In the frame of Thomas Oberender / Tino Sehgal: Welt ohne Außen. Immersive Spaces since the 1960s. 28.07.2018. Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin.
Is there a danger, in ‘immersive art’, of becoming so immersed, that we can only concentrate on one course of instruction, one subject, one project that entails the exclusion of all others? The viewer, here, much like the consumer, is placed centre stage. Does this entail an egocentric, narcissistic over-involvement, resulting in a total physical and mental dedication to a homogenous whole that no longer allows for alternatives? Perhaps the ‘Welt Ohne Außen’ primarily functions to expel the world outside of the theme park (no. 196) and to relieve us, momentarily, of our crushing reality. Or is it rather, in parallel to the real, fictitious and hybrid world we live in, a fantastical ‘Welt mit viel Innen’ (no. 191)?
Thoughts inspired by the 4.5 Immersion Series, with reference to:
Immersion Series 2 (189)
Immersion Series 4 (191)
Immersion Series 10 (199)
Immersion Series 5 (194)
Immersion Series 7 (196)
Viereinhalb Sätze 