Response to “Delusions of Dialogue: Control and Choice in Interactive Art”
Jim Campbell explains in the article “Delusions of Dialogue: Control and Choice in Interactive Art” the relationship between interactive art and the computer processes/structure. It is essentially, input through an interface to an invisible process tat changes the input somehow to an output representation. This was a new way of viewing, not only the computer, but how computer and digital art is structured. I knew it was always very mathematical which means that there would be structure to it, as is the nature of mathematics, but I never thought of the behind the scenes work a computer would do. Especially in a class where data visualization is a key focus, knowing the process you are telling the computer to follow out completely would be important.
The more interesting point for me that Campbell brings up is the importance of the interface. Most likely the user would not have knowledge of how a piece works or what is entailed in the processes to produce the output. We, as New Media artists, are actual magicians to these people. What we do is completely non-understandable to the user, which could also make the work more intriguing for the user. I think whether the interface is continuous or discrete is irrelevant, as long as it is suitable for the work and the concept behind it, the user would be in awe.
This new perspective and knowledge about the computer structure made me understand the possibilities and potential of using computers in artistic practices (and to a lesser extent the variety possible within the class). As someone who never really focused on the interface, the points about how a good interface can change how an interactive art piece would be perceived, I will concentrate more on making the interface suitable in the future. Campbell has opened up an overall understanding of how interactive art can be molded for different purposes, how it is up to me as the artist to control what type of interaction the user will have as well as the importance of how the user interacts.
