided in class)

7)   Expanded Cinema

Expanded cinema challenges traditional cinema. Discuss with reference to relevant theory and specific examples from the lecture and other sources if necessary

(including your own practice where appropriate).

References:

Bovier, F., Mey, A., 2015. Exhibiting the moving image. Les Presses du réel: Zurich.

Campany, D. (ed.), 2007. The cinematic, Documents of contemporary art.

Whitechapel, MIT Press.

Cubitt, S. (ed.), 2013. Relive: media art histories, Leonardo book series. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Forde, K., 2005. What sound does a color make? Independent Curators International, New York.

Jennings, G., 2015. Abstract video: the moving image in contemporary art. University

of California press: California.

Mondloch, K., 2010. Screens: viewing media installation art. University of Minnesota Press.

Moss, C., 2019. Expanded internet art: twenty-first century artistic practice and the informational milieu. Bloomsbury, New York.

Rees, A.L. (ed.), 2011. Expanded cinema: art, performance, film. Tate: London.

8)   The Question After Technology

“The essence of technology is nothing technological.” Discuss with reference to relevant theory and specific examples from the lecture and other sources if necessary (including your own practice where appropriate).

Reference: Heidegger, M. (1977) The question concerning technology and other essays. New York: Harper Colophon.

Also available here:

https://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil394/The%20Question%20Concerni ng%20Technology.pdf

Please ensure that the Written Essay for this module is:

•   Submitted as single softcopy through the Blackboard Turnitin submission link in the assessment folder for 4MEST017W;

•   Typed;

•    1.5 or double-spaced for body text; single-spaced and indented for longer quotations (c. >30 words);

•    Fully and correctly referenced, using the Harvard referencing system and including captions and copyright information for any figures or illustrations (if used)

• Carefully checked before submission for errors of content and presentation, with visual examples as appropriate, and your essay must;

•    Identified by module code on EVERY page, either at the top or bottom.

• Anonymised, i.e. please do not include your name anywhere on the essay as it is going to be marked anonymously as per assessment regulations

The moderation process for the Written Essay involves an internal moderator looking at a sample of essays in terms of marks and feedback drawn from the entire range of marks.