Dr Laura Leuzzi

Re-enactment and New Media: Journeys through collective and personal memory
2024 - 2024

Description Invited paper at the INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SESSIONS
"Digital materiality and Artificial Intelligence", Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano Palazzo Arese Borromeo, Cesano Moderno, 13/14 May.

International Days of Study curated by Chiara Borgonovo, Paolo De Gasperis, Francesca Pola and Antonella Sbrilli,
promoted and organised by
ICONE - European Centre for Research in History and Theory of the Image of Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan
with the collaboration of the
PhD in Art History of La Sapienza Università, Rome.
The research sessions, scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, May 13th, and the morning of Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, at Palazzo Arese Borromeo in Cesano Maderno (MB) – a conference and seminar venue of Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele – explored the presence of digital technologies in artistic practices and art-historical research methodologies in the contemporary era.

Abstract of the paper:
Re-enactments have assumed a pivotal role in the research and exhibition of performance in the past twenty years. Several exhibitions have explored the phenomena of re-enactment of historical artists’ performances and video, of historical events, and exhibitions. Among the most relevant we can include A Little Bit of History Repeated curated by Jens Hoffmann (Kunst- Werke, Berlin, 2001); Life, Once More: Forms of Reenactment in Contemporary Art, curated by Sven Lüttiken (Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2005); Playback: Simulierte Wirklichkeiten / Playback: Simulated Realities curated by Sabine Himmelsbach (Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, 2006), RE:akt! Reconstruction, Re-enactment, Re-reporting curated by Domenico Quaranta, Antonio Caronia and Janez Janša (Ljubljana, 2009), When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013 (2013, Fondazione Prada), a re-enactment of the historic exhibition by Harald Szeemann, curated by Germano Celant, which promoted a new interest in the re-enactment of exhibitions (Di Raddo 2015). In these exhibitions as well as in theory a new importance and relevance for re-enactment has been gathered through the use of new media intended for example as the Internet (including online virtual spaces for example) or video to explore an expanded memory of performance and events. Expanded in a sense both of the possibility of reaching new and diverse audiences through the Internet and the screening and exhibition of video, as well as explore events that could be challenging to re-enact IRL. In this presentation, I will explore a number of uses of re-enactment connected to new media to explore collective and personal memory of historical events and performances —their nature, form and content—as well as the idea of exploring mediation and interaction with the public through a reperformance of the events utilising technology.

URL https://phd.uniroma1.it/dottorati/cartellaDocumentiWeb/ea493603-523a-4630-99fd-c3635d1d2cc4.pdf

Description	Invited paper at the INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SESSIONS "Digital materiality and Artificial Intelligence", Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano Palazzo Arese Borromeo, Cesano Moderno, 13/14 May. International Days of Study curated by Chiara Borgonovo, Paolo De Gasperis, Francesca Pola and Antonella Sbrilli, promoted and organised by ICONE - European Centre for Research in History and Theory of the Image of Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan with the collaboration of the PhD in Art History of La Sapienza Università, Rome. The research sessions, scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, May 13th, and the morning of Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, at Palazzo Arese Borromeo in Cesano Maderno (MB) – a conference and seminar venue of Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele – explored the presence of digital technologies in artistic practices and art-historical research methodologies in the contemporary era. Abstract of the paper: Re-enactments have assumed a pivotal role in the research and exhibition of performance in the past twenty years. Several exhibitions have explored the phenomena of re-enactment of historical artists’ performances and video, of historical events, and exhibitions. Among the most relevant we can include A Little Bit of History Repeated curated by Jens Hoffmann (Kunst- Werke, Berlin, 2001); Life, Once More: Forms of Reenactment in Contemporary Art, curated by Sven Lüttiken (Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2005); Playback: Simulierte Wirklichkeiten / Playback: Simulated Realities curated by Sabine Himmelsbach (Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, 2006), RE:akt! Reconstruction, Re-enactment, Re-reporting curated by Domenico Quaranta, Antonio Caronia and Janez Janša (Ljubljana, 2009), When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013 (2013, Fondazione Prada), a re-enactment of the historic exhibition by Harald Szeemann, curated by Germano Celant, which promoted a new interest in the re-enactment of exhibitions (Di Raddo 2015). In these exhibitions as well as in theory a new importance and relevance for re-enactment has been gathered through the use of new media intended for example as the Internet (including online virtual spaces for example) or video to explore an expanded memory of performance and events. Expanded in a sense both of the possibility of reaching new and diverse audiences through the Internet and the screening and exhibition of video, as well as explore events that could be challenging to re-enact IRL. In this presentation, I will explore a number of uses of re-enactment connected to new media to explore collective and personal memory of historical events and performances —their nature, form and content—as well as the idea of exploring mediation and interaction with the public through a reperformance of the events utilising technology.
URL	https://phd.uniroma1.it/dottorati/cartellaDocumentiWeb/ea493603-523a-4630-99fd-c3635d1d2cc4.pdf

Invited lecture at Fotoludica: Joseph DeLappe/Laura Leuzzi "Head Shot! Artefacts of interventionist play: Joseph DeLappe’s extended screenshots"
2024 - 2024

Description Fotoludica is the first Italian conference dedicated to examining the burgeoning artistic practice of in-game photography and machinima. Across two days of talks, presentations and discussions, creators, researchers and theorists explore the complex intersection of video games, photography, copyright law, activism and visual culture.

A keystone of the event is discussing in-game photography as an emergent art form, looking at how players leverage tools ranging from photo modes to hacking screenshots to produce dynamic images. Presentations analyze works by artists like Boris Camaca, Leonardo Magrelli, Simone Santilli and Adonis Archontides, uncovering conceptual depth within gaming spaces. Legal questions also take center stage regarding whether player-created screenshots can be considered proprietary artwork or remain protected as game developer assets.

Additional topics trace photography’s usage as architectural visualization rendered through speculative Minecraft builds. Presentations also cover documenting in-game performance art and interventions as contemporary extensions of war photography traditions. Throughout the event, speakers highlight how rendering gaming environments through a photographic lens reveals underlying themes related to violence, labor exploitation and colonial ideologies.

Featured speakers apply lenses — no pun intended — spanning art history, visual culture, game development, software studies and internet law. Keynotes include Marco De Mutiis discussing “Playable Imaging” and the uneasy combination of image-creation and play. Artist Joseph DeLappe joins scholar Laura Leuzzi in conversation around artifacts created through his daring in-game interventions. Additional highlights involve a series of panel discussions moderated by Matteo Bittanti and Marco De Mutiis focused on questioning boundaries of creativity, authorship and ethics tied to photographic practices using proprietary game engines and assets.

By gathering voices from game studies, art, law and beyond, Fotoludica seeks to cement in-game photography as a serious art form while unpacking vital questions through multidisciplinary dialogue. The event also solidifies IULM University’s pivotal role in advancing photography focused game studies research.

Ultimately the conference provides vital scholarly infrastructure legitimizing artistic interrogation of games using techniques from photography to machinima.

Joseph DeLappe, Laura Leuzzi, Head Shot! Artefacts of interventionist play: Joseph DeLappe’s extended screenshots

In this joint talk, Laura Leuzzi and Joseph DeLappe will discuss DeLappe’s pioneering performance art within game spaces and how the visual documentation of these works problematizes representations of violence. They will explore several of DeLappe’s projects including dead-in-iraq, Quake/Friends and others, analyzing both the creation of the performances themselves as well as the critical role played by the production of screenshots, 3D captures and physical artifacts. The talk will trace how DeLappe’s practice sits in relation to traditions of war photography and photojournalism, arguing that the images fill an important gap while also taking on activist meaning. Leuzzi and DeLappe will also examine how such game-derived images, slipping fluidly between the real and the virtual, take on a distinct potency in relation to the original events.

URL https://milanmachinimafestival.org/fotoludica-program

Description	Fotoludica is the first Italian conference dedicated to examining the burgeoning artistic practice of in-game photography and machinima. Across two days of talks, presentations and discussions, creators, researchers and theorists explore the complex intersection of video games, photography, copyright law, activism and visual culture. A keystone of the event is discussing in-game photography as an emergent art form, looking at how players leverage tools ranging from photo modes to hacking screenshots to produce dynamic images. Presentations analyze works by artists like Boris Camaca, Leonardo Magrelli, Simone Santilli and Adonis Archontides, uncovering conceptual depth within gaming spaces. Legal questions also take center stage regarding whether player-created screenshots can be considered proprietary artwork or remain protected as game developer assets. Additional topics trace photography’s usage as architectural visualization rendered through speculative Minecraft builds. Presentations also cover documenting in-game performance art and interventions as contemporary extensions of war photography traditions. Throughout the event, speakers highlight how rendering gaming environments through a photographic lens reveals underlying themes related to violence, labor exploitation and colonial ideologies. Featured speakers apply lenses — no pun intended — spanning art history, visual culture, game development, software studies and internet law. Keynotes include Marco De Mutiis discussing “Playable Imaging” and the uneasy combination of image-creation and play. Artist Joseph DeLappe joins scholar Laura Leuzzi in conversation around artifacts created through his daring in-game interventions. Additional highlights involve a series of panel discussions moderated by Matteo Bittanti and Marco De Mutiis focused on questioning boundaries of creativity, authorship and ethics tied to photographic practices using proprietary game engines and assets. By gathering voices from game studies, art, law and beyond, Fotoludica seeks to cement in-game photography as a serious art form while unpacking vital questions through multidisciplinary dialogue. The event also solidifies IULM University’s pivotal role in advancing photography focused game studies research. Ultimately the conference provides vital scholarly infrastructure legitimizing artistic interrogation of games using techniques from photography to machinima. Joseph DeLappe, Laura Leuzzi, Head Shot! Artefacts of interventionist play: Joseph DeLappe’s extended screenshots In this joint talk, Laura Leuzzi and Joseph DeLappe will discuss DeLappe’s pioneering performance art within game spaces and how the visual documentation of these works problematizes representations of violence. They will explore several of DeLappe’s projects including dead-in-iraq, Quake/Friends and others, analyzing both the creation of the performances themselves as well as the critical role played by the production of screenshots, 3D captures and physical artifacts. The talk will trace how DeLappe’s practice sits in relation to traditions of war photography and photojournalism, arguing that the images fill an important gap while also taking on activist meaning. Leuzzi and DeLappe will also examine how such game-derived images, slipping fluidly between the real and the virtual, take on a distinct potency in relation to the original events.
URL	https://milanmachinimafestival.org/fotoludica-program

Editorial Committee of "The Emergence of Video Art in Europe (1960–1980)"
2022 - 2025

Description Editorial Committee of the project "The Emergence of Video Art in Europe (1960–1980)"

Project Holders
ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO)
University Paris-8 Vincennes - Saint-Denis

Supported by
Swiss National Science Foundation
Agence Nationale de la Recherche

With the additional support of
Germaine de Staël Programm

Period
February 2021 – February 2025

URL https://videoarteurope.com/Team

Description	Editorial Committee of the project "The Emergence of Video Art in Europe (1960–1980)" Project Holders ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO) University Paris-8 Vincennes - Saint-Denis Supported by Swiss National Science Foundation Agence Nationale de la Recherche With the additional support of Germaine de Staël Programm Period February 2021 – February 2025
URL	https://videoarteurope.com/Team

ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage
2022 - 2023

URL https://dl.acm.org/journal/jocch

URL	https://dl.acm.org/journal/jocch

Essay Competition, Feminist art in an international art curriculum
2021 - 2021

Description
The three winners of the competition (with prize money) awarded in March 2021 are:-

Laura Leuzzi (University of Dundee, Scotland, UK) ‘”She became my teacher and mentor”. Uncovering the legacy of women video pioneers in Art Schools and Academies in Europe’.

Hadara Scheflan-Katzav (Kibbuzim College of Education Technology and the Arts, Israel)
‘The artistic narrative, the mirror, and the vagina: Teaching History of Art from a Feminist Perspective’

Description of the award:
This essay competition is open to anyone working, or recently working (i.e. last two years), in Higher Education, whether or not they are members of Advance HE Connect. This is an international competition, inviting contributions from anywhere in the world. This essay competition is open to lecturers in art and design practices (studio teaching), as well as art theory and art history.

Essays should consider how feminist art is currently taught in art and design, art history, curating/arts admin curricula in Higher Education institutions, including art schools and academies, offering degrees in these subjects.

The content of definitions of “feminist art” or “feminist pedagogies” should be explored in the essay with a view to what kinds of feminism(s) and feminist methodologies are taught, both implicitly and explicitly. Whether the definition of feminist art or feminism is related to gender theory or the practices of women artists should be explored. The definition of what kinds of feminisms should be specified and argued: including the feminist content of approaches taken to multi-culturalism(s), trans-nationalisms, critiques of nationalisms, de-colonizing strategies, queer studies, post-colonial studies, black, indigenous, anti-racist and anti-sexist approaches.

The winning essays, as submitted, were placed on the Advance HE Connect website for the Forum, in the resources section, for the Feminist Art in an International Curriculum forum.

Judges: Katy Deepwell (Middlesex University), Alexandra Kokoli (Middlesex University), Anne Swartz (Savannah College of Art and Design), Kathleen Wentrack (Queensborough, CUNY), Catherine Harrington (Tokyo University of the Arts).

Affiliated Organisations Advance HE

URL https://nparadoxa.wordpress.com/2021/03/25/winners-of-the-essay-competition-feminist-art-in-an-international-curriculum/

Description	The three winners of the competition (with prize money) awarded in March 2021 are:- Laura Leuzzi (University of Dundee, Scotland, UK) ‘”She became my teacher and mentor”. Uncovering the legacy of women video pioneers in Art Schools and Academies in Europe’. Hadara Scheflan-Katzav (Kibbuzim College of Education Technology and the Arts, Israel) ‘The artistic narrative, the mirror, and the vagina: Teaching History of Art from a Feminist Perspective’ Description of the award: This essay competition is open to anyone working, or recently working (i.e. last two years), in Higher Education, whether or not they are members of Advance HE Connect. This is an international competition, inviting contributions from anywhere in the world. This essay competition is open to lecturers in art and design practices (studio teaching), as well as art theory and art history. Essays should consider how feminist art is currently taught in art and design, art history, curating/arts admin curricula in Higher Education institutions, including art schools and academies, offering degrees in these subjects. The content of definitions of “feminist art” or “feminist pedagogies” should be explored in the essay with a view to what kinds of feminism(s) and feminist methodologies are taught, both implicitly and explicitly. Whether the definition of feminist art or feminism is related to gender theory or the practices of women artists should be explored. The definition of what kinds of feminisms should be specified and argued: including the feminist content of approaches taken to multi-culturalism(s), trans-nationalisms, critiques of nationalisms, de-colonizing strategies, queer studies, post-colonial studies, black, indigenous, anti-racist and anti-sexist approaches. The winning essays, as submitted, were placed on the Advance HE Connect website for the Forum, in the resources section, for the Feminist Art in an International Curriculum forum. Judges: Katy Deepwell (Middlesex University), Alexandra Kokoli (Middlesex University), Anne Swartz (Savannah College of Art and Design), Kathleen Wentrack (Queensborough, CUNY), Catherine Harrington (Tokyo University of the Arts).
Affiliated Organisations	Advance HE
URL	https://nparadoxa.wordpress.com/2021/03/25/winners-of-the-essay-competition-feminist-art-in-an-international-curriculum/

Advisory Board Member - Live Art Ireland
2020

URL https://www.live-art.ie/people/

URL	https://www.live-art.ie/people/

Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journal "La Rivista di Engramma"
2016

Description Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journal "La Rivista di Engramma", based at Centro studi classicA IUAV - University of the Arts and Design, Venice.
ISSN 1826-901X

URL https://www.engramma.it/eOS/index.php?id_articolo=2718

Description	Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journal "La Rivista di Engramma", based at Centro studi classicA IUAV - University of the Arts and Design, Venice. ISSN 1826-901X
URL	https://www.engramma.it/eOS/index.php?id_articolo=2718

Dr Laura Leuzzi's Recognition (7)