Imaginative Variations: A Phenomenological Analysis of Imaginary Worlds in Experiences of Visual Art

Anders Essom-Stenz; Tone Roald

doi:10.33134/eeja.565

Imaginative Variations: A Phenomenological Analysis of Imaginary Worlds in Experiences of Visual Art

Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics

Volume 62 (2025): Issue 1

By: Anders Essom-Stenz and Tone Roald

Open Access

|Mar 2025

Abstract

In experiences of visual art, we enter imaginary worlds that consist of phenomenologically distinguishable variations of imagination. In this article, we empirically describe some of these variations and the imaginary worlds of which they are part. Based on phenomenological interviews about intense experiences with visual art, we distinguish between sensory imaginings, imaginings of bodily presence, and situational imaginings, each signifying different imaginary content but all related in a dynamic interplay that shape the coherent imaginary experience. We show how imagination is fundamental to experiences of visual art, and how our imaginary worlds relate to the work of art in different ways.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33134/eeja.565 | Journal eISSN: 2571-0915

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Language: English

Page range: 36 - 52

Submitted on: Aug 20, 2024

Accepted on: Jan 27, 2025

Published on: Mar 18, 2025

Published by: Helsinki University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Maurice Merleau-Ponty,

phenomenology,

psychology

© 2025 Anders Essom-Stenz, Tone Roald, published by Helsinki University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 62 (2025): Issue 1