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Beyond the Ethico‐aesthetic: Toward a Re‐valuation of the Sensory Ethnography Lab
Author(s) -
Lee Toby
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
visual anthropology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.346
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1548-7458
pISSN - 1058-7187
DOI - 10.1111/var.12184
Subject(s) - ethnography , materialism , valuation (finance) , sociology , aesthetics , focus (optics) , epistemology , anthropology , art , philosophy , economics , physics , finance , optics
Critical discourse regarding the Sensory Ethnography Lab ( SEL ) has tended to focus on the ethico‐aesthetics of SEL films, assuming a representationalist framework of understanding that has traditionally dominated debates over ethnographic media. This essay shifts focus away from the films to consider how the SEL operates pedagogically and institutionally, within larger professional structures and cultural economies. Bringing together writing by Hito Steyerl, Paola Voci, and Nuccio Ordine, I propose an alternative, more materialist framework for understanding programs like the SEL and their position in today's shifting cultural economies of both media production and higher education.