The Analysis of the Evolution of Perception in New Art Media by the Phenomenological Approach of Merleau-Ponty

Medium as an interface to convey thoughts and information is a broad concept that has been changed along with the evolutions of each period; therefore, it is difficult to have a comprehensive definition of it. The passage of time and recent developments in art history has transformed the meaning of media. In contemporary art, media have been merged, their borders have been faded, and new forms have been emerged. The question is how the audience communicates with the new types of art, and how the perception of the artwork becomes possible? This paper aimed to explain the developments of art perception in new artistic media with the phenomenological approach of Merleau-Ponty. It tries to examine the meaning and the position of the medium in art and show how dominant art movements in each period have affected the boundaries of media in art. This research represents a descriptive-analytical study of the texts and data about the evolution of art perception in new art media. Different types of art, such as painting, sculpture and photography, have their own territory of expression determined by the media through which the themes of an art form are recognized. Medium demarcation became apparent in modernists’ theories. Against the modernist approaches to achieve pure art, with the express advances in technology in the 20th century, the concept of media in art became meaningless, so that the target audience in the new media art is faced a deformation of media. One of the features of new media art is late understanding which can be interpreted as altering the perception of the audience of the new media art. In the process of changing the concept of medium, several changes occurred in the perception of the target audience. Despite the changes made in the course of art history, explaining the concept of media in the art can be explored with the concept of “perception” by Merleau-Ponty. Husserl's phenomenology impacted Merleau-Ponty's conception of sensory perception. He focuses on immediate and direct contact with the world and strives to interpret it philosophically. In describing perception, for Merleau-Ponty, the evolution of media perception can be examined based on the audience's experience of perception. From his approach, the principle percept has been replaced by experience in understanding the meaning of the media in art. In the new art media, the target audience misplaces its connection with the work of art. In Merleao-ponty’s phenomenology, one must re-dis