Today I was began reading ‘Transforming Mirrors: Subjectivity and Control in Interactive Media’ by David Rokeby, a recommended reading for my Intro to Interactivity class. Having only read halfway through the 16page paper I have already come across some good definitions and points to do with the origin, method and purpose of interactive works. Following are some quotes I found interesting:
“A technology is interactive to the degree that it reflects the consequences of our action or decision back to us. It follows that an interactive technology is a medium through which we communicate with ourselves…a mirror.” – Rokeby p1
“Interactive art is simply art that involves the participation of the viewer.” “All art can be called interactive in a deep sense if we consider viewing and interpreting a work of art as a kind or participation.” – Itsuo Sakane
“The spectator makes the picture” – Marcel Duchamp
“(The artist) anticipates the participant’s possible reactions and composes different relationships for each alternative.” – Myron Krueger
“The interactive system responds to the interactor, who in turn responds to that response. A feedback system is created in which the implications of an action are multiplied, much as we are reflected into infinity by the two facing mirrors in a barber shop.” – Rokeby p3-4
“The navigable structure can be thought of as an articulation of a space, either real, virtual or conceptual. The artist structures this space with a sort of architecture, and provides a method of navigation.” – Rokeby p4
