ABSTRACT
Experiencer. In the context of contemporary arts and media, experiencer serves where audience or even “spect-actor” (Boal) prove inadequate. It suggests a more immersive engagement in which the principles of composition of the piece create an environment designed to elicit a broadly visceral, sensual encounter, as distinct from conventional theatrical, concert or art gallery architectures which are constructed to draw primarily upon one of the sense organs — eyes (spectator) or ears (audience). In her interactive virtual reality installation, Osmose (1994-1996), for example, Char Davies dubbed her audience “immersants”. Though it might not directly involve touch, smell or taste in addition to sight and hearing, work which engages an experiencer draws upon Merleau-Ponty’s (1962) insight that the body is a medium for perception of the world, and Deleuze & Guattari’s (1980) notion of “haptic space”, which denies opposition between the senses. (Robin Nelson)
