Recently, the course exhibition "Echoes from the Black Box: Folding and Manifestation in Media History" for History of Communication Thought was held at the Academy. Taking "folding" as its thematic thread, the exhibition juxtaposed ancient papyrus with AI-generated imagery to reveal how technological iteration stratifies the development and concealment of memory. It posed the question: amidst the torrent of data and the abyss of algorithms, who develops the "truth," and who ultimately sinks into the dark field? The exhibition was curated by Xiao Jian, Assistant Dean of the School and researcher under the Hundred Talents Programme, with works by all course participants featured.
How instructional design can stimulate students' autonomous learning, critical thinking, and cross-media expression capabilities has become a pivotal issue in contemporary educational reform. This exhibition represents a significant outcome of applying the 'curatorial learning approach' within the curriculum, serving as a distinctive method for cultivating sensibility and cultural literacy through arts education. The curatorial learning approach rejects one-way knowledge transmission, restructuring learning into an active narrative adventure of exploration. Students, acting as 'curators' of knowledge, independently undertake the selection, integration, interpretation, and presentation of information. Within the course, theory-based curatorial concepts are advanced through collaborative student projects, while human-machine collaboration enhances the practicality of these creative endeavours. Ultimately, the 'curatorial learning approach' provides students with an effective pathway to integrate personal life histories, familial memories, and local experiences into academic reflection.
Left: AI concept diagram; Right: Actual finished product diagram
During the exhibition, the organisers also invited experts in art education from the China Academy of Art, alongside artists, to participate in exchange seminars. These sessions featured in-depth discussions and positive responses on topics such as how to cultivate students' creativity, autonomy, and independence through "managing AI" and "hands-on practice" in the era of artificial intelligence.
