{"id":1126,"date":"2008-02-12T08:44:41","date_gmt":"2008-02-12T16:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2008\/02\/getting_in_our_own_way\/"},"modified":"2008-02-12T08:44:41","modified_gmt":"2008-02-12T16:44:41","slug":"getting_in_our_own_way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/getting_in_our_own_way.php","title":{"rendered":"Getting in our own way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Charles Isherwood in the <i>New York Times<\/i> has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2008\/02\/10\/theater\/10ishe.html\">mixed feelings<\/a> about emerging theater works with an emphasis on active audiences, where the viewer plays a significant role in the way the event unfolds. It may be event-worthy and alluring to new audiences, he thinks, but it lacks many of the essential qualities of complex narrative and &#8221;serious theater.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Part of the problem with such interaction, he suggests, is that while we&#8217;re wandering through the interactive setting, we are too aware of ourselves to get lost in the experience:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><br \/>\nIf we are too conscious of our own presence in the presence of art, it can be a distraction to engagement. Think of how hard it is to connect with a beloved painting if you come upon it after too many hours in the museum, your feet sore and sticking to the floor. The mind is most receptive when our sense of ourselves as physical entities impinging on the world can be forgotten, and we are free to open up to a new experience.<br \/>\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s a subtlety worth exploring, as all roads in the lively arts seem to be moving toward more visibly active audiences, less traditional audience chambers, and less sitting quiet in the dark. Isherwood even wonders if our common definition of &#8221;active&#8221; is starting to skew toward visible and physical action rather than more invisible, internal forms.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><br \/>\n&#8230;it is worth reiterating that to be an active participant in a theatrical experience, you don&#8217;t have to put on a mask or have your feet fondled; you just have to be spiritually present.<br \/>\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charles Isherwood in the New York Times has mixed feelings about emerging theater works with an emphasis on active audiences, where the viewer plays a significant role in the way the event unfolds. It may be event-worthy and alluring to new audiences, he thinks, but it lacks many of the essential qualities of complex narrative [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}