Program leader to develop a new BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice at Arts University Plymouth in the UK, “a new cutting-edge degree set as a hands-on program with focus on creativity and production, ranging from film, television and new media to the performing and visual arts.“

Arts University Plymouth, UK

2016-2017 BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice

Arts University

Pedro Valiente is selected through an international open call and relocated from Spain to the UK to develop the new program BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice at Arts University Plymouth, former Plymouth College or Art, UK. “AUP is an independent university-sector art school run by artists and designers for artists and designers, widely regarded as a dynamic catalyst for creative learning and social justice.” —AUP

Work involved shaping the new degree,  lecturing, and managing (staff, facilities, resources) as well as research, scholarship, and practice. Selected projects: Media Lab innovation, MIXarts workshops, and Ulysses international artists.

VISUAL ESSAY I The Invention of The Real: Capturing Contemporary Media I Visual essay in the frame of the new BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice published on ARTS Magazine by ARTSevilla, Spain; and Critical Transmedia 12: Proscethics of the Late Anthropocene, digital book by artist/professor Phillip Baldwin, Stony Brook University, NY. I Photo/Art: PV I The Invention of the Real Behance

CONTEMPORARY MEDIA I “It’s the destruction of the real —an almost perfect crime that erases reality itself. As Jean Baudrillard, the guru of French postmodern theory, argues, this happens when contemporary media and technological society deny a transcendent reality. Instead, they affirm alternative realities —digital and virtual realities. Today’s media integrate both traditional forms (radio, television, film) and new platforms (online).

Baudrillard describes a technological society witnessing the evolution of a universal, interconnected network of audio, video, and electronic text communications. This network blurs the lines between interpersonal and mass communication, as well as between public and private exchanges. In the present day, news primarily comes from websites and television. We send messages to friends instead of calling them. The days of family board games have been replaced by hunting monsters in interactive games.

For media creators, the challenge lies in the fact that people are now exposed to more audiovisual information than ever before in history. This marks a shift from a vocal society to a textual one, and now, a visual society. As Picasso once said, "art is the elimination of the unnecessary." Yet, in our globalized world, we are bombarded by endless bits of data —messages, images, sounds— that seem essential to daily life. This constant influx creates a fragmented perception of reality that, in turn, shapes and distorts our understanding of the world. Today, we are not solitary beings, but satellites floating around other satellites, in an endless orbit” —PV I Photo: AUP students work on public screen in Plymouth: PV

MEDIA LAB I Focus on innovation and technology starting with Plymouth Marine Laboratory, National Marine Aquarium, The Science Assembly, The Ocean Corner, and Argans Satellite Sensoring, Pedro Valiente created the Media Lab for the course Professional Practice and Development at BA CMP: "A creative space for contemporary media and technology. An initiative open to students, scholars, artists, professionals, companies and institutions. Fall 2016, Britain’s Ocean City, and Spring 2017, social programs." I Design: PV

Media Lab

MIXarts I Workshop series featuring photographer/video artist Mohini Chandra (Australia), designer/artist Frederique Santune (France), artist/innovator Lee Nutbean, filmmaker Andrew James, and textile designer Ildiko Hurley (Hungary). Pedro Valiente created MIXarts for the BA CMP course Research and Production: "A series of hands-on workshops and professional talks to nurture a culture of innovation and interdisciplinary arts." Fall session focused on Video Art.

MIXarts

ULYSSES I The third outreach activity for the new degree was named Ulysses to promote work with international visiting artists and professionals. The first guest workshop by artist/musician Javier Aparicio (Spain). I Design: PV

Ulysses

FILM STUDIES I BA (Hons) Photography students studied film work by Pedro Valiente, BA CMP program leader. I Photo: Academic work by Harriet Williams and Zoe Friedrich

BA (Hons) Photography

UK Press

ARTSevilla

UC3M

RTS

VISUAL ART

DRAWING

PHOTO

MADE IN PLYMOUTH

Artwork I Projects I University