Summary

82

Spectacle

Fall 2014

Are we living in a time when capitalism holds total sway over art production? Is the spectacle synonymous with alienation of the individual? Are there any positive aspects to this spectacularization of culture to compensate? The next issue of esse examines new forms of the spectacle by observing its different manifestations on today’s society, and particularly in the contemporary art field, in which the appeal of the spectacular is increasingly unrelenting.

Order
LinkedIn

Editorial

Feature

Off-Features

Columns

Reviews

Young Critics

Image de la couverture du numéro Esse 116 Immersion

Current Issue

Immersion

Winter 2026

This issue is interested in all forms of immersion in contemporary art. How are artists critically engaging with immersive technologies? Conversely, what kinds of practices are challenging technology in their pursuit of immersion? How are these experiences breaking down the boundaries between spectator, body, and art? We put forward proposals that rely on listening and sustained attention rather than on amplification and sensory overload – works using devices that are sometimes relatively simple and non-invasive, sometimes a little more elaborate, but in which participation is, with a few nuances, neither passive nor devoid of critical thinking.

Cover: doux soft club
bleu de lieu, 2023-2024.
Photo: Cléo Sjölander, courtesy of the artists

Order