A New Way of Seeing: Redefining the Spectator-Artwork Dynamic through an Interdisciplinary Approach

Abstract

This thesis contributes to the ongoing discourse on the aesthetic experience of the spectator in contemporary exhibitions through a dialectical engagement with disinterestedness and immersion. Investigating the shifting paradigm of aesthetic experience, this study questions the compatibility of the Kantian aesthetics with the immersive display techniques. Scrutinising the concepts of contemplation, isolation, distance, and immersion through an ocular-centric object-subject dichotomy, it explores the changing perspectives of art history and curatorial practices in relation to museum typologies. The aim is to critically evaluate the interplay between the spectator and the artwork within a novel paradigm that is conducive to both the essence of aesthetic experience and current perspectives. Utilizing empirical aesthetic studies, including neuroaesthetics, the study seeks to deepen our understanding of the complexities inherent in the evolving paradigm of aesthetic experience through an interdisciplinary approach. The study proposes embodiment and peripheral vision as a new paradigm that can offer a way of seeing to the viewer by dismantling the object-subject dichotomy.