With the rise of immersive art production and popularity, further classification is needed since not all immersive art is created and experienced equally. Immersive-Generative-Interactive Artworks (IGIAs) are usually understood from anthropocentric perspectives that situate human visitors as performative users, ultimately placing machines as art objects despite their interactive and generative qualities. Advancements in machine autonomy and bodily non-conscious cognition literature provide fresh lenses to distinguish IGIAs from other types of immersive art. teamLab’s projection-based art offers prime and well-crafted examples of IGIAs, and their analysis is deemed valuable since it could reveal essential aspects of the relationship between humans and machines in these artworks. By analyzing representative cases from teamLab, this paper assesses how IGIAs can be conceptualized by reevaluating the role of machines (considering their bodily capabilities) and how this conceptualization of IGIAs differs from other types of immersive art. It is argued that, distinctively from other immersive artworks, IGIAs are human-machine metaformances (bodily performances that transcend language and traditional rationality). In IGIAs, the machines involved have a certain level of autonomy and perform non-conscious cognitive processes according to their own bodily perception, cognition, and expression, enabling them to become and act like metaformers, just as humans. Under this conceptualization, the idea of interfaces is surpassed, challenging the human user-centric views of IGIAs by positioning humans and machines in a fair, nonhierarchical relationship. This approach allows for a reframing of IGIAs inside the metahumanist discourse and could be integrated into the larger discussion surrounding art and (soft) Artificial Intelligence.

Authors:
Alexis Ibarra Ibarra, Erasmus Mundus Media Arts Consortium, Austria

About the Presenter(s)
MSc Alexis Ibarra Ibarra is a researcher, writer, artist, and an Erasmus Mundus Media Arts Cultures MA student (UWK, AT|AAU, DK|ULODZ, PL|LASALLE, SG). She researches Immersive Art, Contemporary Curatorial Practices, Metahumanism, and Game Studies.

Connect on Linkedin
https://linkedin.com/in/alexis-ibarra-ibarra-4a1742110

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