Immersive experiences as the condition of possibility for affective spacing

ABSTRACT

Little has been written about the possibility of artistic immersive experiences to push us out of our habits of perception and into a mode of critical reflection. The article starts with the space of the body and its phenomenological engagement within immersion. Merleau-Ponty’s notion ofpre-reflection is introduced. This serves as the starting point for accessing and evaluating artistic experiences. I argue that this pre-reflective state is a perception sensitive mode of embodied subjectivity. Accordingly, this is achieved by immersion in two fold; the first is separation, a frame delineating enclosure, whereas the second is an act of connection and re-establishment. Therefore, the encounter between the subject and the art object is laden with affective qualities that possess the ability to create an opening up into a novel phenomenological experience of subjectivity and being in the world. This opening up is elucidated by way of Martin Heidegger’s notion of einräumen. This act of einräumen affords the participants strong room for reflection. This is achieved by simply requiring the participants to accept their experience as an event through which they open up and improve their capacities to feel, reflect, and act.

KEYWORDS:

• Immersion
• embodiment
• immersive experiences
• mixed realities
• art
• phenomenology
• interactive media
• perception

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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Chahid Akoury

Chahid Akoury received his Ph.D. in Media and Communication from the department of Philosophy Art and Critical Thought at the European Graduate School. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Design at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon. His research interests are in space and phenomenology, design thinking, embodied cognition, and perception.