Operational Images: From the Visual to the Invisual - Softcover

Parikka, Jussi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1517912113 ISBN 13: 9781517912116

Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2023

Synopsis

An in-depth look into the transformation of visual culture and digital aesthetics

 

First introduced by the German filmmaker Harun Farocki, the term operational images defines the expanding field of machine vision. In this study, media theorist Jussi Parikka develops Farocki’s initial concept by considering the extent to which operational images have pervaded today’s visual culture, outlining how data technologies continue to develop and disrupt our understanding of images beyond representation.

Charting the ways that operational images have been employed throughout a variety of fields and historical epochs, Parikka details their many roles as technologies of analysis, capture, measurement, diagramming, laboring, (machine) learning, identification, tracking, and destruction. He demonstrates how, though inextricable from issues of power and control, operational images extend their reach far beyond militaristic and colonial violence and into the realms of artificial intelligence, data, and numerous aspects of art, media, and everyday visual culture.

Serving as an extensive guide to a key concept in contemporary art, design, and media theory, Operational Images explores the implications of machine vision and the limits of human agency. Through a wealth of case studies highlighting the areas where imagery and data intersect, this book gives us unprecedented insight into the ever-evolving world of posthuman visuality.

Cover alt text: Satellite photo on which white title words appear in yellow boxes. Yellow lines connect the boxes.

About this title

About the Author

Jussi Parikka is professor of digital aesthetics and culture at Aarhus University as well as professor at University of Southampton and visiting professor at FAMU, Prague. He is author of A Geology of Media,Insect Media (both from Minnesota), Digital Contagions, and What Is Media Archaeology?

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
• Publication date: 2023
• ISBN 10: 1517912113
• ISBN 13: 9781517912116
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 296