Labim
Laboratory for the Study of Images and the Imaginary
A reference center for images and imagery
To function as a reference center for research into the impact of images and the importance of the imaginary in contemporary societies.
Connections between imagination and related theoretical domains
To investigate the connections between images and imagination and related theoretical domains, such as the study of "atmospheres" or "ambiences" within the horizon of a new aesthetic, "materialities of communication" in the field of media theories and visual cultures in a decolonial context.
Theoretical tools of the imaginary in Latin American culture
To investigate the profitability of these theoretical tools of the imaginary in the field of politics and culture in the context of Latin America, with its historical, regional and civilizational peculiarities.
Innovative methodologies and alternative practices in the academic context
To develop new methodologies for these fields, drawing particular inspiration from alternative epistemologies and practices that are not yet widespread in the academic field, such as "fictocriticism", "hyperstition" and "epistemologies of the South".
Thematic axes
Imagination, art and creation
How do artists create their works and how do they perceive their own creative processes? What is the role of imagination in these processes, how is it activated and how do we think about the symbolic and/or mythical elements that often manifest themselves in artistic production? These are some of the questions that this axis aims to address, pursuing the relationship of cultural images in the constitution of art making.
Politics
and Myth
Drawing on a long and vast tradition of studying political myths, this line of research aims to investigate the connections between politics and the non-rational dimensions of social experience. Affects, emotions and cultural images are treated here as essential components of politics, especially in a hyper-technological age in which the imaginary manifests itself powerfully in all spheres of everyday life.
Imaginary and Digital Culture
This axis is dedicated to examining the images and representations that accompany the realities of digital culture. The Internet, computers and technological devices of various kinds are thought of from the symbolic values that society projects onto them, often imbuing them with magical powers and utopian expectations
Religion and the Imaginary
Even in a society that wants to be secular and technological, religion continues to emerge as a fundamental cultural power, which interferes in fields as diverse as politics and science. The aim of this axis is to analyze the religious phenomenon from the perspective of imaginary studies, evoking notions such as myth, symbol and ritual to seek an understanding of religiosity based on the mechanisms of the imagination.
Images and the Imaginary in audiovisual media
The relationship between film and the operations of the imagination and the psyche has been studied by various thinkers, from Christian Metz to Slavoj Zizek and Thomas Elsaesser. This axis seeks to study the influence of imagination, myth and symbol on the cinematic experience, understood as both an artistic expression and a communicational phenomenon.
Imaginaries, Sensorialities and Atmospheres
This axis takes the notions of atmosphere and sensoriality in their possible links to the imagination. It thus encompasses the study of space, architectural dimensions, the body and sensations as intimately linked to the work of the imagination. Its aim, therefore, is to explore the profitability of such concepts in investigations into the imaginary.
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