Im.Re. | Imago rerum. Theory and History of Representational Forms

The Imago rerum research unit - whose name is based on a passage from De rerum natura by Titus Lucretius Carus (circa 98 BC – circa 55 BC) - intends to delve deeper into the field of theoretical and historical studies dedicated to methods of representation , whose evolution - from primitive intuitive approaches to rigorous elaborations based on coherent knowledge of optics and geometry - exhibits the strong links between artistic experience and the scientific elaboration of the problem. The Unit intends to fit into a broader international critical panorama, underlining how current research trends are moving towards a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem. In particular, although focusing on a formally well-defined speculative field, the Unit recognizes as indispensable the contribution of many scientific sectors such as the history of methods of representation, the history of art, the history of cinema and pre-cinema, and last but not least the architectural composition: these are indispensable cultural and anthropological interfaces, through which to expand the spectrum of research in a continuously developing thematic area, both in critical and technological terms. The focus of the Unit is not directed in general to the study of all the images that the ages of the past, the contemporary and possibly also the future have produced, produce or will produce, but especially to those characterized by a high rate of research in figurative and geometric terms, in an attempt to identify the intimate reasons, exoteric and esoteric, at the basis of their constitution. The research conducted within the Unit benefits, for its technological and application aspects, from the collaboration with the LAR-Digital Architecture Laboratory (Iuav) and with the Vi.DE (Iuav), one of the articulations of the research infrastructure IR.IDE.