Arts and Figures: Introduction

This course questions the computational approach to the arts: do numbers dry up what makes artists special and do they miss the "beauty" of the works by trying too hard to put them in a box? Or do they provide other research hypotheses, other ways of approaching art history? The first semester sessions will address different quantitative methodologies, based on specific examples - prosopography, econometrics, digital cartography, computer vision, digital humanities applied to heritage, cognitive sciences. The second semester will be devoted to the preparation of a study day associated with the DatArt project which aims to decentralize the study of the art world to the regions.

The S1 sessions take place at 45 rue d'Ulm, in the conference room of the Centre Sciences des Données (staircase B, 3rd floor) and by videoconference. 

Valid for the DENS program: 6 ECTS year or 3 ECTS semester. Course director: Léa Saint-Raymond. 

Registration: please write to lea.saint-raymond@ens.psl.eu

Validation : S1 : writing a critical note about a book and/or oral presentation. S2 : organization and participation in the study day.