Media Faktura. On some Technical Conditions of Image-Making in Art

The text contributes to the discussion about the ontological status of the “image” by offering an analysis of the technical and material conditions of image-making. Departing from a close reading of French artist Julien Maire’s installation Memory Cone (2009), the paper discusses four distinct types of technical conditions which determine mediated images: physiological, physical, electronic, and algorithmic. It references art historical examples to argue that such technical conditions have always been fundamental to images, and suggests the interdependency between these medial layers.