Interactive Arts Analysis according to Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology

Maurice Merleau-Ponty was one of the most innovative 20th-century philosophers. His lasting advantage in philosophy is in terms of perception or more precisely the phenomenology of perception. This research is intended to review the issue of perception, which is the inseparable and adhered part of implementation,by investigating philosophical opinions of Merleau-Ponty. By mentioning perception, the role of space, body, the other, experience and "eye and mind" becomes more obvious. As a result, the audience's position merely as an audience would disappear and it would lie in a context of multiple networks of formation and shaping.Phenomenology isone of the most important tools by which one can peruse the issue of perception and analyze the body-centered works."return to phenomena" is proposed in phenomenology. It means a new and pure approach to everything, a specific experience of things themselves, and an intuitionbased on accurate observation, without anyconceptual presupposition and prejudice. Regarding theattitude of phenomenologists, everything is a "phenomenon" and in phenomenological view, phenomenon is the essence of the object. The phenomenologist starts with what we initially face to and attains its’ essence which is phenomenon in a phenomenological sense. Phenomenology doesn’t simply representthe pre-existing truth like art but it compels us to see the world in a different wayand this means that a new truth would be created.Hence, according to Eric Matthews the phenomenology considered by Merleau-PontyCombines a form of subjectivism with a form of objectivism. Consequently, the objective comprehends that each single experience belongs to a person, so how an objectis realized is about how it is realized by a particular person.For the followers of this school, "personal experience" is very important. According tophilosophy ofMerleau-Ponty, art is not separated from perception and the realm of everyday interaction of people with the world. Like other objects, the work of art also motivates the audience to move in space, situate in it, and rebuild its’ constructs. The meaning of the artwork articulates again owing to each rebuilding. It seems that the work of art materializes the correlation among body, mind and the world. This materialization, emphasizing on the perceptionbeing external more than ever, is visible in contemporary art. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to find joint characteristics between Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy and interactive art, and achieving a new understanding and cognition of interactive propagation. To reach this aim, the survey is done using analytical vs descriptive method and information is gathered by library research methodusing written and digital resources.The researcher, in addition to illustrating what exists, describes and expresses why and how the issue stands there, then analyzes it, and at the end, concludes that in interactive art audience is not only a spectator and a viewer but also a participant in the creative process of production by doing an action. It can be claimed, as Merleau-Ponty expresses in his comments, there is no distinction between subject and object in the world of interactive art and both of them form interacting with each other.