There can be no doubt about the fact that our desires, ideals and lifestyles are created from visual images. But what influence have techniques like mapping, perspective, cameras, printing presses and mobile phones had on our perception of the world? What do these methods of visual representation mean in terms of knowledge production, memory and the writing of history? Is there, as Jonathan Crary proposes, a history of seeing? And in that case, how can this history be narrated.

The death of photography was proclaimed in the 1980s after it had been stringently analysed, deconstructed and digitalized. In spite of photography’s claimed demise, we currently live in a positive flood of visual images that is more strident than ever before. Photographs are now a player in the global, urban lifestyle at every instant. Our own society seems totally dependent on pictures if it is to function. Yet in many cultures there is a taboo surrounding visual representations: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth”, we read in the Book of Exodus. Does this mean that pictures can be dangerous?

During 2012, the Art + Architecture department at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm will be studying the history of seeing and representation from a variety of angles. Focus will be on the tools and aids we use for finding our way in the world, and the way in which these tools lead to perceptions and truths. We will acquaint ourselves with theories pertaining to perception, memory and media. But we will also seek to study aspects that are not visible, that are hidden and elusive, censored or, quite simply, very difficult to reproduce visually.

Towards the end of September and the beginning of October we will make a foreign trip for about ten days with the aim of studying the tourist’s relationship to experiences and visual representations. We will visit a number of places in the Middle East:

 
• The antique city of Petra which was forgotten and almost invisible for five hundred years and is now a protected, heritage site accessible to tourists.
• In Ramallah we shall cooperate with Riwaq, the heritage organization, whose guides will take us on an alternative tourist trip in Palestine. We will explore the relationship between politics and tourism on the West Bank and in Jerusalem where we will visit a range of sites that are charged with iconic religiosity that interacts powerfully with political ideologies. We shall meet with filmmakers, artists, architects and others who will share their experiences with us on site.

Proposed lectures include such topics as:
• Theory of perception
• Memory research
• Maps, navigation, astronomy
• Picture taboos, iconoclasm
• Perspective
• Photographic theory and history
• Media theory
• Tourism
• Sex, gender, sexuality
• Middle East – history, myths, politics
• Orientalism, Occidentalism

Contact details:
For further information check our website or contact the department secretary, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , tel. +46 (0)8 614 40 00.
Responsible for the course: Senior Lecturer This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , In 2012 in collaboration with artist Jesper Nordahl.