Synopses & Reviews
Are you Experienced? concerns experiential art created with a view to excite senses and stimulate the body and mind, covering a spectrum of work including installation art, sculpture, video, sound, digital works, painting and performance art.
The book explores the essence of immediacy and immanence in the practices of some of the worlds leading artists, through such constructs as the uncanny, affect, evocation, empathy, synesthesia, the unconscious, sensual perception, the space-in-between the viewer and the work (or in the case of immersive digital works, the space that surrounds, meets or even enters the viewers body).
Beyond the physical presence of the artworks, Are you Experienced? explores subtle themes such as transcendence, and the ways in which an artwork can be both immanent and starkly present, while also engaging with conceptual undercurrents.
Synopsis
This catalogue accompanies an exhibition of the same name, on view at the Art Gallery of Hamilton through summer and fall 2015, curated by Melissa Bennett, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. The show takes the viewer on a journey through which affect, evocation, empathy, synesthesia, the unconscious and sensual perception live together, providing a context for both reflection and engagement. Beyond the physical presence of the artworks, the exhibition explores subtle themes such as transcendence, and the ways in which an artwork can be both immanent and starkly present, while engaging with conceptual or political undercurrents. Contributors include Melissa Bennett, Jennifer Fisher and Jim Drobnick, and Gabrielle Moser.
About the Author
Melissa Bennett: Curator of Contemporary Art at Art Gallery of Hamilton.