Towards a Performative Aesthetics of Interactivity
"I identify a two-decade period - roughly speaking 1985-2005 - as the pioneering experimental period of (computer based) interactive art. Crucial to the understanding of work in this period is the blindingly rapid development of the technological context. At the beginning of the period the graphical user interface was a novelty, the internet barely existed, the web was a decade away, interactivity was an intriguing concept. The production of acceptably high resolution illusionistic digital pictures (still frames) was an active research area and a megabyte of RAM was something luxurious.
The period neatly brackets the emergence of most of the major technological milestones which now undergird digital culture and ubiquitous computing: WYSIWYG, digital multimedia, hypermedia, virtual reality, the internet, the world wide web, digital video, real-time graphics, digital 3D, mobile telephony, GPS, Bluetooth and other mobile and wireless communication systems. It was a period of rapid technological change, euphoria and hype."
(Simon Penny, 2011)
Simon Penny (2011). "Towards a Performative Aesthetics of Interactivity", Fibreculture Journal, issue 19 2011: Ubiquity.
Fig.1 Sniff and Performative Ecologies were included in Emergence, a show of Artificial Life Art curated by Simon Penny and David Familian at the Beall Center for Art and Technology, University of California Irvine, December 2009 – April 2010. Regrettably Performative Ecologies did not function as designed during the exhibition.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Computational Studio Arts: the new crafts
"Goldsmiths' Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Computational Studio Arts can be described as 'smart crafting'. Four students talk about their work in this exciting new field of study.
[Janis Jeffries, Professor of Visual Arts in the Department of Computing, Goldsmiths explains] 'this is the first year of graduating students in the MFA in Computational Studio Arts. It's the first programme within the University of London which is very much about hands-on programming skills as what you might call 'the new crafts'. ...
'Because of the dynamic relationship between art, science and technology, probably some of the most interesting shows are now at the Science Museum and the Wellcome Foundation. They're really pressurising the conventions of the art world because people are much more engaged.'"
(Laura Taflinger, Creative Choices, UK)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Decode: Digital Design Sensations
"Decode: Digital Design Sensations showcases the latest developments in digital and interactive design, from small, screen-based, graphics to large-scale interactive installations. The exhibition includes works by established international artists and designers such as Daniel Brown, Golan Levin, Daniel Rozin, Troika and Karsten Schmidt. The exhibition features both existing works and new commissions created especially for the exhibition.
Decode is a collaboration between the V&A and onedotzero, a contemporary arts organisation operating internationally with a remit to promote innovation across all forms of moving image and interactive arts.
The exhibition explores three themes: Code presents pieces that use computer code to create new works and looks at how code can be programmed to create constantly fluid and ever-changing works. Interactivity looks at works that are directly influenced by the viewer. Visitors will be invited to interact with and contribute to the development of the exhibits. Network focuses on works that comment on and utilise the digital traces left behind by everyday communications and looks at how advanced technologies and the internet have enabled new types of social interaction and mediums of self-expression."
(The Victoria and Albert Museum, UK)
Video capture from Recode by Karsten Schmidt for the Decode website, 2009.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research
"The iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research, established in 2002, is a joint venture of the College of Fine Arts, Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales. It brings together researchers and postgraduate students in new media, aesthetics, cinematic theory, multimedia design, computer science, cognitive science, software/hardware engineering and mining virtual reality.
The iCinema research program focuses on research into digital interactivity for benchmark applications across the arts, culture and industry. In particular, it is focused on the way the digital can be used to imagine new ways of living in the contemporary world, redefining how we seek recreation and learning, and the way we work and do business.
The Centre has four principal research domains: Interactive Narrative Systems; Immersive Visualisation Systems; Distributed Interface Systems; Theories of Interactive Narrative Systems"
(iCinema)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Tenori-On: new musical instrument interface
"Probably the most eagerly awaited release of any musical interface in a decade or more, the Tenori-On..."
(Garth Paine and Michael Atherton, September 5th, 2007)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
