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Forensic Aesthetics: Archaeology of the Recent Past and a Projection of the Future

Publication |
2022

Abstract

The article aims to present and interpret the newly established field of so-called forensic aesthetics, introduced by Eyal Weizman in the early 2010s, when he founded the Centre of Forensic Architecture agency. The agency is known for the use of visualization tech- nologies, digital projections, cartographic tools for analyzing geopolitical and geographical environmental transformations, recording media, and images from social net- works, in order to reveal and make visible the trac- es of violence that are not only inscribed in human bodies, but also in archi- tecture, urban environ- ments, and the body of the Earth.

In the second part of the article, I deal with contemporary art, which could be labelled as forensic aesthetics, namely with the artistic production of Hito Steyerl, Trevor Paglen, and an exhibition at ZKM in Karlsruhe called Critical Zones.