I started this post back in October after Ken’s Paris Report, I started to put down some thoughts based on the descriptions of the Lee Minwei piece Sonic Blossom.

I can attest that for an attentive listener the effect can be intense and powerful. I was reduced to tears after the performance and couldn’t even compose myself to thank Ms. Guan properly.

James R. Oestreichhttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/arts/music/in-lee-mingweis-sonic-blossom-at-the-met-schubert-is-intimate-installation-art.html

It is difficult to discuss a work like Sonic Blossom in depth without having experienced it yourself, but the above quote seems to be a common experience of those that have experienced the work, that even in a public gallery setting it is a very personal immersive experience.

Although spectators can witness someone else having the experience of Sonic Blossom, and can enjoy the beauty of the music, they are locked out of the direct gift (Lee Mingwei’s term for the song-experience). I considered this with relation to immersive cinematic experiences, whether a more experimental approach like Leviathan or a mainstream blockbuster like the latest Marvel Studios film. Advancements in cinematic technology have often been about creating a more immersive experience; sound, colour, bigger screens, 3D. Cinematic conventions seek to construct a seamless approximation of space to aid with the suspension of disbelief. I am not trying to argue that a cinematic experience is more immersive or intimate only it is a highly immersive experience that can be shared and discussed afterwards.

I came across Nicole Lazzaro a user experience designer working in games and VR discussing the way we feel as well as hearing sound. It was not something that I had thought about before but seemed obvious once it had been articulated, we feel the pressure waves of sounds as well as hearing them. In this way cinema engages with three senses not just two (I don’t think that this is true for TV).

I didn’t manage to finish this post the first time round as I had an unfinished set of ideas that I still haven’t managed to finish processing about how the immersive experience of cinema allows us to try on different Identities. I just left myself a list of notes that said:

• Foucault
• Giddens
• Lynch and Shakespeare
• World is a stage

I came back to finish off this post because in developing an approach for the 360 video poetic film and the immersive trip I was reminded of the idea of presence, being there.