Immersion

Multimedia immersive art forms

‘Immersive art experience’ has become a ‘trendy’ exploration of emerging media, AI, and unexpected displays. Virtual reality and video games are taking art icons such as Van Gogh and Frieda Kahlo into their realms. Embedded, sensory overload kicking in, the viewer reacts not by observation and contemplation, but by ‘immersion’ – letting self wane, becoming part of the surrounding swirl, a transitory presence among multitude.  Thinking is prohibited… mindless state of floating is preferred, amongst a flood of images perceived quickly, no time or reason to absorb them, individually. 

Take, for example, exuberant and morfing color waves thrusting out from walls in AI motioned installations by Refik Anadol.

We recently ‘immersed’ in a dark room at MMFA, bean pillows on the floor, laying down in pitch black to absorb a constant flash of images and drawings by Nalini Malani. Assembled and disassembled in perpetuity from 9 projectors on four walls around us – it was hard to steady the gaze, jumping randomly from wall to wall, drawn by curiosity and quick attention to emerging flashes.

Recognized as the pioneer of video art in India, Nalini Malani (born in 1946) has been working in multimedia art since the 1960s. Her practice integrates animation, theatre arts, photography, painting, performance art, cinema and video. Her work deals with pressing geopolitical concerns of our historical moment, including gender inequality, civil conflict and collective memory.

Our immersion into ‘Crossing Boundaries‘ was a mixed bag of feelings; very strong social commentary, powerful images, impressive animations, repetitive to make a mark, black and white, red, words flashing in, even the brain made its appearance.  Yet, somehow, we wanted to contemplate the singular images for just a little longer…

Perhaps this discomfort, confusion, is generational, our (older) brains not well accustomed or adaptable to virtual reality and immersions of video games? Or is it brain physiology – how the brain reacts to ‘forced’ sensory input? Intermittent flashes of light can trigger a seizure or fainting.. brain synchronizing, then shutting down to reduce overstimulation (maybe that is why we were lying on the floor 🤔).

I have to admit, these interrupted images come back to me unexpectedly, sometimes before falling to sleep, a visual memory very strongly imprinted into the occipital cortex. Perhaps that is it – a memory that comes back to allow the brain to reprocessed it – so it stays with us longer to relive and contemplate?

Our Brain Art installation ‘All in One‘ (showing at the same time) also had the elements of immersion – a perpetual ‘Carousel’ of projected images inhabiting the ‘Hollow Mind’ – I realized we needed 6 projectors instead of only one! Can’t wait for AI generated 3D holograms to make an appearance…

Here is the introduction of the artist and ‘flashes’ from the actual experience.