Interactive art as reflective experience: Imagineers and ultra-technologies as interaction designers

Abstract

The article investigates how the use of extended reality technologies and interactive digital interfaces have affected the design of exhibition spaces. Its main objective is to shed light on how these technologies have influenced the ways in which immersive art installations are conceived and experienced. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of interactive technologies on how visitors experience exhibition spaces. The article examines an ensemble of immersive art cases, paying special attention to the distinction between immersion and interactivity. Departing from the idea that the concept of ‘spatial configuration’, which has a central place in space syntax theory, is pivotal for exploring the relationship between new media art and the design of exhibition spaces, it explores how immersive art experience is related to an ensemble of shifts in the subjectivity of the exhibition visitor and the creator. Two concepts that are pivotal for understanding the transformations concerning the subjectivity of the exhibition visitor those of the ‘imagineer’ and the ‘ultratechnologist’, which are analysed in the article. The intention is to render explicit how extended reality technologies have contributed to the design of immersive experiences, influencing significantly the interrelations between the technical, aesthetic and institutional aspects concerning exhibition design and the methods of dissemination of art.