Interactivity creates a continuous two-way transfer of information between a user and the central point of a communication system, in these case pieces of art. But these pieces of art are not materialist rather their presence and the interaction of the viewer by either amercing in the piece or being the artist is the art in itself. Interactive art allows the artist to break the barriers of the ‘white cube’ of a traditional gallery. In general anything can go and might happen.
Breaking from the constructions of the gallery walls Fluxus art included public concerts or festivals, scores for electronic music, theatrical performances, short-lived events, gestures and actions created from the individual’s everyday experience (Corris). This being said an audience was required to become a participant for the art to be completed. The word Fluxus comes from the Latin word for flow and For Fluxus artists, ‘the very environment was art: life flows into art, art flows into life (Willette).’ Pushing out of the gallery allows the audience to foster a direct relationship with the artwork unlike the gallery’s red tape, sensors, alarms, and guards telling you that you cannot touch the precious, and priceless works of art. The Belgium artist, Carsten Höller, aims to reimagine the experience of the visitors and allows them to experiment themselves. He likes ‘representing something that is not representable (BoogieMen, Vimeo)’ and this creates situations where the familiar forms of your perception are questioned. Some of Höller’s works have included buildings, vehicles, slides, toys, games, animals, performances, flashing lights, mirrors, and sensory deprivation tanks that all make you question and reimagine. Although most of his works are in an art gallery setting you are allowed to engage in elements of play like his piece Test Site (2006), which consist of slides in Torbine Hall in London. They have been describes as 'giant serpents(Birnbaum)' spiraling down stories from the gallery floors before reaching the bottom. Another example of interactive art is the performance pieces and videos of Vitto Acconci. Acconci's psychodramatic videos are ‘raw, crudely executed, and powerfully direct’, they enforce an ‘intensive dialogue between the artist and viewer, the body and the self, public and private, subject and object, absence and presence (Electronic Arts Intermix).’ Unlike Höller’s relationship with the audience, Acconci explores the boundaries of the private and the public space and those of the performer and the audience. He focuses much of his work on the psychology of interpersonal relations. He aims was to overcome the dividing line between artist and beholder/audience (Project 3 Lecture material). Seedbed, Acconci laid beneath a ramp built in the gallery and over the course of three weeks, he masturbated eight hours a day while murmuring things (Artnet Magazine) as people walked overhead; they listened to his sexual fantasies, which were broadcast via loudspeakers (Fletcher). In this instance he is simultaneously making a very private matter of masturbation, a very public thing by inviting the audience in to this space.
Historically exhibition spaces represent an environment of almost supreme physical restraint. “We must not touch” unlike how we commonly live in a world full of touch using all of our senory receptors. Therefore we only see what the artist has presented as the artwork stands or as stated by a caption which shapes our perception of what this published work is about (Traditional vs. Interactive Exhibition Spaces). Barriers even are carefully placed so that an audience cannot gain the same access to the artwork as the artist themselves. Interactivity breaks all of these rules. We all know just how bad you want to touch that canvas.
Citations:
Birnbaum, Daniel. "Mortal Coils." Art Forum 2007: 1-2. Web.
BoogieMen. "An Interview with Carsten Höller." Vimeo. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. <http://vimeo.com/9700027>.
"Vito Acconci." Electronic Arts Intermix : Biography. Electronic Arts Intermix, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.eai.org/artistBio.htm?id=289>.
"Vito De Milo." Artnet Magazine. ArtNet Worldwide Corporation, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.artnet.com%2FMagazine%2Ffeatures%2Fjsaltz%2Fsaltz4-28-04.asp.>.
Fletcher, Kanitra. "Vito Acconci." The Public Art Program of the University of Texas at Austin. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <https://www.landmarks.utexas.edu/projects/video/acconci>.
Corris, Michael. "ART TERMS: Fluxus." MoMA.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10457>.
Willette, Jeanne S.M. "Fluxus as Experience." Art History Unstuffed RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/fluxus-in-europe/>.
"Traditional vs. Interactive Exhibition Spaces: Cha." Traditional vs. Interactive Exhibition Spaces: Cha. WordPress.com, 8 June 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://mattforarts2090.wordpress.com/>.
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