Immersive, Emmersive (Foreword)

This special edition on “Acoustic Pathways: After the Turn” includes a foreword written by Michel Chion, a French film theorist, composer of experimental music, and a professor at the University of Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle). In his foreword, Chion discusses the recent trend in France to use the terms “immersive” and “experience” in reference to certain works of art. He questions the value of these experiences, arguing that everyday life is already immersive and that the term emersive would be more appropriate to describe works of art that present themselves in a structured form, such as music. Chion believes that this structure creates the conditions for an “emergence,” or event, that is unique to the listener’s experience.