Monimedia

Monimedia is a term used in media studies and art criticism to describe content, works, or practices that rely on a single medium for expression, presentation, or analysis. It stands in contrast to multimedia, which combines several distinct media forms such as text, image, audio, and interactivity. In its simplest sense, monimedia foregrounds the properties of one channel—such as the cadence of language in a text, the texture of a painting, or the timbre of a single audio track—without deliberate integration of multiple media types.

Origin and usage: The term is not widely standardized and appears primarily in theoretical discussions rather than as a formal category. It is often used to examine how the constraints and affordances of a single medium shape meaning, audience engagement, and production workflows. Scholars sometimes apply monimedia to photography, painting, sculpture, or audio-only works, as well as to digital artifacts that are presented without cross-media navigation or interactivity.

Applications: In practice, monimedia can describe traditional forms such as a novel, a solo jazz recording, or a gallery painting, as well as digital outputs like a text-heavy blog, a one-channel podcast, or an image-based artifact presented without other media channels.

Criticism: Critics argue that the label can be overly restrictive, overlooking works that are effectively monomodal yet embedded in broader media ecologies. Others note that nearly all contemporary works incorporate some cross-media context, making pure monimedia rare.

See also: Multimedia; media theory; single-medium art.