Reading Assignment 1
Instructions (due 1/29):
Oliver Grau, Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, The MIT Press, 2002. pp.1 – 23.: Read the above reading materials and answer the below questions on your blog. (2-3 paragraphs)
According to Oliver Grau, the illusion space with interaction can be experienced differently depending on the psychological distance between the observer and the image space. There are many external factors that create that psychological distance, but the most dominant factor is what medium the space was created through. Analyze how the psychological distance is similar to or different from in the experience of paintings, sculptures, plays, movies, television, games, or VR. In addition, describe how those experiences differ in terms of immersion and critical reflection.
The experiences across various mediums significantly diverge in terms of immersion and critical reflection. Immersion, the depth of engagement and absorption in a medium, takes on distinct characteristics across paintings, sculptures, plays, movies, games, and Virtual Reality (VR). Paintings, exemplified by Robert Barker’s “London from the Roof of Albian Mills (1792),” employ the panoramic perspective technique, creating an illusion that the observer is viewing the city’s landscape from a specific vantage point. In paintings, the static 2D visualization offers a linear perspective, allowing observers to analyze details and absorb the artist’s intended narrative, fostering a contemplative and immersive experience. Similarly, sculptures like Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate (2006)” invite the observer to play with distorted images reflected from the mirrored sculpture, encouraging a unique way of perceiving the surroundings.
Despite the applied illusional effects in paintings and sculptures, the immersive experience remains somewhat limited as observers need to rely on their imagination. In contrast, plays, movies, and television utilize stories as their main vehicle, allowing observers to immerse themselves in imagined worlds. However, these mediums still exhibit a clear boundary between the real and the virtual, as observers lack influence over the events unfolding before them. Games, introducing interactivity to the narrative, enable real-time changes, maximizing the observer’s involvement in the unfolding events. Video games introduce a higher degree of interactivity, enabling players to shape the narrative through their choices. The immersive nature of games, where players become active participants, can impact critical reflection as they navigate decision-making within the game’s context.
Virtual Reality (VR) takes immersion to its pinnacle by simulating environments that replicate or transcend the real world. VR’s spherical perspective provides a comprehensive sensory experience, making users feel physically present in the digital environment. The heightened immersion in VR significantly influences critical reflection, prompting users to reevaluate their relationship with the virtual surroundings. However, like other mentioned mediums, games fall short of fully enclosing the psychological distance between the observer and the image space, as they “leave the observer outside and [are] thus unsuitable for communicating virtual realities in a way that overwhelms the senses.” In contrast, VR stands out as a technological medium that almost entirely seals off the observer from external visual impressions, allowing images to integrate the observer in a 360° space of illusion, removing boundaries and psychological distance between the observer and the image space. In the words of Oliver Grau, VR “almost wholly visually seals off the observer hermetically from external visual impressions,” presenting a unique potential for immersive experiences that surpass the limitations of other mediums.