Panel Statement
Chair Person: Barbara Rauch
Presenters: Dee Hibbert-Jones, Heather Kapplow, Mark Palmer, Semi Ryu, Kristin Stransky Mallinger & Joan Truckenbrod
Without doubt emotions are evolving as they are influenced by culture, context and behaviour. David Matsumoto (2007) elucidates these three influences on human emotion. Western and Eastern societies have witnessed change with the use of new technologies. Will our ability to read emotional expressions slowly change with the new communication systems? Might people soon no longer be able to read facial expressions? With the loss of the ability to read an emotion might come too the loss of the experience itself? Steven Pinker (2002, p.40) stresses that emotions and behaviour always represent an “internal struggle”. It is not merely culture and society that directs human behaviour, but the mind has an innate system that generates endless possibilities to choose from. Emotions and feelings have been studied by some important researchers in the field, including Darwin, Damasio, LeDoux, and Ekman. The discussion can now be expanded to include emotion research and emotional responses in Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Life, gaming industries, virtual environment studies and augmented reality systems. This research forum brings together leading artists and researchers in the field of emotion studies. Researchers/ scientists/artists and curators will debate digital artworks that primarily address emotions and autism. I have chosen the format of the forum over the panel to allow more debate between the speakers and the audience. A 2-3 hour time slot would be perfect. Questions raised by the panel will centre around how technologies influence emotional wellbeing. Panelists will be asked to present a brief 15-minute position summary that will then be followed by discussion with fellow panelists, moderators, and the audience. The focus of this panel will be more on discussion and idea sharing and less on paper reading.
- Dr. Barbara Rauch is an artist practitioner, researcher and academic scholar with a fulltime position at OCAD University. She has been Assistant Professor in Graphics, Animation and Visualization with the Digital Futures Initiative (DFI) since September 2009. Her expertise encompasses the theory, history and research of digital art at international levels, together with the discourses of professional practice in contemporary site-specific installations and with a particular focus on cross-disciplinary art projects. In May 2011 she accepted the position as Graduate Program Director for the Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art, Media and Design at OCAD University.