Rezension: Digitale Medien in der Erlebnisgesellschaft. Kunst, Kultur, Utopien

The increasing presence of digital media forms our new understanding of community and calls for a closer examination of the culture of networks we are participating in. A central point of interest concerning our culture becomes the convergance of Arts, Entertainment, and Digital Interactive Media Technologies. These change the way we perceive arts, daily news or have an impact on how we communicate with each other. In his new book, Roberto Simanowski refers to Gerhard Schulze's socio-logical theory of the Event Society (Erlebnisgesellschaft, 1992), observing that nowadays social events ostensibly take place on the Internet. Along with discussions on the politics of the World Wide Web and its participatory values, Simanowski focuses on the significance of digital media in artistic practices. He considers interactive art as a key to the understanding of the event society. Choosing a hermeneutic approach to analyse "processing signs" in arts, Simanowski defends participatory art against Adorno's notion of distraction. The author prooves, in a number of case studies, that interactive art calls for both immersion and cognitive reflection.