The Open Void – Embodiment and Experience – In Film/Video/Numeric-Computer Art and Immersive Environments

Abstract

In non-Western cultures including those of the African and Eastern continents, the relationship of the individual self to the cosmos and the progression of life is established through spiritual and ritual practice. In Western cultures, the relation of the individual self to society as well as the notion of truth is based on empirical forms of knowledge. The following reading will discuss current trends in New Media theory, including computer technologies in film/video, digital and analog and their relational influences to non-Western forms of thought.

Referencing models of phenomenology and African and Eastern philosophies, the reading will draw a connection between current trends in computer and scientific systems of logic and the influences of non-Western forms of thought. Included are examples of various filmmakers and computer artists cited to establish the necessity for a critical framework which can construct a continental philosophical discourse toward New Media Theories.