Diving Into Art

Diving into art means the dissolution of boundaries between the artwork and its recipients: a relationship that is usually captured under the aquatic metaphor of immersion. Accompanying an exhibition that brings together new and historical, temporary and permanent immersive works of contemporary art at the Museum unter Tage and Situation Kunst in Bochum, this catalog asks about the critical potential of an artistic engagement with artificial atmospheres, augmented and virtual realities from the perspective of art and exhibition history as well as media studies. If immersion includes mental activation and thus re-emergence, it concomitantly opens new perspectives on our handling of social environments.