Kurt Hentschläger FEED X
Kurt Hentschläger FEED.X, 2018, installation view, Vienna Festival, Vienna, 2019.
Photo: Bruno Klomfar, courtesy of the artist

The Immersion Problem

Jose Luis de Vicente
What is immersive? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of demand for a proper, precise definition of one of the most overused terms of the last decade, at least in media and marketing. We mostly assume that it’s one of those things that falls within the “I’ll know it when I see it” category. But I can’t help being curious about what we are calling immersive these days. The label is applied indiscriminately and with little precision, attached to things that are completely different, from a digital projection on semi-transparent layers in a public space,1 1 - Jason Pirodsky, “Long-lost Prague Railway Station Steams Back to Life in Immersive Installation,” expats.cz, October 25, 2025, accessible online. to a mechanical musical sculpture,2 2 - Laurent de Sortiraparis, “Sole Crushing by Meriem Bennani: Our Photos of the Immersive Installation at Lafayette Anticipations,” Sortir à Paris, October 21, 2025, accessible online. to a luxury showroom presenting contemporary furniture.3 3 - Leen al Saadi, “Loro Piana and Dimoremilano Debut Immersive La Prima Notte di Quiete Installation at Milan Design Week 2025,” Vogue Arabia, September 11, 2025, accessible online.

We feel “immersive” to be an adequate adjective when there’s somehow a playful proposition for the visitor, when the audience’s point of view is expected to change according to its own decisions, when there’s a desire to blur the limits between the architectural environment and the artwork itself. Also, more lazily, when technology is involved, and more often than not, it’s used as a vehicle for brand activation.

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Image de la couverture du numéro Esse 116 Immersion
This article also appears in the issue 116 - Immersion
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