Peggy Ahwesh Oliver van den Berg Wafaa Bilal ... - Mathildenhöhe

Wahrnehmung mich in der Welt sein lässt,
bedeutet, dass meine Wahrnehmung immersiv
ist. Den sogenannten immersiven
Bildern geht es somit nicht nur darum, die
Immersion neu zu erfinden, sondern das
Ziel dieser Bilder ist es, der Bildwahrnehmung
ihren Sonderstatus zu nehmen, das
heißt, die Bildwahrnehmung der normalen,
immer schon immersiven Wahrnehmung
anzugleichen.
Lambert Wiesing, Das Mich der Wahrnehmung.
Eine Autopsie, Frankfurt am Main
(Suhrkamp) 2009, S. 210–212.
= Immersion
We are neither concerned with the question,
What do I see when I see an image?
nor with the problem, What do I do when I
see an image? A third approach is suggested
by the question, What happens to me
when I see an image? The idea underlying
this approach can be expressed accordingly
as follows—The distinctive aspect of image
perception can be derived with reference
to the different consequences of this
state of mind for the subject. The advantage
of this perspective on the phenomenon of
image perception is obvious. One needn’t
speculate about the consequences of viewing
a picture. One needn’t invent them in
the sense of a hermeneutic postulate or
construct them in the sense of a model.
They are experienced by the subject of image
perception itself. That does not mean
that all the consequences of the perception
of a specific image are of interest. The focus
in this paradigm is not on the experiences
described with such statements as I
feel sad because I am looking at the image
or The image awakens memories in me. In
the sense of an inverse transcendental philosophy,
the point is to identify these, and
precisely these consequences that must
be associated with every experience of image
perception, as only a state of mind with
precisely these consequences can be identified
as image perception. But this also
means that if such necessary consequences
of the reality of image perception exist,
then the fundamental question of What is an
image? cannot be answered in the only two
ways mentioned above, but in three ways:
first, through reference to the specific characteristics
of the pictorial object; second,
through a subjective act of pictorial constitution,
and third, by naming the consequences
that must be associated with viewing the
image for the viewer. These consequences
tell me whether I see an image or not. For
whoever sees an image is inevitably placed
in a exceptional state—an exceptional state
whose remarkable distinctiveness as opposed
to other perceptions are gratifyingly
easy to describe clearly. Only in viewing
an image is a perceptual experience for the
viewer not associated with the compulsion
to be a part of the perceived events. He
is no longer compelled to participate! The
principle that applies exclusively to image
perception is this—the viewer does not immerse
himself in the perceived world. Images
are non-immersive.
The concept of immersion has, indeed,
become a key category of relevance to the
description of the consequences of the image
perception. An image is described as
immersive when the viewer regards the pictorial
object not as a pictorial object but as
something real. The one is mistaken for the
other. The viewer does not realize that he is
looking at an artificial pictorial object. Stereoscopic
images, panoramas, and modern
digital simulations with a head-mounted display
are usually cited as examples of such
immersive images. Yet, as impressive as
such visual media may be, there can be no
doubt that these techniques are, at best, pioneering
steps in the direction of an immersive
image of the future, but by no means
its perfect realization. Trompe-l’œil painting
is capable of evoking an immersion effect
for a viewer at a specific location. But even
such examples must not distort our view of
the customary phenomenon of the visual
image nor allow us to overlook the fact that
the distinction between immersive images
and others is fraught with conceptual disadvantages.
Thus, for example, it is particularly
troublesome that the idea of the immersive
image suggests that immersion is
a phenomenon that emerges only in the pro-
cess of viewing certain images—as if the
viewer could experience immersion only by
viewing immersive images. Yet, that is definitely
not the case. Immersion is experienced
by anyone who perceives at all. That
person immerses himself in the perceived
world. The fact that my perceptual faculties
enable me to enter that world means
that my perception is immersive. Thus, the
purpose of so-called immersive images is,
therefore, not merely to reinvent immersion.
The goal of such pictures is to strip image
perception of its unique status, that is, to
bring image perception in line with normal
perception, which is always immersive.
Lambert Wiesing, Das Mich der Wahrnehmung.
Eine Autopsie (Frankfurt am Main,
Suhrkamp, 2009), pp. 210–12.
(Translation by John Southard)
Harun Farocki, Ernste Spiele III: Immersion / Serious Games III: Immersion, 2009, Material aus der Produktion /
Footage from the production
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