ABSTRACT
Chapter 5, ‘Immersive Worlds’, identifies the qualitative difference made by digital processes as immersive in two respects: the integration of digital processes in everyday life; and the experience of onscreen imagery or installation. The chapter discusses digital materiality and network navigation and the fundamentally changed experience of viewing: references include media theorists Wendy Chun, Byung-Chul Han, and Andreas Hepp. While digital processes promise a kind of liberation for photography, practices reflect opposing views regarding their potential. Projects by Laia Abril, Joana Moll, and Angel Washko critique the negative uses that affect social behaviour: hidden systems of the network society, the mining of data capital, facial recognition systems, and the invasion of private space by social media. In contrast, works by Asian artists, such as Aaajiao and Shu-Lea Cheang, explore possibilities of existence that is both enhanced and disturbed by virtual technologies. Paralleling attitudes associated with the post-humanities, they create digital worlds that rethink our future place in the world.
