Abstract
“VR art is destined to fail,” is a bias that I have harboured for some time. In the pursuit of creating immersive art, technology has great potential to enhance viewer experience. However, optimal engagement finds the viewer immersed in experiencing an artwork sensorially, while also promoting engagement with the content of the work, i.e. engaging with the subject of the work intellectually, aesthetically, emotionally, etc., and attributing value to the experience. VR, by its nature, sets up the expectation of a simulated/alternate reality. However, as VR’s technologically-mediated experience is predominantly a visual experience, the lack of multi-sensory experience, coupled with low resolution, the experience can never mimic reality successfully. I introduce three examples of immersive engagement in art, mediated by various degrees of analogue/digital formats, ex. painting, video, virtual reality. I examine the effect of the various media on the viewer experience, and argue that while technologically-mediated immersion can enhance the realism of the viewer experience, it is only when the performance of the technology can be disregarded a genuinely immersive experience can occur. This research builds on extensive experience in arts practice and several years of research on immersive viewer experiences and media-specificity in contemporary art. The premise that VR art is destined to fail, is something that I attempt to disprove. In conclusion, I introduce an example of expanded cinema that circumvents the problem of realism, or ‘success’ of the medium, and actually succeeds in creating an engaging and immersive experience.
Presenters
Suzanne MooneyAssociate Professor, Graduate School of Art and Design/International Exchange Center, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
New Media, Technology and the Arts
KEYWORDS
Virtual Reality, Immersivity, Media Art
