Encounter, mimesis, play: theatricality in spatial arts

Abstract

On the basis of the experience of four works from Turkey, this study attempts to reveal that actual experience of spatial arts (traditionally called visual arts) is also theatrical. During the study, it is observed that the fundamental factor behind the experience of spatial artworks is an uncanny encounter with them in a specific space- time. The study further argues that the enactment of the audience in the space-time of the work involves an intermingling of pre-rational and rational modes of mimesis and play. In this context, a theoretical study can be based on sensuous bodily affection by the works, following the traces of practical logic, which is effective during such experience.