Artworld presence promises unmediated communication and authentic human encounter.

Evidence

“The Artist Is Present,” MoMA Learning, moma.org. For more on presence in contemporary art, see Hito Steyerl, Duty Free Art: Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War (London: Verso, 2017): “The idea of presence invokes the promise of unmediated communication, the glow of uninhibited existence, a seemingly unalienated experience and authentic encounter between humans. It implies that not only the artist but everyone else is present too, whatever that means and whatever it is good for. Presence stands for allegedly real discussion, exchange, communication, the happening, the event, liveness, the real thing—you get the idea” (22). — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 383

Categorization

• DEFINE: Quotes Steyerl’s definition of presence, the core fetish of immediacy discourse.
• ADDENDUM: The liveness/presence ideal echoes the immediacy aesthetic the reader already analyzes; Steyerl is a citable ally/bastion in her treatment.