“Scratching the surface of your everyday routine; regains your child-like wonder to explore this fantasy world”
We are all familiar with the magic of the kaleidoscope from our childhood; the ever-changing pattern of images brought us a visual dimension that invoked our wonder and enticed us to explore the vivid fantasy world before us. This is every child’s natural drive and it is one that leads us to question, to explore and to discover; all of which are crucial elements of creativity. However, the everyday routines and pressures of our busy lives have a tendency to overwhelm this most natural of impulses. The Interactive Kaleidoscope was created based on the concept of evoking and regaining this child-like state of wonder.
The Interactive kaleidoscope is a screen based interactive installation which is equipped with an infrared-sensor for detecting the participants’ presence. The image patterns dissolve and re-assemble in accordance with the movement of the interactors. It offers the viewers far more then mere physical interaction by inviting them to join in active creative authorship and further to derive their own unique interpretation of the experience.
In addition, this work is also an experimental art installation created for the purpose of researching how ‘meaningful experiences’ can be invoked by computer-based interactive media art in the public space. The research themes (Playfulness, Dominance Transfer, Mind Orientedness, and Accessible Challenge) have thus been embodied and are abstractly reflected in this interactive installation. It is expected that valuable data will be obtained during the exhibition in relation to developing useful alternative methods for researchers and artists in the field wishing to enhance the intellectual engagement with their respective audiences.
The definition of a “Meaningful experience” in this research is obtained and shaped by its audience. Through the interactivity between various artworks the audiences sense the artistic intensions of the art being presented which draws a unique emotional response from the viewer, which relates to their own personal experience. Though the word “Aesthetic” is to some extent deemed as a pragmatic term in artistic research, however due to the fact that the “Meaningful experiences” discussed on the passage above is generated via interactivity between works of art and the audiences, hence it could be considered as an “Aesthetic Experience”.
Abstract. Interactive technologies, including electronic devices are increasingly being utilized as a medium for artistic expression and have been placed in freely accessible public environments with mixed results. When audiences encounter computer-based interactive media arts in a public space they are drawn by various interactivities, to play and experiment with them. However, whether the audience is able to gain a meaningful experience through those physical interactivities has remained an issue of both theoretical and practical debate. This paper will focus on these aspects, most specifically through the study of interactive art in freely accessible public space. The author proposes four new conceptual/analytical tools for examining the subject. It is anticipated that this paper will provide possible alternative strategies for both artists and art researchers in this field with a purpose to enhance intellectual engagement with their audiences, so as to succeed in leading interactors to obtain meaningful experience and rewards.
Keywords: Interactive Art, Media Art, Public Art, Meaningful Engagement
The paper is accepted by International Conference on Arts and Technology (ArtsIT2009)
This interactive media installation was originally created for the purpose of researching how ‘meaningful experiences’ can be elicited by computer-based interactive media art in the public space. The aim of the research has thus been embedded as the theme and is clearly reflected in this installation.
Event horizon is an ‘invisible boundary around a black hole past which nothing can escape the gravitational pull, not even light’ Nobody knows with any certainty what lies beyond that boundary and as such, depictions of these mysterious regions of space are largely based on the individual writer’s or artist’s imagination. To some extent these depictions are akin to great works of art in that they stimulate the audiences’ imagination and invoke a unique sensory experience.
The image patterns of the work changes randomly and dynamically and is triggered by audiences’ movement, which offers the individuals to not merely physical interactions, but also invite them to join this pro-actively creative authorship what is ultimately a unique and experience.
Event horizon is an ‘invisible boundary around a black hole past which nothing can escape the gravitational pull, not even light’ Nobody knows with any certainty what lies beyond that boundary and as such, depictions of these mysterious regions of space are largely based on the individual writer’s or artist’s imagination. To some extent these depictions are akin to great works of art in that they stimulate the audience’ imagination and invoke a unique sensory experience.
