An aesthetic or anaesthetic: developing a digital aesthetics of production

This article was presented, in draft form, as a paper at the November 2001 AMPE conference. The article critiques different modes of analysis in the field of digital aesthetics. The article argues that there is a desperate need to devise and promote student/staff training in technological/cultural aesthetics that liberate rather than simply anaesthetize. As interactive packages develop into the future there will be a need for criticism not only of the content they may contain but also their ability to enable production of content. These analytical tools are needed in the creation of such generative packages. The motivation for this approach is to help to create methodologies that are challenging, generative and actionable. There are opportunities for the development of digital aesthetics of production.