Interactive Art by Markus Lerner
In Lecture this week John Park spoke us to about interactive digital art. At the beginning of the lecture I was honestly a little bit confused about this medium and what it entailed. It was odd to me that an audience was involved to make this art possible. Interactive art is a form of installation-based art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some installations achieve this by letting the observer or visitor "walk" in, on, and around them; some others ask the artist to become part of the artwork. This concept is very strange in both a good and a bad way. John described to us that technology isn’t about use and entertainment anymore, but it has become a life style. I feel this is very relevant with this type of medium because works of this kind of art frequently feature computers and sensors to respond to motion, heat, or other types of input their makers programmed them to respond to. I think it is a very trippy and very cool concept that fits into our society today. Because technology has become a lifestyle I feel that this type of medium has become a lot more accessible and easier to relate to. I would never have thought to consider this a medium of contemporary art, but once you really look at it, what these machines and technology can do is truly art. One thing John also mentioned is that it is kind of hard to find the art in this type of medium. Its not traditional like the other mediums I have discussed, like painting and drawing. This medium is made possible by the knowledge of technology and technological innovation. I find it to be a very difficult medium because technology isn’t a simple thing to learn, such as painting. An issue with interactive art is who is the artist. The person who made the technology or is it the people that are involved. I think that the person who came up with the idea and also made the technology is the real artist in this medium. Because other people are doing the performing and being tracked by whatever technology is being used there is a gray area of who is the artist. But I feel that there would be no art if the technology was not built or set up by the technician and true artist.
An artist I found in this field is Markus Lerner. He wanted to show traffic patterns through interactive light art. He set up seven light towers on the side of the road in Germany that each had more than 100,000 LED lights. “The waves at the bottom of each panel represent the amount of traffic that has recently passed, while a “spark” that flashes across each screen whenever a new car passes by. The more cars that pass the sensors, the bigger the waves, and the faster the motion” (technabob.com). I think this art piece is very interesting and also shows how technology runs our society. Automobiles are technology that has control over our society today. Everyone has a car, and if they don’t they take public transportation that will also add to traffic. This piece shows how our society has turned to a technologically advanced but run society.
An example of an interactive art installation is Playing the Building by David Byrne. “Playing the Building is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound” (davidbyrne.com). this piece deals with who is the artist. Is it the person who plays the piano to make the noises from the building or is it the genius that came up with this idea. Honestly I think it is the persons who built it and thought of this that is that true artist. An idea that David Byrnes discusses on his website is the concept of interactive art. He says, “One doesn't have the same experience when reading a description of it—one has to be physically present to really listen” (davudbyrnes.com). I think this is what makes this medium so great. With other mediums you can see a picture of it or a description and you can basically understand the experience, but with this medium you truly have to experience it yourself. You can’t understand this art unless you actually interact with it.
Another artist that deals with this concept is Janet Cardiff. She has a concept of walks that she sets up. “The format of the audio walks is similar to that of an audioguide. You are given a CD player or Ipod and told to stand or sit in a particular spot and press play” (cardiffmiller.com). an example of this is her project Her Long Black Hair. “Her Long Black Hair takes each listener on a winding, mysterious journey through Central Park’s 19th-century pathways, retracing the footsteps of an enigmatic dark-haired woman” (cardiffmiller.com). The only way that this project works is if people participate in it, otherwise it is really pointless. You also won’t understand the story behind the locations unless you listen to the audiotape. It is a big part of this medium that people participate in it, and that is the best aspect of this medium.
Paul Pfeiffer is also an artist in this medium. “Pfeiffer digitally removes the bodies of the players from the games, shifting the viewer’s focus to the spectators, sports equipment, or trophies won” (art21.com). He does this to “dissect the role that mass media plays in shaping consciousness” (art21.com). This connects to the idea that technology is a life style because media is a type of technology. Media and technology is a main part in our life, and Paul Pfeiffer’s artwork deals with this and kind of goes against it. Interactive digital art is a very strange but fantastic medium of art that most people wouldn’t even consider as art. It is also a kind of art that interprets and is easily connected to how our life style is today.
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