TechnoKitsch: the digital spectacularization of art

• Main Author: Giulio Lughi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Bologna 2019-11-01
• Series: piano b
• Subjects: digitale; media; visuale; kitsch; spettacolarizzazione
• Online Access: https://pianob.unibo.it/article/view/9987

The paper analyzes from a mediological point of view the application of digital technology to the spectacularization of art. The "classical" works of digital art are not taken into consideration, but rather - for example - the different forms of experiences (Caravaggio, Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt, ecc); software that modifies the style of images; interactive animations of the masterpieces of the past; and similar. Starting from Bourdieu's concept of distinction, the contribution traces a line of analysis that crosses the Kitsch formulations in order to consider the various theories about spectacularization proposed by Ritzer, Maffesoli, Bryman, Codeluppi, Perniola, integrating them with the reflection about the current status of the digital image and visual culture (Montani), from postproduction (Bourriaud) to the deep remixability (Manovich). The paper proposes a reasoned typology of a significant amount of such phenomena, interweaving it with the analysis of the media and promotional discourse that accompanies them, where the categories of naive aesthetics of this discourse are identified, as well as the persistence of interpretive stereotypes based on the substantial lack of in-depth analysis about digital culture: characteristics that make it possible to converge towards a definition of TechnoKitsch.