Andrea Pinotti
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Andrea Pinotti is full professor in Aesthetics in the department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti”, State University of Milan and President of the scientific council of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris. His research focuses on image theories and visual culture studies, virtual and augmented reality, memorialisation and monumentality, empathy theories, the morphological tradition from Goethe to the present day. He has been fellow of various international institutions, among which The Italian Academy at Columbia University; The Warburg Institute in London; the ZFL in Berlin; the IEA and the EHESS in Paris. In 2018 he has been awarded the Wissenschaftspreis der Aby-Warburg-Stiftung in Hamburg. In 2023 he has been appointed Panofsky Professor at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich. He is currently directing an Advanced project funded by the ERC (European Research Council) and entitled “An-Iconology. History, Theory, and Practices of Environmental Images” (2019-24).
In January 2024, he joins the IAS for a one-month writing residency.
Research interests
Empathy theories; image theories and practices in the digital age; monuments and memorials.
Cyber-Theo. Reflections on the theological roots of contemporary digital technologies
True Presence in the Eucharist. Incarnation. Resurrection of the dead. Bilocation of the saints. The Eye of God. Baptism by immersion or aspersion. The promise of eternal life. The new technologies of digital image production seem to take up and revive ancient pivotal themes of theological reflection and debates that have characterised the Christian tradition (and not only) in its various declinations.
The 'presentness' as the nonrepresentational effect of immersive environments; the embodiment in the avatar; the hologrammatic simulation of deceased star system personalities; teleportation; the 360° vision that emancipates itself from the tyranny of the frame to promise 'total vision'; the immersiveness of VR as opposed to the 'aspersion' of AR's digital entities.These are all contemporary inflections of ancient theological issues.
This study intends to address this "cyber-theo" dimension from the perspective of the theory of aisthesis, of perceptual experience, in particular visuo-motor experience, while also critically considering the ideological and political implications of this experiential horizon, at once brand new and archaic.
A cross-cultural comparison will also be offered with other religious traditions such as Hinduism, Judaism and Islam, in which similar treatments of these themes can be found. The aim is to show how the new media of virtual and augmented reality are not born 'out of the blue' but are rooted in a millennial history of which they constitute the most technologically advanced station.
 New session of the "Paris IAS Ideas" talk series, with the participation of Andrea Pinotti, University of Milan, Italy / Paris IAS Fellow |
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