Interactivity Research

In art, interactivity suggests an attempt to create something that is constantly in flux, offers different perspectives, or offers a chance to the audience or other external force to be an artist. An artist whose main consideration is interaction will most likely be working in several mediums, but may usually be considered sculptors. This method of creation can be an attempt to affect and offer reads from multiple senses, instead of just a visual stimulation. The process of interactive art is one in which the actual artist has less creative control, but sets up a set of parameters and then allows the work to take form.

As a new media artist who experiments with interactivity, Tim Hawkinson is concerned with movement, both the kinesthetic movement of the piece and that of the eye. His pieces “Emotor” and “Pentecost” are examples of this respectively. A play on words, the title, “Emotor” is an accurate self description; it emotes, using motors. The face, featuring a collage of Hawkinson’s features, responds to signals sent by a series of phototransistors attached to a television screen.

Christo and Jean-Claude are artists who do not exhibit the usual traits of interactivity artists. Their projects are not kinetically motivated, like Tim Hawkinson’s, instead, they are more based on reframing the audience’s perspective, much in the way that Richard Serra did with his large steel forms. The duo’s pieces usually involve a multi-decadal process, in which they plan and coordinate with the site owners to alter the space.

“The Gates” is perhaps one of their most recognizable works. This piece consisted of a series of orange steal frames with the same color of fabric hanging down from them. They were set up along the sidewalks of New York City’s Central Park, and unveiled in 2005. The colors were set off by the fact that they were installed in the middle of winter. The sudden change of scenery must have been jarring as the locals found that their environment had been altered. The weather and position of the sun, constantly changing, offered an infinite number of reads during the brief period that it remained on display. I think the most interesting aspect of the piece is that it took 26 years to approve of and build the piece, but it only remained up for 16 days.