How do we trace ephemeral experiences in aesthetic practices and artistic expressions that elude verbal description? More precisely, how do we understand those tacit experiences of persons whose bodily sensing experiences and acting in the world disrupt social and cultural expectations?
Increasing public awareness and curiosity about neurodiversity, including misunderstandings and stigma about neuro-cognitive and sensory differences, provide added weight to these questions. In this project, we will focus on tracing those more ephemeral or fleeting experiences, most difficult to articulate, in aesthetic practices by using immersive technologies/techniques. Immersive technologies are those that bring us closer to embodied experiences, such as binaural audio recordings, while immersive techniques are those in which listeners are situated in the same audio ambiance, which facilitates deeper listening without words. Aesthetics includes multisensory experiences (the opposite of anesthetic) in addition to social and cultural values that shape our perceptions, appreciation, and critique of what is considered beautiful. In this project, we approach aesthetic practices as both a deep listening to others that involves all of our senses as well as the actual practices of visual arts, music, movement, and media.