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Journal of Film Studies ›› 2026, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (1): 26-38.

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From Indexicality to Aesthetic Contract:
Rethinking Image Ontology and Criticism in
the Age of AI

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  • Online:2026-03-10 Published:2026-03-10

Abstract:

The advent of AIGC has precipitated a profound crisis
for traditional image ontology and critical paradigms founded on
indexicality. Historical examination of cinematic mechanisms
and spectatorship reveals that the ‘sense of reality’ in images
has always been a meticulously constructed illusion. While
various ‘technical traces’ in image history have undergone
aestheticization, AIGC’s distinctive ‘algorithmic traces’ trigger
an aesthetic crisis by exposing ‘non-human logic.’ To address
this crisis, a paradigm shift becomes necessary: from ‘technical
ontology,’ which traces physical origins, to ‘aesthetic ontology,’
which analyzes viewing protocols, with ‘aesthetic contract’ as
the core analytical tool. This framework redirects critical focus
from unknowable and insufficient origins to experientially
accessible and analytically tractable viewing relationships,
transforming the challenges of the AI era into opportunities for
theoretical innovation.

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