The Medium-Sensitive Experience and the Paradigmatic Experience of the Grotesque, “Unnatural” or “Monstrous”

To create the conceptual space to analyze the evident and structural similarities between the art experience, the (new) media experience, and the media art experience, the author approaches the “medium” as “techniques” which “make [the seen] strange.” A disruption of the perceptual process, a destabilization of the cognitive routines, a sudden sensitivity to the medium and an instant emotional response are at the heart of these (art) experiences. The author argues that the (well-studied) experience of the grotesque provides a model for the analysis of these (understudied) medium-sensitive experiences of the “strange” or “unnatural,” for which the grotesque experience is emblematic.