From the Conventional to the Computational: Continuities and Ruptures in the Epistemological Shift of Aesthetic Experience

This study examines the epistemological shift in the aesthetic experience of art, tracing the transformation from conventional, normative artistic frameworks to computational art. It explores how the relationship between the artwork and the art object has evolved that have shaped this shift. By employing qualitative and conceptual analysis, the research highlights the transition from artworks as unique, material entities to dynamic, algorithmic processes that redefine the conditions of artistic existence. The study particularly focuses on Uğur Tanyeli’s distinction between normative and speculative epistemology, Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura, and the duality between the artwork and the art object, providing a theoretical foundations. The study argues that computational art inherits and expands the speculative epistemology of conceptual art, shifting its focus towards process-based systems. Consequently, the distinction between the artwork and the art object has been reshaped by reducing the art object to a mere executional process. The theoretical proposition in this study for understanding the moment of epistemological shift in the aesthetic experience of art is that all continuities and ruptures are reflections of the distinction between the artwork and the art object.