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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pubiication Data

Kwastek, Katja.Aesthetics of interaction in digital art / Katja Kwastek ; forervord bv Dieter Daniels.

pages cmIncludes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-0-262-01932-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)1. Interactive art. 2. New media art. 3. Aesthetics, Modern-2Oth century. 4. Aesthetics,Modern-21st century. I. Title.N6494.157K89 2073776.01-dc2320t2049423

109876s4321

Contents

Foreword by Dieter Dan e

Preface xiAcknowledgments xiilntroduction xv

1 lnteractive Art-D(New) Media Art, Comp-

Aesthetic Strategies in P':

Art, Technology, and Soc.

2 lnteraction as an /The Artwork as the Obje:

AestheticExperience riAesthetics of Response

Aesthetics of Process 5,Methodology 62

3 The Aesthetics ofArt and Play from Schil e-

Characteristics of Play

Performance and Perfor-

4 The Aesthetics ofActors 90Space 99Time I09lnteractivity and lnterac-- :

Materiality and lnterp:e::The Ontological Status :'

5 Case Studies 17Case Study 1: Olia Lia -:Case Study 2: Susanne 5q

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ro sarnlJnrls se lnq 'urro; lerraleru 'pauruluol-Jlas u1 se^Iasuaql lseJlueu ]ou opuago s>Iromue alllJeJalul '7 raldeqc uI lno palulod sem sV 'ralamoq 'araq uolssnrslp

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90 Chapter 4

A more complex proposal was developed by the Variable Media Network between2001 and 2004. That North American research network created a model that takesinto account specific characteristics of ephemeral, time-based, and media-supportedprojects, and can be used to describe artistic works without assigning them to anyparticular genre. Artworks are differentiated on the basis of process-related qualities(behaviors), which may also appear in different combinations. The model distin-guishes between contained, installed, performed, interactive, reproduced, duplicated,

encoded, and networked behaviors. Different criteria can then be applied so as toachieve a more precise description of each of these behaviors. The majority of worksin the traditional visual arts (paintings and sculptures, for example) are meaningfullydescribed as contained by their own materiality and as having clear physical boundar-ies. Consequently, the options for describing this type of work are based on standardcharacteristics related to matter, such as the type of surface and the support material.Instalted artworks, by contrast, are characterized in terms of their location, theirboundaries, and the associated lighting directions and sound elements, whereas in thecase of performed works information about props, stages, costumes, performers, andtime frames is collected. The options for describing code-based works include therecommended screen resolution and the data sources and fonts used. Interactivity is

characterized by defining the input options and the interaction partners.a This kindof approach makes it practicable to compile a classificatory description of artisticactivities (including media art)-while taking into account close intermeshing of mate-rial and processual characteristics.

In this chapter I will deal first with the main actors and parameters found in inter-active media art. I will then analyze the spatial and temporal structures within withthe actors stage and realize the processes of interaction. Only on this basis will it bepossible to describe the processes of interaction themselves and discuss their aestheticpotential in terms of gestalt, aesthetic distance, and epistemic potential. Toward theend of the chapter, I will return to the question as to whether and to what extent itis possible to define the ontological status of interactive art.

Actors

A meaningful description of interactive art must begin with the active entities involved.Human actors are addressed here as individual subjects-as opposed to mere operators

of the interaction system-because an aesthetics of interaction must give priority toindividual perceptions and interpretations. Perceptions and interpretations arise sub-

fectively and cannot be generalized.The creator(s) of a work must be addressed as the first actor(s), if only because they

are the first, chronologically speaking, to be involved in the proiect. In most cases,

The Aesthetics of

Figure 4.1

Actors ofinteractiwinstallation vien-, L

the creators still rinfluence on thetially as a result osion, the actors rt.be referred to as 'to be artists, autlare flanked bv intvisual arts, the prtion. Whereas inactive role, that iawaits realizationprocessual presenr

work's interacti\-ilalso regarded as a

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y .ra1deq1

92 Chapter 4

The artistThe activity of the artist generally consists in conceiving of and then facilitating theinteraction process, and therefore takes place before the actual moment of interaction.

Several different people may be involved in the conception and creation of an interactive

work, especially when different skills---e.g., sound design, interface design, programming-

are required. As author of the work, the artist(s) create(s) the interaction proposition

by designing, programming, or implementing the underlying system, by constructing,

selecting, or assembling its digital assets and material components, and often also by

selecting or configuring the required setting. In this context, digital media provide ameans for structuring interactivity, in the sense of processes that can potentially beactivated. The games researcher Noah Wardrip-Fruin uses the term "expressive process-

ing" to highlight the creative potential of programming as a medium of expression.6The production process is guided by visions or mental representations of possible

interactions, or by assumptions about how the recipient will realize the interactionproposition. Many artists, however, also emphasize the need for openness or willing-ness to relinquish total control. This applies to media art just as much as it does toparticipatory works outside media art. In reference to the latter, the artist YvonneDroge Wendel has stated that "the beautiful thing about interactive work is that themoment you let go the unthinkable occurs and unknown situations arise beyond your

own pre-conceptions. . . . I have to suppress my tendency to intervene or impose my

intentions as to how the work is used or experienced."T Such declarations illustrateonce again how the interest in random processes that informed art in the years afterWorld War II is related to the strategy of open works, in which indeterminability was

achieved through the active involvement of the recipient. However, Droge Wendel is

referring to circumstances where the artist himself may well be present in order topropose a situation within which recipients can act, so that the outcome results froma joint elaboration of the initial situation and the main focus is on a collaborativeaesthetics of production. Such open invitations to collaborate are also found in themedia arts, especially in Internet art. However, in this book I am not focusing on col-

laborative works. I am interested specifically in the aesthetics of projects within which

the reactions of the systems to the decisions of the recipients are defined in advance.Nevertheless, the processes of realization can still occasionally surprise the artist. For

example, aS was mentioned above, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer experienced Surprise inrelation to his work Body Movies when the recipients were so fascinated by playtngwith their own shadows that they lost interest in using them to reveal the portraitsthe artist had projected onto a buitding facade. Likewise, Agnes Hegedtis is unlikely

to have imagined that a recipient attempting to assemble the interactive Fruit Machine

puzzle-which is designed to inspire cooperative behavior-would take over the workand manage to operate all three control stations on his own. David Rokeby, who cites

Myron Krueger as sharing this vieq sees the possibility of the artist being surprised

The Aesthetics of t

by his own worlqcontradiction betistic of interactiv(

Although the aas an important Cbecause it acfua\in other roles, fointeractive projectpossibilities for irmodify them. Thuproblems derivingRokeby. At the fusee the system reastand why, he realinternalized certairto these specific asystems try to pregroup of intereste<artists can also actto interact or by draries are fluid hereon the role of ideathe public to follorcan be found in ttxproperly, making ding suggestions, anor break the ice. Ttwork."11

In a proiect thatthe role of a particilthe artist is always iother recipients--{rtion proposition. Tlor not he acts notinated as a performrof his own experioHoweveq it would trecipients may haNalready know the rrecipient, too, can I

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y .ra1deq1

94 Chapter 4

The assistantArtists occasionally appoint third parties to assist in the presentation of interactiveworks. Such assistants may act as performers, as in Sonia Cillari's Se Mi Sei Vicino,which involves a female performer as a permanent interaction partner. Assistants also

often play a mediating role when the input required of the recipient must be explained,

supported, or supervised, and may be asked to distribute equipment. However, it isdifficult to make a clear distinction between assisting functions that are a constituent

element of the realization of the work and those that belong to the external setting.

Matt Adams of the group Blast Theory, for example, sees the briefing phase in Rider

Spoke-.in which recipients must borrow a bicycle from a supply point-as extremelyimportant for the success of the subsequent activity phase. According to Adams, the

interaction is immediately preceded by a "particularly rich moment for us because

people are thinking'this hasn't started yet,' and so they are still relaxed and . . . ourability then to stage the experience and give them subtle cues is very strong."1z Thus,

overlapping roles are possible in this case, too: assistants can simultaneously be per-

formers, and performers can act as or be perceived as recipients.

The recipientThe task of the recipient in interactive art is to realize the artwork. This means thatthe recipient actively responds to the interaction proposition (although not in thesense of "Correctly" exeCuting a preSCribed COnCept, for reCipients' behavior will notnecessarily always correspond to the artist's expectations).13 The scope for actionoffered by different works varies considerably, starting with the question as to precisely

how the possible or expected actions are communicated. Written or verbal instructions

may be provided, but most works are constructed and configured in such a way that

the possibilities for action can be deduced from the installation itself. In many cases,

one of the central components of the interaction is the recipient's exploration of the

actual possibilities for interaction offered by the work.

As was mentioned in chapter 2, the recipient's activity depends to a large extenton his experience with similar works, his resulting expectations, and his willingness

to take action. This is also confirmed by the results of the research projects carried out

in the context of this study. For example, a recipient of Tmema's Manual Input Work-

station recounted that his behavior was shaped by the fact that, aS a teacher, he was

accustomed to opelating the kind of overhead projector presented in the work.la Arecipient of Rider Spoke explained that the proiect went too far for her sometimes

because she was not the kind of person who was inclined to speak openly about her

feelings.ls In order to counteract such contextualizations, David Rokeby sought specifi-

cally in Very Nervous System to ensure that recipients would not be able to draw onsimilar experiences in their interactions: " [I]t doesn't automatically register something

that's famili ar."16 ln addition to depending on the possibility (or impossibility) of

The Aesthetics of I

drawing on faminterests-for exwise, the recipiertionality of a wo

Recipients mathereby taking a rcomprehension cas "vicarious int€a cognitive compinteraction takin!he is not activehexperience as an,tion processes th;interactive install;Weinbren often pstructions that cohe also built---.eitlspectators, whichscreen recording c

Jeffrey Shaw alspectator who onthere is the uniqranother-his manWorkstation recor[like witnessing antion.le Observatiorgives the onlookerreduces inhibitionactions, for previotate modification.

The foregoing dproposition being istrations as an idealthe systems they luto their own stage FFish (1998-1999) arin public performarstation as potential,in the program moprojector. This is cl

ol SulpJolre aJeld sa{p} pue JIIqnd aql JoJ alqepuulsrapun flrealf, sI sIqJ 'ropalordpeaqJalo ue uo sraqunu preoqprur Euneld dq pa1or1uof, ale apou ruerSord aq] ulsa8ueqc 'sacueruro;rad asaq] uI 'uorlf,eralur snorJef,rl ro; slsdpler p4ualod se uonDls-4to14 ydul pnuow aqt qlIli' saJueruroJJad srq spre8ar ul^a'I rz'saf,ueuro;rad cqqnd u1paluasard uaaq e^eq (SAe f ) o1pa14 a8autl sv-ouDtd s,Ielvrl olqsoJ pue (666I-8 66D tlstt

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y .re1deq1

96 Chapter 4

the same principle as the subsequent interaction with the different modes themselves.

For Levin this is an ideal way to demonstrate the functionality of the system tospectators.

The concept of vicarious interaction once again addresses the question of aesthetic

distance. Is it really essential that the recipient be active in order to enioy the aesthetic

experience of an interactive artwork, or do forms of experience such as vicariousinteraction actually create the distance to the object of experience often required by

theories of aesthetics?Robert Pfaller has been acclaimed for coining the term "interpassiviry" which he

uses to question the ostensible omnipotence of interactive media.zz Pfaller suggests

"denoting those media that already provide the process of their reception and con-

Sumption in ready-made form as interpassive media." The example he uses for suchmedia is the video recorder, which, Pfaller claims, watches the films in place of theobserver, so that the recording of films replaces their consumption. Pfaller explains

the use of the prefix "inter" in terms of the transfer of roles that occurs: "[]ust asinteractive media transfer the activity to the observers, interpassive media transferthe passivity of the observers to the artvvork."23 Although the term "interpassivity" is

admirably thought-provoking, it seems fair to ask whether it is really "passivity" thatis being transferred in Pfaller's example or, in reality, actual or potential activity. What

is certain is that the interaction propositions at the focus of the present study are

neither (inter)passive nor vicariously active; rather, they are bearers of a processual

potential that can be activated by a third party (the recipient).Although Pfaller's concept of interpassivity thus appears less suitable for analyzing

the aesthetic experience of interactive art, the broader context of his ideas certainly

deserves consideration, insofar as they are based on a general mistrust of the view that

activity is positive on principle and that activating observers is thus always "aestheti-

cally rewarding and politically liberating." As Pfaller argues, many of the emancipation

movements since 1968 have presupposed that "active is better than passive, subjective

is better than objective, personal is better than other, changeable is better than fixed,

immaterial is better than material, Constructed is better than elemental, etc."24 We

must therefore ask critically which particular forms of aesthetic experience are specifi-

cally enabled by the activity of the recipient, whether a recipient's activity may also

potentially prevent aesthetic experience, and to what extent contemplative observa-

tion of actions in the form of vicarious interaction should be taken into consideration

as a distinct form of aesthetic experience of interactive art. Lars Blunck deals with this

question in detail in his discussion of participatory art forms. In his study of (non-

electronic) works that invite audience participation (e.g., the action art of the 1960s),

Blunck doesn't discuss vicarious interaction so much as the possibility of mentalanticipation of interactions. He asks whether actively responding to an invitation to

participate is even necessary: "Is the theoretical possibility ofparticipation not enough

The Aesthetics ol

to initiate an afworks by Geo4suggests that a pa situation notin its absence, ilemergence.,,a Eway to non_serumeans of receptcomponents thaof reception. Horeflexive imaginiwhich Blunckt scourse it may talof Wurm,s One Iwe are usually deprocesses can be ran aesthetic expedoes exclude Bluvicarious interacworks that operalworks that are baallow vicarious in

Nonetheless, dor reflexive imagiinteractive art, incentral to aesthetitanced observatioran artwork, shiftstanced (self-)obserprocesses at stake i

The technical sy:teThe technical systenents of that systerthe system is configenable actions; theprogrammed by thexample, proceeds

fects not only servecan also "authorlze,

repuar '4co1q 'aruangul '1sa33ns 'lrurrad 'a8ernof,ua 'pro;;e 'aa,o11e 'azrroqlnu,, osle ueJdaql tnoleT ourufl ol Sulprocce iuorpe uetunq ro; dorp4req e se alJes dluo 1ou spa[-qO 'sJoltre pareprsuof, eq plnoqs slca[qo 1eq1 uoqdrunsse aq] uo spaarord 'aydruuxaro; ,,'droaql {Jom}eu-Jo}f,V,, 'rulq ;o dlluapuadapul s}re 'lsrpe aq1 dq paunuurSordro pauSlsap q8noqlp 'q:Iqrur 'dlqunssarord umo rraq] alpq osle daql lsuoqre alqeuadpo 1ou srualsds uorlJeJalur 'ald1cupd ug 'uosrad Ienur^ e se parn8guof, sr rualsds aq]uaqm dluo lou pue '1q8rr u.no rlaql uI sroltru peJaprsuol aq lsnru uralsds ]eql Jo sluau-odruo: Ipualeru aql pue uolllsodord uorlf,eralur aqt Suproddns uralsds 1elpqJal aql

uals{s Ie)luq)al aql

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'uorlJuralur snorJef, rA MoIIU

lou op (sauoqdpeaq uo luardrlar aq] o] padeld) saIIJ olpne uo paseq ale leql s{rompuu 'seale a8rel raao pa8els ale leql s4roar'sa:prep a11qoru qlyvr alerado leql $IroMtep:qrud uI 'ile elparu a^pleralur ur alqlssod sdervrp lou sl uoltJeJalur snorref,rluaaa 'rrir.oqs IIrM sarpnls aser dur sy 'uorleur8erur a^rxalJar s,>lf,unlfl apnlf,xa saop11 1nq 'sraqlo qSnorql uorlelr]f,e Jo uorlplJasqo aq1 qSnorql acuarradxa Jrlaqlsap ueapnlf,xa dlrressacau l,usaop srql 'pate^nce are daql JI dpo poolsrapun aq uuc sassalord'saseo qcns u1 's8ur4rorvr umo sll sleeJuof, leql xoq {f,elq e q11n Suqeap dlpnsn are a,r,r'1ser1uoc t{q'ye erperu alrlf,eJa}ur uI 'aldurexa rc1 'satrydlncs afiulq aao s,turn6 Jopue sarotrs ]uala s,]qlarg Jo qloq anr] sr s1q1 'paludlrpup aq upf a{e} deru tI asJnof,aql puu alqurJuuapr dpealr sr uorlferalur papualur aql rsasnf,oJ dpnls s,>lrunlg qllquuo s{ron aql uI 'suor}tre ppualod ar{} Jo dlgqlssacce eql sl-uopeuferul alrxagarsu {lunlg dq palouap-apnlrue ue qf,ns roJ uor}rpuorard aql tanazvrog 'uopdarar ;ossarord aql Euluprralap q aJuanuul;o saar8ap ]uaraJJrp a^eq uef, leql sluauodruoJsu lnq sallleuralle su lou d1p,r,ryagar puu dlryensuas 8u1,trar,r pue 'uo4dacar Jo sueau]uaJaJJIp ;o a8uer e Surzru8ocar slsaESns aroJaraql ag 'fi1rr1xageJ Iensuas-uou o] dervrslql q pef,rJrrf,es sueau ou dq s1 dlqensuas ll}aqlsee lBql sen8le {f,unlg ez,,'af,ueSJauralpaqlsas urro slr ol lI peal o1 se dervr e qJns ul pu? dlpnsuas 11 Supfeu4 'aruasqe sll uI1r 8urur8eurr,, ,(q lnq ,,ef,uasard Iensuas s1g,, Surlualradxa dlenpe dq 1ou uorlenlrs earualradxa am;1 alqlssod aq.{eru acualradxa f,r}aqlsa? Jo ruroJ reprpred e leq} slsa8Snsaq taq1p11 preqJfl zuerC pue 'sdnag qdasof'ulrq11 ulrvrrg 'lqcarg a8roag dq s4rornro1 Surrrayan sz,Z{roM aql Sursn Surug8erul uo paralual dselue; Jllaqtsae ue a}er}rur ol

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I raldeql

98 Chapter 4

possible, forbid, and So on."28 The ploponents of actor-network theory are not primar-

ily interested in processual entities, however, but in static obiects. Donald Normanuses the term "affordance" to describe the action potential of objects. "Affordance"refers to the actual and perceived characteristics of things, especially those that deter-

mine how things can be used.2e In the area of HCI research, especially, the concept of

affordance has become established as a means to describe the stimulative nature ofcomputer interfaces.3o The present study, however, doesn't deal only with the per-ceived stimulative nature of systems; it also deals with their processuality. Althoughmany interaction systems become active only after an input (in the form of humanactivity or incoming data fuom other systems) and otherwise remain in wait mode,some systems run their own processes while waiting for input. Thus, we must ask how

processuality is triggered in each individual work, and what actually characterizes theprocessuality. Is it based on the activation of pre-stored playable assets, or on real-time

processing of code? In the following, I will be looking at the processuality of technicalsystems especially with regard to the temporal structures of interactions and in thecontext of instrumental and phenomenological perspectives on interactivity.

It is important to note, in this context, that this study seeks to abstract the proces-

suality from the actual technology used in works. In other words, the aim is to describe

general qualities of processuahry not specific hardware or software functionalities. Of

course, interaction Systems are characterizedby technology-for example, by the typeof software and hardware that is available at the time a work is created or is familiar

to the artist. The artist's decision in favor of a particular technology or system archi-

tecture may be based on the concept of the work itself, but can just as easily be deter-

mined by external factors. These include not only access to technology or the means

for funding it, but also the roles played by sponsoring institutions, commissioners ofworks, and cooperation partners. For example, Ashok Sukumaran reports that the idea

for his work Park Viau Hotel (20O6) came to him during his stint as an artist-in-residence

at Sun Microsystems, where he was required to work with Sun-SPOT technology.3lSimilarly, Matt Adams relates that Blast Theory would unquestionably have used GPS

technology for Rider Spoke if the group's cooperation partner, the Mixed Reality Labin Nottingham, had not proposed WiFi fingerprinting.32 But although the underlying

technology influences the aesthetics of a work, the latter is still ultimately based on

abstractable procedures and structures. These will be described here not primarily interms of their technical causality, but with a focus on the effects they enable. First,however, it is necessary to discuss the spatial and temporal structures within whichthe actors operate.

Regarding the actors, it can be said in summary that interactive media art differsfrom other forms of participatory art in that the authorial role of the artist is usuallyrestricted to the phase before the actual interaction. At the same time, the interaction

process is already embedded in the system as a potential, which leaves the recipient

The Aesthetics of

different degreeinteraction at stinteraction. As Ibased on the prir2, this term dencan be controlle<ing to Fischer-tirpossible in medi:tive media art areart. Even if somethe interaction b

Space

Each and every ispatial situationra public, institutita data network, o

A "place" is utlocated using a s;refers to an area.theories of spacesubjective and vafluid individual oiin perception, in itional ordering ofresult of processcthings, people, or Iof architectures, odefines synthesis iare connected to IIn Ldw's model, qas mutually condil

Ldw's interpretrcharacteristics butalso crucial for antwo different momor staging of spation the other, the ntinction is not at :

Jauel aql roJ 'slsaqluds pue SulJEds uaaMlaq leql sB aruus aql IIe le lou sI uollf,ull-slp aqJ 'uollleralu1 Jo tueruotu aq] Sulrnp drrcpeds Jo uollez{ear aq1 taqlo eq} uo'pue uorlrsodord uollreralul aql ;o uollurn8guoJ aq] 3u1rnp filppeds ;o 3u13e1s rouollalas aql 'pueq auo aql uo-areds Jo uorlJnJlsuol aqt ur sluaruoru ]uaJeJJIp omluaaMleq qs1n3u11s1p lsnu a^r 'ra,ra.rrro11 'uolll?ralul Jo sf,llaqlsae ue JoJ IeIf,nJJ osIPsr parn8r;uor dpapra[qns aq UEJ ]eq] suopeuSlsap alqelnu osl€ ]nq sf,I]sua]f,ereqtrpaxl; d11epa1uu dpo 1ou Sugpnloul se sJataurered ppeds ;o uollelardralul s,Mo'I

'sassacord Suluoplpuo: dlpnlnu sulnq alrlnJasuof, se lou poolsrapun aq ppoqs slsaqluds puu Sugceds 'lapour s/,tro'I uI

rel'll?f,ar ro 'uorleapr 'uorlda:rad;o sassarord q8norql sareds uJoJ o] palf,auuoJ areaydoad pue spoo[g],, :uol]Jrulsuo: ppeds ;o ped aaqluSoc aql se slsaqluds saugapaqs '1ser1uoo dg 's4ro,rl1au ralnduror;o sluauodurol aq] Jo uale ro 'sarnpallqrre yo'aldoad;o sdnorS;o 'sdoqs ul surall Jo luauru8qe aql ur se 's8uryeur ro 'aldoad 's8u1q];o Supe1d aql se Sulceds saurJap r,ro'L,'slsaqlu.(s,, pue ,,8ugf,eds,, ;o sassarord Jo ]InsaJu se lnoqu saruof, Suuapro aql er,,'spoo8 Ierf,os pue saplua 3u1,r11 ;o Surrapro puo1l-elate,, se aouds saas oqm'mg'I ol Supro:ry ss'llecar u1 ro'uo11eap1 u1 'uopdacrad u1dluo lsrxa deur ro pgaleru aq deru qllqm 'uoplnrlsuof, a^rlf,allotr ro lenplllpul p1ngssal ro alour e se areds saulJap tro'l euluery 1s13o1o1cos aql 'alqelre^ pue a,rrpa[qnsqloq aru qJIqM 'salrepunoq paufuurl ul palsaralul llrepcpred are ateds Jo salroaql]uaf,ag 'paufeurl ro pazrracrad aq Jaqlla uel lpql sarrepunoq qlllvr uaJe uB ol sraJar,,aJuds,, searaqm '(saleurprooc p:lqdurEoaS ''3'a) aruara;ar;o uralsds e 3u1sn paleJolaq uef, 1eq1 'ace;rns s.quef aql uo dlensn '1urod e aq o] pootsrapun q ,,af,e1d,, y

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ered5

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100 Chapter 4

Figure 4.2

Spaces of interaction. Scott Snibbe, Boundary Functions (1998), installation view (@ ScottSnibbe).

t\,vo processes are involved both in the configuration of the system and in its realiza-tion. The author of an interactive work not only alranges obiects and data (spacing),

but also combines them so as to create a real or potential spatial structure (synthesis).

In exactly the same way, the recipient not only constructs spatial structures withinhis own perception (synthesis), but also actively configules them by means of his own

movement (spacing). Spacing and synthesis are thus relevant in equal measure for the

configuration of the interaction proposition and for its realization.

The configuration of interaction spacesThe spaces that accommodate interactive works can be either man-made constructions

or natural environments. FiScher-Lichte uSeS the term "performative SpaCeS" to denote

the spaces used for staging artistic performances. She writes that these spaces areintentionally created or selected in order to organize and structure the relationshipbetween the actors and spectators and to enable specific forms of movement and

The Aesthetics of lr

perception. Accorcan build on th.

In interacti\-e ;the performativeperforming art. ::during festir-als otcertain spatial pa:interactive projer-purposes-unlessopen to public acor an airport terrwork, or a group (spatial arrangeme)in Osnabrtick in land Bill Vorn.. asented Mexico at Ihistoric locationsVenice's Palazzo !buildings that stillor their age. .{morspaces with an inttenKunstVerein in ition of the ZK\l ; tguest appearance :in Linz.

Often hower-era site, or a white c,tis designed so as tc,tions, the spaces aicontainers that o-,must then be adaphardware in vierr'technical devices. s

Whereas interatrof simulations of Ibecame more com.often seen as no rncKrueger called erpiirecipients could clo:tage of being so fan

asuodseJ pue uraf,uof, e se pal?ullulla sl aJeds IP]ISdqd ]eq] J?IIuTPJ os Sulaq Jo a8e]-uelpe aql seq alEuelJar drdura aq1,, :dltlerraleru sll ol sade Jlaql asolJ ppol slualdparleql os alqlssod sr se leJlnau su aq ol a:eds pporur-Ieal aI{} ro; dllpqdxa palpr ra8anr;uordyrl 'plror,r IelJIlluB papalord p 01 aJuJra]ur dressacau u ueql aroru ou se ueas uagose/\,l uP slpalu ul pasn aJelllpreq eql 's066I aq] uI 'alull ra^o uoruluof, aroru aluef,aquopenlls lupeds 1enpe aq] ;o uopern8guof, allltre 'd111ear PnIJI^ Jo suolle1nruls Joro^eJ ul aceds prlsdqd paarraqrsa uauo s066I 3q] Jo uu elpelu a^Ilf,eralul sealaqM

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uolllsodxa uorJ pallJauaq a^eq leq] smoqs ue-elparu raqlo aq] Suoury 'a8e r1aq1 rouolpunJ puflro Jlaql qllm pelerf,osse araqdsorulu yupads e a{ola III}s leq} sSurpgnqrlJolsl{ }ueJel Jo asn a{eu uauo sro}€Jnc 'paapul 'lexv ue^ ozueJos ozzeled s/atrluaAq raupl aq] pup aqlq{rauu{Iuluoc s,{f,nrqeuso uI raIUroJ aql 'suolletrol JIJo}sIqq plaq araM suourqrqxa asoql Jo qlo8 rr'alPuualg af,lua^ L00z aql }e of,IxaI I paluas-ardar leql raruuaH-ou€zo'I IaeJeU dq opom Jo uoplqlqxa aql pu? ou'uron illg puesrauaq addlpq4-srno1 dq suorlelelsul f,Iloqor parnlea] qllqlvr 'ZOOZ uI )pnrqeuso uIpleq auupsolN Dp uasaA sop 'sg uoplqlqxa aql aJe saydruuxa orrrl 'luaruaBuerre Ierledsa13u1s e su pelraf,uoJ aq deur ]eql lslu? auo dq $IroM palelalralul Jo dnor8 e lo '>llotvtaprs-a8rey auo dluo deldsp IIIM uolllqlqxa ue 'dlleuolseJlcr 6s'luullurel godrre ue ro1v\or{s eper} e ;o rado; aql s3 r{f,ns 'paspradns d1}uelsuoc sI pue ssaf,Je r11qnd ol uadoq ll lpql q uoplqrqxa uE o1 r?Iruls sr uor]enlrs leuopn]Ilsul aql ssalun-sasodrndraqlo JoJ pasn dlpurou sareds f,IuolJalIIIf,Iu uI pasnoq dlarer aru spalord aAIpeJa]uI'sdep lurarras lsual le JoJ sunr dlpnsn uoplqlqxa ue asnef,afl 'sralaruered lepeds uleuaf,

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UV lp16l6 ur uoll)eralul lo s)ltaqtsav eql

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arD JoJ aJnsualu [slulto srq Jo sueau.ulqlllr seJnlf,Iuls I'(slsaqluds) arnpn'(Eupeds) etep pu-vztleil sll uI pue

uors O) r"ral uog

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Chapter 4

is the only focus."43 This statement is consistent with Krueger's vision of an artificialreality that should be considered distinct to the spatiality of the here and now. Thefocus of Krueger's Videoplace, which he produced in the 1970s and the 1980s, is clearlyon the effect of the computer-generated graphic feedback conveyed by the projection,whereas the real interaction space is darkened. However, the spatiality of Krueger'scomputer graphics is not particularly complex, either. Though his intention may havebeen to allow the recipient to concentrate entirely on the actual interaction, the tech-nical possibilities available at the time the work was created limited the scope forcomplex graphical solutions from the outset. The 1990s saw the production of variousprojects that staged computer-generated graphic feedback as a visually illusionaryvirtual reality. Examples range from Jeffrey Shaw's Legible City (1998-1991), whichsought to create the illusion of a bicycle ride through a city,aa to Peter Kogler and FranzPomassl's '1,999 Cave (produced for the Linz Ars Electronica Center's CAVE environ-mentas), which invited the recipient to immerse himself in a labyrinth of graphicallypatterned tubes, pipes, and passageways.

In more recent installations, by contrast, physical space is understood by manyartists to be a fundamental component of the work and is configured accordingly. Thismay take the form of complex sculptural settings, such as Web of Life (2002) by JeffreyShaw and collaborators. Visitors to this installation must traverse an artificially curvedfloor and pass through a web of taut wires before arriving in an inner space that housesthe interaction system. However, space may also be structured simply by means of acoordinated interplay between dimensions and lighting.46 Spatial structures can alsointerconnect different components of a project. For example, Sonia Cillari's Se Mi SeiVicino stages the spatial relationship between interface and visual feedback by meansof multiple projections onto the walls surrounding a clearly marked touch-sensitivearea of floor in the center of the room. David Rokeby's installation n-Cha(n)t (2001)features several monitor towers that communicate both with one another and withthe recipient, inviting him to wander around the space delineated by the work. Inother cases, spatial structures may be used to clarify the possible roles of the actors.As has already been mentioned, Grahame Weinbren, in his interactive installations,constructed one area for the active realization of the work and another for the observ-ers of the interaction. In this case, action and observation-two possible functions ofthe recipient as actor-are presented as spatially separated roles. At the same time,they are distinguished from another possible actor function-that of the passer-bywho is involved neither in the active realization nor in the observation. Thus, thisartist uses material means to suggest different possible forms of reception. The spatialarrangement illustrates that the interaction is part of the work but is also a possibleobiect of observation and reflection.

Visual art has always (also) been a spatial art, and twentieth-century installationart placed the spotlight on spatial configuration. I have already mentioned the action

The Aesthetics of

art of Allan Ka;experiential envRirkrit Tiravanii:art offers muchin relation to tlmaterially confi1spaces will not nis usually determthe need for proobserving the recoften not visible Itechnology. In v:Utterback used atouch-sensitive flrNervous System, txof interaction. tnothers lighting. Hrtion at all, so that

As has alreadyrounding the im-Eparticipation or d<he allot them a sp(areas for differentCircus deserves mein 2004-20O6, offeactivity, including iinteraction space ar

Locative art hasdevices (ceil phonrspatial extension ofallows for a potentiwhen the proiect cavided by the artiststhat the spatial (an<technical terms on\devices at supply sAtutional starting poidiscussed in referencstation will be bothactivity, the spatial :

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y raldeql

104 Chapter 4

levels of representation (e.9., fictional texts) refer to it, and its historical, social, oratmospheric implications are taken into consideration in the staging of the work. Alsogenerally, locative artworks are characterized by a close nexus between their spatialstructure and the public space, because GPS technology or some other location-tracking technique can be used to directly link information to specific coordinationpoints.

The realization of spatialityThe recipient has the task of realizing spatiality within the structures provided by thesystem. When such a realization takes on manifest, physical form, it immediatelyacquires the quality of a performance. This was pointed out as early as 1980 by Michelde Certeau. When de Certeau observed that spaces are realized by walking throughthem, he was drawing clear parallels to performative acts. He believed that, owing toa "triple enunciative function," the act of walking was to the urban system what thespeech act was to language. First, it served as a "process of appropriation of the topo-graphical system on the part of the pedestrian"l second, it served as "a spatial acting-out of the place"; third, it implied "relations among differentiated positions, that is,among pragmatic 'contracts' in the form of movements." Walking, for de Certeau, wasthus a "space of enunciation."4e It was not iust a question of subjective constructionand perception of space, but also a perceptible performing. De Certeau was interestedin physical and cognitive perception, in the active utilization of the environment, inthe activation of certain places by means of presence, and in the construction ofrelationships between places and spaces through one's own movement.

In the performing arts, such active realizations of spatiality are primarily reservedfor the performers (who may be following stage directions), whereas the recipient'scontribution is mainly cognitive in nature.so In interactive art, by contrast, the recipi-ent may be assigned an active role, or even the main role, in the material realizationand manifestation of spatiality. Observations of recipients interacting with Rokeby'sVery Nervous System, as well as interviews with them afterward, showed that manyrecipients first explored the motion-sensitive area and generally perceived their move-ments as an acting-out of space or as a way of finding the spatial boundaries of thework. In Cillari's Se Mi Sei Vicino, the material configuration of space functions as afoil for the negotiation of the spatial relations between the actors, especially withrespect to the recipient's distance from or proximity to the performer. In these cases,then, we can concur with Martina Ldw that spatiality can also characterize a relation-ship between people. In fact, the presentation of space as interpersonal relationshipis a central theme of Scott Snibbe's Boundary Functions (1998). As soon as more thanone visitor enters a demarcated area, lines are projected onto the floor so as to parti-tion the area in such a way that each recipient is assigned a section of equal size. Asthe recipients move, the partitioning lines shift to adapt to the new situation.sl

The Aesthetics d

The realizatirfested through swork) or thror4works). The reaprojects, whichSchemat's I4'assrdetermined by tunique in termsspace acquires aof the work,s inthave complete Idirection they pequal to the mathese projects htfor the constructtake the form ofeven extensive lcindividual activitendure only in d

Digital and virtrrIn interactive merinterrelations. Onthe other, digital il

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y raldeq3

106 Chapter 4

physical space. Recipients were given head-mounted displays and were invited tomove around the foyer of Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie so as to explore a virtual spacewhose boundaries and dimensions corresponded to those of the actual foyer. Withinthis space, the virtual homes of famous philosophers could be visited.

In addition to using forms of visual illusion, artworks may represent social struc-tures by means of spatial metaphors. For example, the original interface of the earlynetwork platform De Digitale Stad was a mixture of a city map and a subway plan,whereas a more recent and more abstract version showed a web-like structure. In thiswork, urban space was seen as a network of social, societal, and political institutionsand relationships, and was staged as an online communication space. Ingo Grintherwent even further with his proiect refugee republic (1995), which presented a republicwithout a location in the real world and characterized by independence from all exist-ing political and geographical systems.sa These last projects address yet another formof digital spatiality, for they not only represent a place but also instrumentalize adigital communication network. Local and global data and communication networksare also spatially structured, manifesting themselves as such by means of access points,

information flows, and entry requirements. Manuel Castells coined the term "spaceof flows" to describe this feature. As a counterpart to the "space of places," it denotesglobal economic, social, and political communication flows and relationships orga-nized around various nodal points.ss Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby use the term"Hertzian space" to describe the immaterial spatiality of information carried by elec-tromagnetic waves.s6

Internet art is never located primarily in physical space; rather, it is based on HTMLcode stored on a server whose location usually seems to be of no relevance for therecipient. When the appropriate address is accessed, the code is temporarily transmit-

ted via an Internet connection and can be displayed on any computer. Nonetheless,these works involve spatiality both in the staging and in the realization. The rcaliza-tion is shaped significantly by the location of the reception-the public or privatespace in which the project is activated. It makes a great difference whether I interactwith an Internet artwork alone or in company, and whether I am positioned directlyin front of a large screen or am incidentally clicking through a work on a laptopcomputer. The staging, by contrast, concerns the technical location of the work indigital data space. If the work in question consists of Web pages that the recipient issimpty invited to explore, where the work is stored usually isn't relevant. One excep-tion is Olia Lialina's Agatha Appears, which is not just stored on but also narrated acrossmultiple servers spread around the world. The network nodes also acquire substantialimportance when a work links up different recipients, whether synchronically orasynchronically, as is the case in refugee republic. But then again, it is not so much theIocation of the server as that of the recipients that determines the individual spatialconstruction of the work. Even if I am not exactly aware of where my interactionpartners are, I still create the idea of a communication network, which is shaped by

The Aesthetics of lntr

my mental image ospatiality may havenot coincide with d

Again, the moctspace happens in ppresented by the Cbformed the facadewindows as pixels.server, and these wthigh-rise building- trrthe facade.sT Phoninent's cell phone intcon the facade. The afor then the recipierwhom he knew mufacade of the buildirrise building changcwith a cell phone oto trace the incomiqand the path of the Itechnically speakingthe playing field. Noa network of connectof mobile transmittrSuch close linking ofIt may, as in Bli*anltions, or, as in W'assction space.

In the locative pnartists selected speciftrast, leave the achralcorresponds to the arecipient, wherever hRaby sent a yirtual calInOperation CNfRCfla game that used texof the day and nightwin a virtual race toconsistency of physicMartina L6w's words,moving realms of cyt

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Chapter 4

Regardless of whether the conjunction of real space and data space is staged in thepublic space or is a theme of a Internet artwork, and regardless of whether the artistdesignates locations within these spaces or simply initiates locative processes, therealization of such hybrid spatial constructs is central to the aesthetic experience ofinteractive art. Often it is in these mutually overlapping spatial layers that the bound-ary between interaction space and everyday space is challenged. The resulting irrita-tion of the recipients is explicitly desired. In addition to a constant questioning ofaesthetic distance, here a challenging of the boundary between the artwork and every-day life (addressed by Gadamer as "aesthetic differentiation") is also particularlyevident. When real space and data space, and interaction space and everyday space,overlap to varying degrees, does it still make sense to refer to an artwork as a self-contained entity?

Presence

The observations made above about individual and ephemeral constructions of spatial-ity indicate that spatial phenomena are increasingly viewed in processual terms.Spatiality thus acquires relevance not so much as an obiective condition as in termsof a perceived situation. If, on the one hand, interactive art relies on the absence ofthe artist during the process of interaction, on the other hand it requires not only theexistence of a system and a recipient, but also the readiness of these to become active-in other words, their "presence." The Oxford English Dictionary defines "presence" as"the state of being before, in front of, or in the same place with a person or thing,"and specifies that "being present" is also used to denote non-human phenomena, suchas things that are ready at hand, immediately accessible, or available. This last meaning

of the term is also applied to traditional artworks, which are ascribed the quality ofpresence on the basis of their material effect or impression on the observer. This spatialimpact of art-criticized by Michael Fried as amounting to theatricality-has graduallybecome a significant issue in art since the middle of the twentieth century.se

Dieter Mersch relates his concept of presence to non-human entities, describingtheir active qualities as "ekstasis" and "positing."60 Even Erika Fischer-Lichte, whoconsiders presence to be the defining characteristic of the performative ("an aesthetics

of the performative is . . . an aesthetics of presence"),61 recognizes the active qualities

of objects, although she would prefer to reserve the concept of presence for the physi-

cal presence of human beings. Fischer-Lichte proposes a ranking scale of concepts ofpresence ranging from weak to strong to radical-from pure physical presence, topresence that dominates space and seizes attention, to the self-experience of recipients

as "embodied minds" kept in a state of constant flux by the circulating energy.62Fischer-Lichte believes that the third type of presence is the exclusive prerogative ofhuman beings, whereas the first two can also apply to obiects. Nonetheless, for objects

she prefers to use Gernot Bohme's notion of the "ecstasy of things."53

The Aesthetics of

Thus, media Iactive qualities :related, but notinvitation to tatence to HCI rese:Sheridan differerplace, and virtuatant to note is tSheridan, one cilhand, by the dqby the potentialand Theresa Dittof presence is baillusion that a m(as an illusion is, r"being there." Fissimulated, but ntpresence in one pnegotiation of thr

However, thesrHCI research-carIf presence can bethen although tlr,activated in the hunderstood as potsuch potentialitl'used instead of "p

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110 Chapter 4 The Aesthetics of

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Figure 4.3

Interaction time. Holger Friese and Max Kossatz, antworten.de (1997), screenshot.

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112 Chapter 4

actions are primarily perceived and organized as succeeding one another, whereasother cultures live according to the polychronic model of time, in which there is astronger focus on the simultaneity of different chains of action.Ts Also Hall observes,however, that the information society is inducing a general trend toward polychronicmodels of time, and that cultural differences are being gradually broken down by thenew potentiality of time engendered by electronic media.

Different concepts are used to describe this new potentiality. Paul Virilio uses theterm "simulation time," whereas Helga Nowotny examines "laboratory time." Follow-ing the ideas of Karin Knorr Cetina, Nowotny sees the laboratory as an interactionalenvironment-a "temporally structured environment capable of acceleration."T6 Sheargues that laboratory time is characterized by the "continuous presence" and theconstant "temporal availability" of technical objects, which allows temporal sequencesto be controlled and programmed. Moreover, it is possible both to accelerate processesand to slow them down under laboratory conditions, and events can be repeatedseveral times-with variations, if so desired.TT This brings us back to a topic we alreadyencountered in the context of play: the inner infinitude of processes that can berepeatedly activated and replicated within a set framework or rule system. In interac-tive media art, the repetition of actions is not only possible, it is often specificallydesired. Examples are the invitation to play further rounds in Berkenheger's BubbleBath and recipients' tendency to repeat sequences of physical movements, either withthe aim of exploring the reactions of the system in more detail or simply of enjoyingthe processes in quesflon, in Rokeby's Very Nentous Systern and in Cillari's Se Mi Sei Vicino.

!nteraction timeThe time required for an interaction with artistic systems can also be described aslaboratory time in the sense that the point in dimensioned time at which short-terminteractions take place is not particularly important.T8 We do not contextualize suchinteractions as temporally relevant segments of the life course. In the configuredtemporal structures on which this study focuses, the interactions are usually inte-grated into societal time structures only at the level of representation-that is, theymay represent past or future events. The interaction itself, however, can only takeplace in the present, but the context is generally not that of everyday life. The excep-tions are works aimed specifically at calling into question the boundary between theartwork and the everyday, such as Operation CNTRCPY'M, which, as mentioned above,involves the recipient for a number of weeks in a virtual race to Mars. In this work,the recipients' contact with their virtual spaceship is created via cell phone, so thatthey can be alerted at any time of the day or night that they must intervene imme-diately, via an Internet connection, to prevent imminent danger (collisions, attacksby enemies, fuel shortages). Owing to the lengthy duration of this project and theinstrumentalization of the participants' personal appliances, the interactions with

The Aesthetics of ln

the system interftacting with the areality. In most pits artistic contexbe e