Interactive art

a hypertext environment; some works accept textual or

visual input from outside; sometimes an audience can in-
uence the course of a performance or can even partic-
ipate in it. Some other interactive artworks are consid-
ered as immersive as the quality of interaction involve all
the spectrum of surrounding stimuli. Virtual reality envi-
ronnements like works by Maurice Benayoun and Je rey
Shaw are highly interactive as the work the spectators –
Maurice Benayoun call them “visitors”, Char Davies “im-
mersants” – interact with take all their elds of percep-
tion.
Though some of the earliest examples of interactive art
The Tunnel under the Atlantic (1995), Maurice Benayoun, Vir- have been dated back to the 1920s, most digital art didn’t
tual Reality Interactive Installation : a link between Paris and make its o cial entry into the world of art until the late
Montreal 1990s.[3] Since this debut, countless museums and venues
have been increasingly accommodating digital and in-
teractive art into their productions. This budding genre
of art is continuing to grow and evolve in a somewhat
rapid manner through internet social sub-culture, as well
as through large scale urban installations.

1 Interactivity in art

Maurizio Bolognini, Collective Intelligence Machines series

(CIMs, from 2000): interactive installations using the mobile
phone network and participation technologies taken from e-
democracy.[1]

Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator

in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some
Boundary Functions (1998) interactive floor projection by Scott
interactive art installations achieve this by letting the ob-
Snibbe at the NTT InterCommunication Center in Tokyo.[4]
server or visitor “walk” in, on, and around them; some
others ask the artist or the spectators to become part of Interactive art is a genre of art in which the viewers partic-
the artwork.[2] ipate in some way by providing an input in order to deter-
Works of this kind of art frequently feature computers, mine the outcome. Unlike traditional art forms wherein
interfaces and sometimes sensors to respond to motion, the interaction of the spectator is merely a mental event,
heat, meteorological changes or other types of input their interactivity allows for various types of navigation, as-
makers programmed them to respond to. Most examples sembly, and/or contribution to an artwork, which goes far
of virtual Internet art and electronic art are highly inter- beyond purely psychological activity.[3] Interactivity as a
active. Sometimes, visitors are able to navigate through medium produces meaning.[5]

1
2 4 IMPACT

Interactive art installations are generally computer-based who held this view wanted to give the audience their
and frequently rely on sensors, which gauge things such as own part of this creative process. An early example is
temperature, motion, proximity, and other meteorologi- found in the early 1960s “change-paintings” of Roy As-
cal phenomena that the maker has programmed in order cott, about whom Frank Popper has written: “Ascott was
to elicit responses based on participant action. In inter- among the rst artists to launch an appeal for total spec-
active artworks, both the audience and the machine work tator participation”.[7] Aside from the “political” view, it
together in dialogue in order to produce a completely was also current wisdom that interaction and engagement
unique artwork for each audience to observe. However, had a positive part to play within the creative process.[8]
not all observers visualize the same picture. Because it is
In the 1970s artists began to use new technology such as
interactive art, each observer makes their own interpre- video and satellites to experiment with live performances
tation of the artwork and it may be completely di erent
and interactions through the direct broadcast of video and
than another observer’s views.[5] audio.[9]
Interactive art can be distinguished from Generative art Interactive art became a large phenomenon due to the ad-
in that it constitutes a dialogue between the artwork and vent of computer based interactivity in the 1990s. Along
the participant; speci cally, the participant has agency, with this came a new kind of art-experience. Audience
or the ability, even in an unintentional manner, to act upon and machine were now able to more easily work together
the artwork and is furthermore invited to do so within the in dialogue in order to produce a unique artwork for each
context of the piece, i.e. the work a ords the interaction. audience.[5] In the late 1990s, museums and galleries be-
More often, we can consider that the work takes its vis- gan increasingly incorporating the art form in their shows,
itor into account. In an increasing number of cases an some even dedicating entire exhibitions to it.[10] This con-
installation can be de ned as a responsive environment, tinues today and is only expanding due to increased com-
especially those created by architects and designers. By munications through digital media.
contrast, Generative Art, which may be interactive, but
not responsive per se, tends to be a monologue – the art- A hybrid emerging discipline drawing on the combined
work may change or evolve in the presence of the viewer, interests of speci c artists and architects has been cre-
but the viewer may not be invited to engage in the reaction ated in the last 10–15 years. Disciplinary boundaries
but merely enjoy it.[2] have blurred, and signi cant number of architects and
interactive designers have joined electronic artists in the
creation of new, custom-designed interfaces and evolu-
tions in techniques for obtaining user input (such as dog
2 History vision, alternative sensors, voice analysis, etc.); forms
and tools for information display (such as video projec-
tion, lasers, robotic and mechatronic actuators, led light-
According to the new media artist and theorist Maurice
ing etc.); modes for human-human and human-machine
Benayoun, the rst piece of interactive art should be
communication (through the Internet and other telecom-
the work done by Parrhasius during his art contest with
munications networks); and to the development of social
Zeuxis described by Pliny, in the fth century B.C. when
contexts for interactive systems (such as utilitarian tools,
Zeuxis tried to unveil the painted curtain. The work takes
formal experiments, games and entertainment, social cri-
its meaning from Zeuxis’ gesture and wouldn’t exist with-
tique, and political liberation).
out it. Zeuxis, by its gesture, became part of Parrhasius’
work. This shows that the speci city of interactive art re-
sides often less in the use of computers than in the quality
of proposed “situations” and the “Other’s” involvement 3 Forms
in the process of sensemaking. Nevertheless, computers
and real time computing made the task easier and opened There are many di erent forms of interactive art. Such
the eld of virtuality – the potential emergence of unex-forms range from interactive dance, music, and even
pected (although possibly pre-written) futures – to con-drama.[11] New technology, primarily computer systems
temporary arts. and computer technology, have enabled a new class of
interactive art.[12] Examples of such interactive art are
Some of the earliest examples of interactive art were
installation art, interactive architecture and interactive
created as early as the 1920s. An example is Marcel
lm.
Duchamp’s piece named Rotary Glass Plates. The art-
work required the viewer to turn on the machine and
stand at a distance of one meter in order to see an op-
tical illusion.[6] 4 Impact
The present idea of interactive art began to ourish more
in the 1960s for partly political reasons. At the time, The aesthetic impact of interactive art is more profound
many people found it inappropriate for artists to carry than expected.
the only creative power within their works. Those artists Supporters of more “traditional” contemporary art saw,
 3

in the use of computers, a way to balance artistic de - • Beall Center for Art + Technology[13]
ciencies, some other consider that the art is not anymore
in the achievement of the formal shape of the work but • AV Festival England
in the design of the rules that determine the evolution of • Watermans
the shape according to the quality of the dialogue.
• VIVO Media Arts Centre (Vancouver) – Includes
education, exhibition, residencies.
5 Events and places
There are number of globally signi cant festivals and ex-
6 Tools
hibitions of interactive and media arts. Prix Ars Electron-
ica is a major yearly competition and exhibition that gives • Wiring, the rst open-source electronics prototyp-
awards to outstanding examples of (technology-driven) ing platform composed of a programming language,
interactive art. Association of Computing Machinery’s an integrated development environment (IDE), and
Special Interest Group in Graphics (SIGGRAPH), DEAF a single-board micro controller. It was developed
Dutch Electronic Arts Festival, Transmediale Germany, starting in 2003 by Hernando Barragán and was pop-
FILE - Electronic Language International Festival Brazil, ularized under the name of Arduino
and AV Festival England, are among the others. • Arduino physical computing/electronics toolkit for
CAiiA, Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive interactive objects and installations
Arts, rst established by Roy Ascott in 1994 at the
University of Wales, Newport, and later in 2003 as the • I-CubeX sensors, actuators and interfaces for inter-
Planetary Collegium, was the rst doctoral and post doc active media
research center to be established speci cally for research • Max/MSP programming language for interactive
in the interactive art eld. media
Interactive architecture has now been installed on and as
• Processing (programming language) used for many
part of building facades, in foyers, museums and large
interactive art projects
scale public spaces, including airports, in a number of
global cities. A number of leading museums, for exam- • OpenFrameworks – open source tool similar to Pro-
ple, the National Gallery, Tate, Victoria & Albert Mu- cessing, used for many interactive projects
seum and Science Museum in London (to cite the lead-
ing UK museums active in this eld) were early adop- • Pure Data – open source programming language for
tors in the eld of interactive technologies, investing in interactive computer music and multimedia works
educational resources, and more latterly, in the creative
use of MP3 players for visitors. In 2004 the Victoria &
Albert Museum commissioned curator and author Lucy 7 See also
Bullivant to write Responsive Environments (2006), the
rst such publication of its kind. Interactive designers are • Art game
frequently commissioned for museum displays; a number
specialize in wearable computing. • Artmedia
• Burning Man
5.1 Venues • Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
• National Gallery • Computer-generated art

• Tate • Contextual Theatre

• onedotzero • Electronic art

• Victoria & Albert Museum • Fax art

• Science Museum in London • Internet art

• Kinetic sculpture
• Prix Ars Electronica
• Life Cube Project
• Studio Roosegaarde
• List of interactive artists
• FILE - Electronic Language International Festival
(Brazil) • New media art
4 9 FURTHER READING

• Performance art • Roy Ascott. 2002. Technoetic Arts (Editor and Ko-
rean translation: YI, Won-Kon), (Media & Art Se-
• Relational art ries no. 6, Institute of Media Art, Yonsei Univer-
• Robotic art sity). Yonsei: Yonsei University Press

• Video game art • Ascott, R. 1998. Art & Telematics: toward the Con-
struction of New Aesthetics. (Japanese trans. E. Fu-
jihara). A. Takada & Y. Yamashita eds. Tokyo:
NTT Publishing Co.,Ltd.
8 Notes
• Barreto, Ricardo and Perissinotto, Paula
[1] Maurizio Bolognini, “De l'interaction à la démocratie. “the_culture_of_immanence”, in Internet Art.
Vers un art génératif post-digital” / “From interactivity Ricardo Barreto e Paula Perissinotto (orgs.). São
to democracy. Towards a post-digital generative art”, in Paulo, IMESP, 2002. ISBN 85-7060-038-0.
Ethique, esthétique, communication technologique, Edition
L'Harmattan. Paris, 2011, pp. 229-239. • Brown, Kathryn, Interactive Contemporary Art: Par-
ticipation in Practice (I.B. Tauris, 2014).
[2] Soler-Adillon, Joan (2015-12-21). “The intangible mate-
rial of interactive art: agency, behavior and emergence”. • Bullivant, Lucy, Responsive Environments: archi-
Artnodes. 0 (16). doi:10.7238/a.v0i16.2744. ISSN 1695-
tecture, art and design: V&A Contemporary, 2006.
5951.
London:Victoria and Albert Museum. ISBN 1-
[3] Paul, C: Digital Art, page 67. Thames & Hudson Inc, 85177-481-5
2003.
• Bullivant, Lucy, 4dsocial: Interactive Design Envi-
[4] “Boundary Functions” ronments. London: AD/John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
ISBN 978-0-470-31911-6
[5] Muller, L, Edmonds, E, Connel, M: “Living laboratories
for interactive art”, CoDesign, 2(4):3 • Bullivant, Lucy, 4dspace: Interactive Architecture.
[6] Paul, C: Digital Art, page 11. Thames & Hudson Inc, London: AD/John Wiley & Sons, 2005. ISBN 0-
2003. 470-09092-8

[7] Popper, Frank (2007). From Technological to Virtual • Dreher, Thomas, The observer as actor in Happen-
Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. p. 77. ISBN 978- ings and context-sensitive installations. A short his-
0-262-16230-2 tory of re- and interactive art/Der Beobachter als
Akteur in Happenings und umweltsensitiven Instal-
[8] Edmonds, E, Muller, L, Connel, M: “On creative engage-
ment”, Visual Communication, 5(307):3 lationen. Eine kleine Geschichte der re- & interak-
tiven Kunst, in German http://dreher.netzliteratur.
[9] Paul, C: Digital Art, page 18. Thames & Hudson Inc, net/4_Medienkunst_Text.html]
2003.
• Thomas Dreher: History of Computer Art, chap. V:
[10] Paul, C: Digital Art, page 23. Thames & Hudson Inc, Reactive Installations and Virtual Reality
2003.
• Fleischmann, Monika and Reinhard, Ulrike (eds.).
[11] Dannenberg, R, Bates, J: “A model for interactive art”,
Digital Transformations - Media Art as at the In-
Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Symposium for Arts and
Technology, 51(78):2 terface between Art, Science, Economy and Society
online at netzspannung.org, 2004, ISBN 3-934013-
[12] Dannenberg, R, Bates, J: “A model for interactive art”, 38-4
Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Symposium for Arts and
Technology, 51(78):1 • Ernest Edmonds, Linda Candy, Mark Fell, Roger
Knott, Sandra Pauletto, Alastair Weakley. 2003.
[13] http://beallcenter.uci.edu/ Developing Interactive Art Using Visual Program-
ming. In: Constantine Stephanidis & Julie Jacko
(Editors), Human-Computer Interaction: Theory
9 Further reading and Practice, (Part II). Volume 2. (Proceedings
of the 10th International Conference on Human-
• Frank Popper, Art—Action and Participation, New Computer Interaction, Crete, June 23–27), Pub-
York University Press, 1975 lished by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London,
June 2003, pp. 1183–1187, ISBN 0-8058-4931-9
• Ascott, R.2003. Telematic Embrace: visionary the-
ories of art, technology and consciousness. (Edward • Ernest Edmonds, Greg Turner, Linda Candy. 2004.
A. Shanken, ed.) Berkeley: University of California Approaches to interactive art systems, Proceedings
Press. of the 2nd international conference on Computer
 5

graphics and interactive techniques in Australasia

and South East Asia, June 15–18, 2004, Singapore
• Fleischmann, Monika; Strauss, Wolfgang (eds.)
(2001). Proceedings of »CAST01//Living in Mixed
Realities« Intl. Conf. On Communication of Art,
Science and Technology, Fraunhofer IMK 2001,
401. ISSN 1618-1379 (Print), ISSN 1618-1387 (In-
ternet).
• Oliver Grau Virtual Art, from Illusion to Immersion,
MIT Press 2004, pp. 237–240, ISBN 0-262-57223-
0

• Christiane Paul (2003). Digital Art' (World of Art

series). London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-
20367-9

• Peter Weibel and Shaw, Je rey, Future Cinema,

MIT Press 2003, pp. 472,572-581, ISBN 0-262-
69286-4
• Wilson, Steve, Information Arts: Intersections of
Art, Science, and Technology ISBN 0-262-23209-
X

• Edward A. Shanken, Art and Electronic Media. Lon-

don: Phaidon, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7148-4782-5

• (Spanish) Juan Martín Prada, “Interactividad elec-

trónica e interacción social”, (Chapter 7 of Prácticas
artísticas e Internet en la época de las redes sociales),
AKAL, Madrid, 2012
6 10 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

10.1 Text
• Interactive art Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_art?oldid=736545598 Contributors: Merphant, Michael Hardy, Haakon,
Ronz, Songwriter, Spinster, Dina, Solipsist, Jossi, Kocio, Clubmarx, Deathphoenix, Heyseuss, Dmoore, Sparkit, Taestell, BD2412,
TheRingess, YurikBot, RobotE, Wgungfu, Xenoploid, LeonardoRob0t, Tyrenius, Jhocking, Bb-king, SmackBot, Davepape, Garnethertz,
Neo139, Paul Slocum, Jat32, Leskovsek, Rklawton, JHunterJ, Iridescent, Fallen angels, Maddoctor, Joseph Solis in Australia, ClassA, Jen-
nifer Maddock, Cydebot, Naturalhomes, Dancter, Kenrinaldo, Oink54321, Freshacconci, Snibbe, Bongwarrior, Klara, Thibbs, JaGa, R'n'B,
CommonsDelinker, Lavatusa, AntiSpamBot, Protector777, Russell Freeman, FlorenceBesanon, Neillodwyer, Bearian, Jamelan, Glass-
FET, AlainLa, Echofem, Lianavb, Joseph Banks, Margotkh, Axel.mulder, Art and technology, Elaine O'Hanrahan, Nathaniels, Randy
Kryn, Aaron045, Stormsky100, VQuakr, Estranom, Brewerystudioarts, Kozmefulanito, Addbot, Power.corrupts, Ernst 2008, MrOllie,
Applesweet6, Pietrow, RomyT, Yobot, RockfangBot, Taxisfolder, AnomieBOT, Valueyou, Joaomartinhomoura, Rtyq2, Measles, Omni-
paedista, Courtneynazak, HamburgerRadio, Blackletters~enwiki, Mulliganbeal, Hellknowz, MoBen, Cjoly, HelenOnline, Sharon08tam,
Wolfsheep113, Kvasilev, EmausBot, John of Reading, Nanomega, SporkBot, Woodleynye, Kippelboy, V.fanis1, Jpaul.f, ClaretAsh, Mad-
stilt, Savantas83, MerlIwBot, Helpful Pixie Bot, George 105, Mathiasr101, Me, Myself, and I are Here, MrBaggles, Natashacohen, Kjxb505
and Anonymous: 117

10.2 Images
• File:Bolognini-CIMs.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Bolognini-CIMs.JPG License: CC BY-SA
3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: V.fanis1
• File:Boundaryfunctions_1.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Boundaryfunctions_1.JPG License: GFDL
Contributors:
http://snibbe.com/projects/interactive/boundaryfunctions Original artist:
Scott Snibbe
• File:LE_TUNNEL_SOUS_L'ATLANTIQUE_(2).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/LE_TUNNEL_
SOUS_L%27ATLANTIQUE_%282%29.jpg License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: MoBen

10.3 Content license

• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0