Immerse!

Immersion has become a frequent phenomenon. Every day, people drift back and forth between digitally constructed environments. The international group exhibition »Immerse!« makes visible political, as well as social consequences of computer-generated immersion.

How does the experience of immersion change our spatial perception? And how can we maintain a critical distance when the distinction between real and virtual becomes increasingly blurred?

Drawing on the recent acceleration of the digitalization of the arts during the pandemic and subsequent crisis, the exhibition and its catalog present some of the latest artistic solutions in dealing with immersion. In doing so, viewers and readers are asked to rethink their own relationship to the virtual dimensions of reality and to classify the political and social consequences.

The exhibition at Tallinn Art Gallery takes place as part of the three-year collaborative research project »Beyond Matter«. The aim of the international project is to address the changes in the production and mediation of visual art in institutional settings, largely due to the rapid development of computer and information technology. The exhibition also provides an overview of the »Beyond Matter« residency program by presenting many artistic works created during the residencies in Tirana, Tallinn and Karlsruhe.

The artists of this exhibition make clear how immersive experiences change us and what will be the virtual symbols of the current crises. The exhibition »Immerse!« takes place on the edge of the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, amidst the remnants of Soviet culture in Estonia and in a predominantly Russian-speaking area. The images of this war, which we follow daily on our digital screens, give a special urgence to the tension between virtuality and reality.