systems of interaction in art
These are 4 systems or rules I devised to create interactive art. They are based upon 'Categories of interaction in art' devised by Cornock and Edmonds (see here and below).
Active User 1
Factors
The work is not static
The work must contain variable elements
The work must invite some kind of physical interaction
There must be an interface for interaction
There is an active consumption of the work by user
The user makes a conscious judgement about their intervention
The user controls the variable elements within the work
Passive User 2
Factors
The user must initially be unaware of their interaction/intervention
The user is aware of the effecting work
The user can not directly control the response from the work
The main elements of the work must be hidden or partially obscured
The work must be affected by the user’s presence or movement within space
The work must evolve over time as a result of multiple user interventions
Active viewer 3
Factors
The work must be live [i.e. staged improvisation]
The audience must be aware of its role as viewer
The audience have a desired [active] consumption of the work
There must be a distance between the work and viewer.
The work [equipment and processes] must be visible to audience
Passive Viewer 4
Factors
There must be a passive consumption of the work by the viewer?
There should be a manipulation of the viewer’s presence within a space or situation
The viewer must be unaware of their role within this interaction
The work must be surrounded by other influencing forces
The response [reaction] from the viewer must be passive
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Categories of interaction in art
….The core categories devised by Cornock and Edmonds are applicable to current examples of interactive artworks. We can now elaborate on those descriptions and bring them up-to date as follows:
Static
The art object does not change and is viewed by a person. There is no interaction between the two that can be observed by someone else, although the viewer may be experiencing personal or emotional reactions. The artwork itself does not respond to its context. This is familiar ground in art galleries and museums where art consumers look at a painting or print, listen to tape recordings and talk to one another about the art on the walls and generally speaking, obeying the command not to touch.
Dynamic-Passive
The art object has an internal mechanism that enables it to change or it may be modified by an environmental factor such as temperature, sound or light. The internal mechanism is specified by the artist and any changes that take place are entirely predictable.
Dynamic-interactive
All of the conditions of the dynamic passive category apply with the added factor that the human ‘viewer’ has an active role in influencing the changes in the art object. Motion and sound capturing techniques can e used to incorporate human activity into the way visual images and sounds are presented. The work ‘performs’ differently according to what the person does or says. There may be more than one participate and more than one art object.
Dynamic-interactive (varying)
The conditions for both 2 and 3 above apply, with the addition of a modifying agent that changes the original specification of the art object. The agent could be a human or it could be a software program. Because of this, the process that takes place, or rather, the performance of the art system cannot be predictable. It will depend on the history of interactions with the work. In this case, either the artist from time to time updates the specification of the art object or a software agent that is learning from experiences of interaction automatically modifies the specification.
(Interaction in art and technology – Candy .L + Edmonds. E)