A Phenomenological Microgenesis of Art Experience: A Qualitative Study of Zero Mass by Eric Orr

Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide a phenomenological description of the art experience and by doing so, explaining why art is generally associated with an emotional response, but talked about in cognitive terms. The study is based on a microgenetic experiment in which the informants, prior to an interview, encounter a work of art by the American artist Eric Orr. The work consists of a pitch-black space and provides optimal conditions for a microgenetic study with an actual work of art, not a reproduction, which are typically used in microgenetic studies. The study shows a microgenesis in which pure sensation gives rise to an emotional response without any cognitive inference, and only after the emotional response, cognitive functions such as exploration, contextualization, and comprehension take over in the order mentioned.