The Role of the Audience in the New Multimedia Art Field with Emphasis on the Artworks of Ahmad Nadalian

New multimedia art, while using new media technologies, seeks to explain a new visual language that is different from the visual language of previous art media and focuses on the role of the audience in presenting the work of art. In these works, the audience finds a special place and their interaction with the work becomes the main focus of multimedia art performance. Therefore, how the audience performs in the new multimedia art and the type of interaction with the multimedia work is the main issue of the present study and the main purpose is to identify and explain the type of audience and how they interact in presenting these works. Therefore, the new multimedia works of Ahmad Nadalian, who has used the components of Iranian culture and art, were studied as Iranian examples in this field to answer these questions: Who is the audience for the new multimedia art? And how does the audience interact with new multimedia art? This research seeks to answer the two questions of what the type of audience is and how they deal with multimedia art, in a combined method of qualitative and quantitative nature. Regarding this exploratory subject and fieldwork, the main focus was that the initial information was obtained based on both library and field methods. The tools used for both methods were filing and semi-open interviews. The statistical population is based on different backgrounds and principles of research or the same audience based on the classification of art audiences in different periods based on four statistical indicators, namely: artistic perception, literacy, social class and age in both men and women. Two cases were made as simple possible choices. The presented samples were selected from the works of Nadalian as a contemporary Iranian artist in this field, and four samples of the works, representative of the artist, were used from his site and personal archive. Also, for the analysis and analysis of the research, the qualitative analysis method of the interviews was conducted in depth.
Multimedia art, unlike traditional forms of art where the audience interaction is only a mental event, using traditional media and many new media, including the Internet and other digital processors, aims to turn passive watch by the audience in understanding of the work from a viewer into an active participant or interactor. New multimedia art that has been provided to different segments of society based on modern technologies, has provided the capacity for the presence of society in the field of art. In the multimedia art of other art galleries, there are not many economic and geographical barriers to work; the understanding and praise of the sublime art / culture have not been given to the bourgeoisie as a unique social action. To answer the questions, the method of qualitative research with exploratory nature was used. The studied works that were collected through library resources and the artist's archive were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The statistical population of the study, based on the indicators set for men and women in terms of conditions of age, artistic perception, general literacy, and social class, consisted of sixteen people who were interviewed on four works by Nadalian. Finally, the results showed that multimedia art, due to the connection it establishes with a wide range of audiences, covers a wider field of audiences and audiences from all walks of life contribute to the presentation of the work and the audience. The specific becomes the general audience. Audiences, according to different backgrounds, have a different action from the multimedia work, which ranges from games and entertainment to searching and discovering the secrets hidden in the work. The field of Nadalian works is wider than museum works or pieces presented in galleries. Nadalian's new multimedia art is open in structure, employs multiple perspectives and media, and gives the audience equal privileges while thinking. On one hand, multimedia art is a mass media that gets rid of the limitations of museums and art galleries, which avoids any hierarchy. On the other hand, as stated, Nadalian's field of works is wider than museum or gallery presented works, so it is not specific to the affluent and educated people. In addition, the quality of the game and its fun strengthens its interactive nature and attracts more audiences. The new Nadalian multimedia art is structurally open, utilizing multiple perspectives and media, giving the audience equal opportunities to think. Nadalian has been able to make good use of the possibilities of multimedia art and to establish a connection between the qualities of art and play and to recreate traditional media in a new format and sometimes with a touch of entertainment.