Sculpture Studio Spring 2012

Project 2: Kinetics and Interactivity
ANALYSIS

Interactive art has definite distinctions from process art. Whereas process art was focused on ‘how’ the artwork was made, interactive art focuses on how the audience observes, interacts, or responds to the piece. Of course, all art possesses two of the most basic concepts of interactivity: the relationship between artist and viewer, and the perceptual experience during or following the interaction.

Interactive art consists of several variations, from direct participation from the audience to the ability to change an object, visually or perceptually. An artist may choose to create a piece that moves the viewer to explore their own space, such as Rebecca Horn’s body extensions, which explores the space of the body. Or, they can create a work that continuously works with the surrounding environment, such as Jim Sanborn’s lighted works. Collaboration is a key concept involved in the creation of interactive artworks, whether it is through the group effort of several artists/viewers, or the involvement of the community itself.

A large portion of interactive works are a means of how one experiences a work of art, which comes back to the two basic concepts: the relationship and the perception/experience created within a piece.

Sometimes the interaction between artists and viewer becomes personal, possibly up to the point of perverse. An example of this is Vito Acconci’s Seedbed. When a ‘viewer’ would step onto the wooden ramp, they would hear the sexual fantasies of Acconci who laid beneath the ramp, listening to their footsteps. In this case, the viewer and artist are collaborating, albeit indirectly, to create the experience and the meaning of the work.

When interactive art actually ‘interacts’ with the environment that surrounds it, the viewer is moved to experience a space in a different manner. Jim Sanborn’s works, sculptures that places lighted words or colors onto different surfaces, encourages the viewer to look at the surrounding environment in a new visual of how one can interact with the space that surrounds us. Rebecca Horn’s body extensions, on the other hand, moves us to see a different way for how our bodies can be manipulated into new experiences as we interact with what surrounds us.

But a question remains: If the artist begins a work and a viewer completes it, is the piece still considered art? If a group of people complete a piece, is each individual an artist or solely the group combined? When does the authorship of a work stop belonging to that of the artist and instead to those who interact with it?