Conference “Changing Aesthetics and Society in the Digital Age”

In our current digital age, the relationship between aesthetics and technology is more in the spotlight than ever. In recent years, a multitude of authors have described and analyzed how art and the aesthetic experience are being transformed by digital tools, media and environments, such as social media, streaming platforms, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and many more. This growing body of literature mostly focuses on the specific nature of digital art and its aesthetic experience. However, some authors have also begun to explore the social and political ramifications of the digital turn in the arts (e.g. Grau 2021). Nevertheless, the philosophical conceptualization of the socio-political impact of digital art on society is still in its infancy. 

This conference therefore welcomes contributions that focus on the changing relationship between art, aesthetics and society in the digital age. Authors may seek inspiration in the discussions that were held in the 20th century by members of the Frankfurter Schule within critical theory, but also by phenomenologists, poststructuralists, postmodern thinkers and all those who wrote about the political and social impact of the arts. In addition, contributions can also raise the question whether the digital age requires a new theoretical paradigm to explore the relationship between art, aesthetics and society.

Questions and topics of contributions may include, but are not limited to:

• Does digital technology strengthen or undermine the social and political potential of (analogue) art? 
• What is the democratic potential and societal impact of new digital art forms such as data art and big data aesthetics? 
• How do digital art forms influence the formation of (political) subjectivity? 
• What is the impact of digital and new media art on collective memory and political imagination? 
• How are public space and its conceptualization influenced by digital forms of aesthetic imaging? 
• Do digitally mediated immersive experiences of analogue art works undermine their emancipatory potential? 
• Do digital art and digital aesthetic practices influence the autonomy of art? 

With these and many more questions in mind, the organizers of this conference invite contributions from philosophers, cultural and media theorists, researchers in art and design, and architectural theorists that can illuminate the diversity of this fascinating new field of research, which connects aesthetics with digital art, technology and society.

Practical information

We invite 20’ presentations (either in traditional form or as lecture performance), followed by a 10’ Q&A.

Abstracts of 350-500 words should be sent to ng.esthetica@gmail.com mentioning “Abstract NGE 2025” in the subject. Submissions should include: name of the author(s), institutional affiliation, and e-mail address, and a short bio (max. 100 words). The organizers are planning to edit a special issue in Aesthetic Investigations, with invited contributions from the conference. 

The conference will take place on 18-19 September 2025. The location is City Campus of Antwerp University, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen, room S.C.101 and S.C.102. 

There is a registration fee of €50 (regular) / €25 (students and members of NGE). Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Registration will be open from May 2025.

Keynote speakers: Prof. dr. Lucie Chateau (Utrecht University), Prof. dr. Cristina Nan (Eindhoven University of Technology), video artist David Claerbout, Prof. dr. Jörg Noller (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Prof. dr. Sanem Yazıcıoğlu (Istanbul University)

Important dates

• Deadline for abstracts: 2 May 2025
• Notification of acceptance: 2 June 2025 
• Conference: 18 – 19 September 2025

Organised by the Center for European Philosophy (University of Antwerp), the Dutch Association of Aesthetics (Nederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica), and LUCA School of Arts (KU Leuven).