Birthe BlauthThe Gift, 2011, Video projection and computer operated sensors
THE AUDIENCE PARTICIPATES WITH THE ARTIST IN CREATING THE ARTWORK
Interactive art is a contemporary genre in which the audience is invited to participate in an artwork, effecting change in its appearance, outcome, and meaning. By giving the audience this authority, the work departs radically from a long tradition of authorial control. New technologies, such as electronic sensors, video, computer networking, and a variety of display and input techniques, offer a vast range of possibilities. At the same time, some of the most successful interactive artworks have used very simple technical means.
• Static input
The audience is invited to make suggestions or provide guidance for the future progress of an artwork under construction. The artist follows this guidance as he or she continues to make the work.
• Physical interaction
The audience is invited to touch, move, and manipulate a physical object or objects. For example, in Half the Air in a Given Space, by Martin Creed (1968–), a gallery space is filled with thousands of balloons of the same color. The audience is obliged to push through them to negotiate the space. Many artists have also constructed environments that make use of traditional playground experiences, such as slides, swings, and distorting mirrors to engage the audience in an immersive experience.
• Co-building
The audience is invited to contribute to the construction of an artwork. This could be as simple as taking up a brush and paint to work on a canvas, or as complex as making web-based changes to a graphic or multimedia work.
• Sensor responsive
The movements or physical attributes of the audience are picked up by sensors and the data used to affect the appearance or behavior of an artwork. A particular movement by an audience member, for instance, might change the content and movement of a video display. Or the proximity of an audience member may cause a sculpture to move or otherwise respond.
• Performance interaction
Audiences are often invited to interact with, or become part of, performance art pieces. This can be as simple as the traditional theater’s invitation for an audience member to step up on the stage or it might involve the actions and behavior of the entire audience.
The above strategies are often combined. For example, physical interaction can readily be meshed with sensor technologies.
See also: Performance Art on page 126; Video on page 204
Birthe Blauth
The Gift, 2011, Video projection and computer operated sensors
A viewer sits at a table and reaches out to take a gift from a figure on a projected video. A movement sensor shifts the video frame so that the figure releases the gift.
