The most immediate way of experiencing an art piece is personal contact with the artefact itself, however often due to the physical limitations of both art object and art consumer, the viewer’s opportunity of encountering an given work in real life and real time is not always feasible. Archives, through media technologies, allow people to experience artworks from a distance. As a result the experience the artwork supplies may change. What factors determine this change, are they apparent to viewers of archives?
Before investigating archival art experiences, the following main terms: experience, engagement, media art, technology, internet and archive need to be explored thoroughly. The following authors such as Dewey, Fenner, Ricardo, Zielinksi, Idhe, Hine, Hogan and Manoff are but a few of those whom the thesis bases its theory upon.
As all experiences are highly personal phenomena, therefore interviewing people about their experiences was chosen as method for gathering such information. To guide the participants in the research, five different media artworks were chosen carefully as case studies to observe the particulars of the archival experience. Through the careful individual and comparative analyses of the views and opinions of the interviewees, this thesis anticipates that not only knowledge to specific each artwork shall be gained, but general insights will also be reached regarding archival experiences through the internet.