Dance of the bulrushes: building conversations between social creatures

The interactive installation is in vogue. Interaction design and physical installations are accepted fixtures of modern life, and with these technology-driven installations beginning to exert influence on modes of mass communication and general expectations for user experiences, it seems appropriate to explore the variety of interactions that exist. This paper surveys a number of successful projects with a critical eye toward assessing the type of communication and/or conversation generated between interactive installations and human participants. Moreover, this exploration seeks to identify whether specific tactics and/or technologies are particularly suited to engendering layers of dialogue or ‘conversations’ within interactive physical computing installations. It is asserted that thoughtful designs incorporating self-organizational abilities can foster rich dialogues in which participants and the installation collaboratively generate value in the interaction. To test this hypothesis an interactive installation was designed and deployed in locations in and around London. Details of the physical objects and employed technologies are discussed, and results of the installation sessions are shown to corroborate the key tenets of this argument in addition to highlighting other concerns that are specifically relevant to the broad topic of interactive design

Re-composing the digital present

This paper investigates the temporality that is produced in some recent and historical examples of media art. In exploring works by Janet Cardiff, Dennis Del Favero, and Omer Fast, I use the philosophy of Michel Serres and Gilles Deleuze to understand the convergence of temporalities that are composed in the digital present, as one moment in time overlays another moment. Developing Serres' concept of multi-temporality and Deleuze's philosophy of time and memory into a means to understand the non-linear time presented in these works, I argue that the different compositional strategies enacted by these artists provide the aesthetic grounding to experience “temporal thickness.” From here I investigate the interactive digital artworks Frames by Grahame Weinbren and Can You See Me Now? by the artist group Blast Theory. In this investigation, I understand interaction with technology, and the way that it shapes our sensory and processual experience, as a specifically temporal and temporalizing transaction, where human movements in the present are overlayed by technological processes

Designing the interface between research, learning and teaching.

Abstract: This paper’s central argument is that teaching and research need to be reshaped so that they connect in a productive way. This will require actions at a whole range of levels, from the individual teacher to the national system and include the international communities of design scholars. To do this, we need to start at the level of the individual teacher and course team. This paper cites some examples of strategies that focus on what students do as learners and how teachers teach and design courses to enhance research-led teaching. The paper commences with an examination of the departmental context of (art and) design education. This is followed by an exploration of what is understood by research-led teaching and a further discussion of the dimensions of research-led teaching. It questions whether these dimensions are evident, and if so to what degree in design departments, programmes and courses. The discussion examines the features of research-led departments and asks if a department is not research-led in its approach to teaching, why it should consider changing strategies

Computer Art in the Former Soviet Bloc

Documents early computer art in the Soviet bloc and describes Marxist art theory.Comment: 28 page

Videogame art: remixing, reworking and other interventions

This chapter explores some of the areas of intersection between videogames and both digital and non-digital art practice. By looking at examples of art practice drawn from videogames, it outlines some of the categories and so provides an overview of this area, placing it within the wider context of contemporary and historical art practice. The chapter explores the tendency for mucyh of this work to have elements of subversion or "détournement" whilst also identifying areas of tension in the appropriation of videogames as material for art practice

Engaging with books you cannot touch: interactive multimedia to explore library treasures

Interactivity has proved a successful way to engage visitors of science museums. However it is not a common practice when the objects to exhibit are artefacts or, as in the case of this paper, books. A study was set up to investigate the driving criteria for the “The Life and Work of William Butler Yeats” exhibition at the National Library of Ireland and compare those with the visitors’ opinion. Books, notebooks and personal belongings of the poet have been digitized and used to create a rich and varied exhibition that used both interactivity and multimedia. The result of visitors’ survey showed that the variety was a key factor for the success of the exhibition: different people engaged with different contents and different medium to different degrees. The design of the ambience is critical: dim lights and the use of audio as a medium have to be carefully planned to avoid annoying instead of engaging

visualization of mind: visual exploration of brain activity

Since ancient times, philosophical and religious thinkers have made attempts to understand the nature of the mind. Today, new developments in technology enable scientists and researchers to explore the brain’s complex physical activity, revealing a deeper mental reality. Moreover, the emergence of low-cost biometric devices gives nonscientific communities an ability to explore usage of biometric data in variety of ways. This project explores visualization of human brain activity using electroencephalogram neural interface to create a visually engaging and meaningful user experience. The implementation of the project takes a form of an interactive installation. It projects the visual form, whose visual parameters are changed in real-time based on the participant’s brain wave signal values. The brain activity is monitored by the electroencephalogram (EEG) neural interface, which transmits the brain wave signal data of the participant’s brain activity to the computer program. The program analyzes signal values and manipulates the visual form. In order to create a meaningful and useful experiences, the research was conducted in areas of cognitive science, philosophy, symbolism and visual design. The visual form was designed based on the Kalachakra Mandala, a circular diagram used in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It was selected as a reference because of its deep philosophical meaning and purpose. The user experience was evaluated based on qualitative methods that consisted of interviews and written questionnaires. It provided insights into the user’s experience and helped to determine potential applications. The method of recording and analyzing mathematical data of the brain activity was used to determine a credible quantitative evaluation method to be used in the future. The evaluation showed the majority of participants who tested the installation had a calming and relaxing experience. Many of them indicated the project has a high potential to be used for meditation and therapy purposes

Ecological Art: Art with a Purpose

Ecological art is purposeful and often prescriptive: the actions and directions intended by the artists for activists to undertake often are clearly represented. Yet, ecological art has been no more successful than, for example, targeted scientific research, deposits on returnable bottles, or land-protection campaigns at slowing global warming, reducing the amount of waste we generate every day, or halting the ongoing sixth mass extinction in the history of the Earth. Here, we consider the idea that prescriptive ecological art provides insufficient mental space for creative reflection about future scenarios of, and responses to, environmental change. We ask whether, by presenting a limited range of possibilities in ecological art, we limit the range of options that viewers consider in deciding on possible actions that they could take to slow or halt environmental decline. We conclude by asking how we artists and scientists can best engage diverse audiences in critically thinking about, and taking action to mitigate, environmental change. These questions and issues are addressed through a discussion of two of our recent ecological art installations: Hemlock Hospice and Warming Warning

Dinner

Dinner is an interactive exhibition which presents appropriated works of art collected and hung in a clustered salon style, as well as a fully realized recreation based on a 16th century Dutch banquet still-life, which presents guests with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, breads, and wine to share and imbibe. Dining ware is provided for guests at the entrance to the exhibit, as are suggested topics of conversation, which are presented on slips of paper for guests to carry with them throughout their time in the space. Within the collection of wall-mounted works are references to ancient Greek and Roman marble statues, portraits of European elites spanning the 17th and 18th century, and more modern children’s cartoons from the 1980s and 90s. The disparate references align into a singular motif by using repetition of color, pose, framing and material within the artworks. This installation explores themes of beauty, class, privilege, history, excess, and humor while providing a space for cultivating deeper conversations on said subjects through the act of sharing, looking, and eating

The hunt for submarines in classical art: mappings between scientific invention and artistic interpretation

This is a report to the AHRC's ICT in Arts and Humanities Research Programme. This report stems from a project which aimed to produce a series of mappings between advanced imaging information and communications technologies (ICT) and needs within visual arts research. A secondary aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of a structured approach to establishing such mappings. The project was carried out over 2006, from January to December, by the visual arts centre of the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS Visual Arts).1 It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as one of the Strategy Projects run under the aegis of its ICT in Arts and Humanities Research programme. The programme, which runs from October 2003 until September 2008, aims ‘to develop, promote and monitor the AHRC’s ICT strategy, and to build capacity nation-wide in the use of ICT for arts and humanities research’.2 As part of this, the Strategy Projects were intended to contribute to the programme in two ways: knowledge-gathering projects would inform the programme’s Fundamental Strategic Review of ICT, conducted for the AHRC in the second half of 2006, focusing ‘on critical strategic issues such as e-science and peer-review of digital resources’. Resource-development projects would ‘build tools and resources of broad relevance across the range of the AHRC’s academic subject disciplines’.3 This project fell into the knowledge-gathering strand. The project ran under the leadership of Dr Mike Pringle, Director, AHDS Visual Arts, and the day-to-day management of Polly Christie, Projects Manager, AHDS Visual Arts. The research was carried out by Dr Rupert Shepherd