Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) | 5 crédits | |||
| Master in multilingual communication, professional focus in digital media education | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This learning unit explores Marcel Duchamp's concept of infrathin - the barely perceptible yet essential distinctions between two nearly identical phenomena - applied to contemporary social media. The course examines how the subtle, barely perceptible distinctions of infrathin manifest in digital interactions, online identity, and digital communication. Students will analyze the liminal spaces between authentic and performed, original and copy, intimate and public within digital platforms. The curriculum covers digital identity evolution, meme culture, remixing and reappropriation practices, and the micro-interactions that shape our online relationships. By combining art theory, media studies, and critical digital analysis, the course reveals how infrathin qualities of digital spaces influence authenticity, intimacy, and self-representation. Students will develop a nuanced understanding of the imperceptible yet powerful phenomena governing our daily digital experiences. The course bridges theoretical frameworks with practical analysis, examining case studies from various social media platforms including Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and messaging applications to understand how infrathin distinctions create meaning and affect user experience.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Upon completion of this learning unit, students will develop practical understanding of Duchamp's infrathin concept applied to social media contexts. They will learn to observe and document micro-interactions within their own digital practices, developing basic digital auto-ethnography methodologies. The course will guide them in creating various experimental content - memes, short videos, or small digital installations - that question notions of originality and authenticity in digital environments. Students will practically explore subtle distinctions between authentic identity and online persona by manipulating platform aesthetic codes to reveal boundaries between intimate and public spheres. They will acquire foundational skills in digital content creation while maintaining critical awareness, enabling them to design small artistic interventions in digital spaces. The goal is to give concrete form to theoretical concepts through documentation and presentation of their experiments in a creative portfolio. Students will also develop basic competencies in analyzing how minute variations affect online perception and user experience.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
This learning unit is accessible to all students with basic social media experience. Students must have at least one social media account (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, etc.) with more than 50 followers/friends (!) and be willing to follow/add other course participants to create a collaborative learning network. It is essential to bring mobile phone and/or tablet to class and be ready to regularly post content on their social networks to put the concept of infrathin into daily practice. Intellectual curiosity toward contemporary art and digital cultural phenomena is recommended, as well as open-mindedness to experiment with their own online practices. No advanced technical knowledge is required. Students simply need to be comfortable with regular use of social platforms and willing to think critically about their own digital habits. Basic ability to write and express oneself orally completes the prerequisites. Students should also be prepared to share and discuss their online experiences with classmates in a supportive, analytical environment.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course prioritizes practice-based learning grounded in collective discussion and critical debate. Each session begins with theoretical overview of historical infrathin examples: works by Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, or Elaine Sturtevant or Kenneth Goldsmith. These examples fuel collective debates about questions of originality, appropriation, and reproduction. Students then concretely experiment with these concepts by creating content on their social media, followed by collective critical analysis sessions of their productions. The pedagogical approach combines spontaneous real-time creation, documentation of creative processes, and immediate discussions of results. Students share their screens live, comment on others' posts, and analyze together the micro-differences between similar content, thus practically embodying the concept of infrathin. Regular peer critique sessions and collaborative reflection deepen understanding through shared experimentation.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Remote course
Further information:
Remote, online learning
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- Remote
written exam
Written work / report
Further information:
Creation and publication of a 15-minute maximum video on an online platform (YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Instagram) presenting practical research on a specific infrathin phenomenon in social media. Students will document their experimentation process through screenshots, live recordings, and artistic interventions on their accounts. The video includes concrete demonstration of chosen concept (micro-variations in stories, subtle differences between original/reposted content, nuances in reactions). Creative format encouraged: experimental editing, voice-over, split-screen. Video shared publicly with class for collective comments. Evaluation based on visual originality, relevance of examples, ability to make infrathin tangible through personal digital practice.
Retry
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
See Celcat.
In addition to these sessions, individual meetings at the end of the semester will be dedicated to the preparation of individual papers for the exam.
Contacts
Ilan Manouach: ilan.manouach@uliege.be
Björn-Olav Dozo: BO.Dozo@uliege.be