
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
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.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Preface: Operational Images, All the Way Down
- Introduction: Between Light and Data
- 1. Operations of Operations
- 2. What Is Not an Image? On AI, Data, and Invisuality
- 3. The Measurement-Image: From Photogrammetry to Planetary Surface
- 4. Operational Aesthetic: Cinema for Territorial Management
- 5. The Post-lenticular City: Light into Data
- Conclusion: A Soft Montage of Operations
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
- About the Author
- Color Plates