Abstract
Interactivity and 'locativity' have become the buzz words of new media art. In spite of
interactivity being possibly the most salient and significant feature of new media art it
is not widely understood or thoroughly theorised. This paper will seek to explore the
fundamentals of interactivity and in the course of this investigation we will examine
the significance of locative media, the most recent form of new media art.
One of the enduring goals of avant-garde art from Dada onward has been to deconstruct the barrier between the viewer and the work of art.1 Attempts to achieve this by undermining the elitism of the traditional notion of the aesthetic object have been persistently defeated by the fine art system wherein even a public convenience urinal such as Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, 1917, is transmuted into a precious objet d'art. Fountain recently sold at auction for over a million dollars.2 The transformation of virtually any form of artistic production into extremely precious objects means that
visiting an art gallery/museum is akin to visiting a bank vault. The visitor is constantly watched by guards and CCTV and segregated from the precious objects by a variety
of barriers.
interactivity being possibly the most salient and significant feature of new media art it
is not widely understood or thoroughly theorised. This paper will seek to explore the
fundamentals of interactivity and in the course of this investigation we will examine
the significance of locative media, the most recent form of new media art.
One of the enduring goals of avant-garde art from Dada onward has been to deconstruct the barrier between the viewer and the work of art.1 Attempts to achieve this by undermining the elitism of the traditional notion of the aesthetic object have been persistently defeated by the fine art system wherein even a public convenience urinal such as Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, 1917, is transmuted into a precious objet d'art. Fountain recently sold at auction for over a million dollars.2 The transformation of virtually any form of artistic production into extremely precious objects means that
visiting an art gallery/museum is akin to visiting a bank vault. The visitor is constantly watched by guards and CCTV and segregated from the precious objects by a variety
of barriers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Digital Visual Culture: Theory and Practice |
| Subtitle of host publication | Computers and the History of Art Series |
| Editors | Anna Bentkowska-Kafel, Trish Cashen, Hazel Gardiner |
| Place of Publication | Bristol, UK/ Chicago, USA |
| Publisher | Intellect and University of Chicago Press |
| Chapter | 4 |
| Pages | 35-65 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Volume | 3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-84150-299-1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Publication series
| Name | Computers and the History of Art Series |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Intellect Books/ Chicago Press |
| Volume | 3 |