Art: Interaction vs Participation
I am a Burning Man participant since 1998. Last year when I went to SIGgraph -- my first since I began participating in Burning Man -- the artwork there left me utterly uninspired. Nothing there brought to life a deeper desire to create like the artwork at Burning Man did, though both events deliver similar kinds of artwork.
Don't get me wrong. The art at SIGgraph was good but it didn't change me like the art at Burning Man does. I have been trying to define what that difference is. And more importantly, how to harness whatever aspect of Burning Man art makes it so much more deeply inspiring. I believe I am finally able to draw that line, and that line is what seperates interaction from participation.
What is the definition of interaction? The on-line Mirriam Webster dictionary defines interation thus: "mutual or reciprocal action or influence". In art, interaction can be a button or control that has influence over the art in some way. Interaction in art brings the viewer into the art by allowing the viewer to have control over aspects of the art itself. This adds a dimention of action vs. passiveness, inclusion vs. exclusion, direction vs. submission. Interactivity allows a viewer to have defined control over the art in some form.
So what makes participation different from interaction? The second M-W definition of participation is this: "the state of being related to a larger whole." A very powerful statement in the area of art, but what does it mean? How can the viewer become a part of the greater whole in a piece of artwork? I have an answer for this question, but first let me describe some examples of participation and interaction and see if that line becomes easier to draw:
At SIGgraph 1999, there was a marble-maze game. The viewers step on the virtual maze to tip it to make the virtual marble roll through part of the maze.
The first act of "participation" at Burning Man was at the first Burn. Larry Harvey built a large wooden man and took him to Baker's Beach to burn him. People began gathering around. While he burned, a woman went over and held the Man's hand.
I read a story about a group that brought materials for building sock puppets.
His parents had owned over a one thousand acre ranch and he made various trips to the Civil War Battlefields with his father. Georgie decided when he was 10 years old; he wanted to become a famous and well -liked general. Patton had much respect and love for his father and even after all of his accomplishments as a general, Patton still came to his father's feet. He learned at a very late age as a child, and never learned basic skills such as proper spelling “Articles/biographies/military leaders/Patton/George S.”
... World. The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and a full array of educational forums, attractive parties, and other special events.
The Met provides the public with further resources, activities, creativity, and knowledge through a variety of programing. “Met Speaks,” offers discussions, films, and forums to explore present issues by applying them to the collections and exhibitions. “Met Celebrate” are special events to celebrate different cultures with art, performances, storytelling, and demonstrations. “Met Creates” allows the participants to look at art in a creative way by doing hands on
...is interaction takes place and does not stop; it self perpetuates until reality is altered no matter if the belief is a truth or not. The phenomena of self perpetuating subjectivity in our society is being exploited and has lead to a homogenous hive mind that has convinced itself of its autonomy. This hive mind limits growth in a society as it strikes down new ideas that, while unfavorable in the societies eyes, may be breakthroughs in human thought and life.
A social interaction is a trade between two or more people and is a building piece of society. Social interaction can be contemplated between
During the Holocaust there were different types of concentration camps where innocent Jews went to suffer and die. There were death camps, huge prisons and killing centers. During the Holocaust, the most famous concentration camp was located at Auschwitz. Systemic gassing of Jews began at Auschwitz in March of 1942. (2) It is unimaginable to the human mind that these death camps existed. Not only did they exist and operate like well-oiled machines, the amount of concentration camps is mind numbing which shows the determination of Germany’s destruction of Jews. The variety of camps which included: labor, death, cold experiments, and work related, to name a few, totaled 10,005. “There were 52 main concentration camps, which had a total of 1,202 satellite camps. Auschwitz, by itself, with its 50 satellite camps, had 7,000 guards among...
Originally the Soviet Union, which had been attacked by Germany the month before, was to sign the charter as well. But the notion of "one world," in which nations abandoned their traditional beliefs in and reliance upon military alliances and spheres of influence, did not appeal to Joseph Stalin, and, in fact, neither was Churchill particularly thrilled. Only Roosevelt, who had been a member of the Wilson administration, truly believed in the possibility of a world governed by democratic processes, with an international organization serving as an arbiter of disputes and protector of the peace.
Tsiarta, C. &. (2011). Glastonbury Festival 2010 post-event report. Retrieved 02 28, 2014, from Vnetrix.com: http://cdn1.vnetrix.com/Glastonbury-Festival-Industry-Green-Post-Event-Report-2010.pdf
- Emergent interactionism- is the hypothesis that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon: it is produced by brain processes, but it has holistic properties of its own and it exerts downward control on brain processes.
Everyone that comes would bring their signature dish mac and cheese, casseroles, milkshakes and hot cocoa. But the pot luck aspect of the bonfire would eventually fade away as the bonfire got bigger but It would be replaced by catered food or hot dogs. The bonfire will also have events for little kids, teens, and adults.These events would include a snowball gladiator mega super brawl
Rhys Southan’s essay “Is Art a Waste of Time?” is about art and if it can really help people who are suffering or is it just better to hand over your money. In Yo-Yo Ma’s essay “necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” he focuses more on art being used as educational purposes to essentially create more innovative/empathetic people. Instead of focusing so much on STEM, the author states that we should incorporate art too. Although some people might say art does not play a role in making the world a better place. I believe it can by bringing awareness to different social issues. Also, if we incorporate art at a young age it can teach kids to be open minded and happier people.
When analyzing artwork, in any form, there are often times social contexts in which can be interpreted. Not always does the history behind the painting need to be revealed to fully understand the concept of the artwork, yet it is helpful in determining if the artwork is truthful in its representation. Although in analyzing artwork it is likely that there are drawbacks to considering the social context. To illustrate this point, I'm going to use the visual arts as my medium of choice. Understanding the social context can be an important tool. An advantage of knowing the history of the painting or sculpture can really enrich our knowledge, being in the 21st century, about some of the social periods from previous times. It can demonstrate how traditions were carried out, how they had an impact on the different social classes. It's a visual teaching aid of a sort. Even in the time period of which the artwork was created can be used as a tool to show how the life was in different parts of the world. It was also used as a hammer in the realist movement to show the upper classes that life for the poor was horrible. The visual arts is the only medium in which the pictorial image creates a universal language in which anyone, regardless of nationality or social class can interpret. The text which is created by this language often creates a context which is left open to interpretation. Contexts are created by the artist, critics, judges, the public, essentially, any one who views the work and forms an opinion relating to it. The contexts stem from subject or content of an artwork, and are usually facts regarding the content. Yet, the contexts almost always have backgrounds themselves, therefore making the original contexts, texts. This will be more clearly illustrated later. The chain is seeming to be a never ending process. There are always more conditions to the previous ones. All context, therefore, is in itself, textual. This concept of all context in itself textual is a post-structuralist strategy. A man named Derrida is a man who has developed this idea that the post-structuralist concept of every statement made, can be interpreted in infinite ways, with each interpretation triggering a range of subjective associations. Every statement has an association, therefore it's a sort of domino effect.
The main criticism of interactionist theories is the fact that, although they focus on meaning of the actor, they fail to explain how actors even create these meanings in the first place. However, in contrast to this, the labelling theorists which use interactionism as a basis, such as Cooley’s (1922), are often criticised for being deterministic, due to the fact that they try and say our actions are shaped by the way others label them, instead of us taking responsibility for our own actions which may lead to negative consequences. Blumer (1969) built on Mead’s ideas, helps to strengthen his ideas, it builds on his basic idea’s whilst also adding his own, which, makes the theory more credible. There are, of course, limitations to Goffman’s ideas, although, they are useful, there are limitations. The idea that during interactions, everyone plays the part of both actor and audience, fails to point out the fact that interactions are often improvised and unrehearsed, without prior thinking of our reactions. This suggests that interactionism lacks structure as a theory—there is also evidence to support this from Larry Reynolds (1975). A study was conducted in which 124 interactionists, of which, 84 responded, were asked to identify the concepts they felt were essential in theories, 38 chose ‘role, 37 chose ‘self and 37 chose ‘interaction’.
Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.
The two processes that are involved in every interaction are assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation means gaining some knowledge and making it fit in with what you already know. This is a necessity in order to develop our cognitive structures. This is a process that everyone encounters even though they may not be aware of when it is happening. Our perceptions of things are enhanced when something of the outside world is assimilated or added into our internal world. Accommodation is the changing of one’s structure of thought. During this process, the gaining of new knowledge fails to co-exist with what we already know. Therefore, we must accommodate or adjust our previous way of thinking to maintain stability. These two processes interact to form a state of equilibrium.