"Geospatial" Participants

ABSTRACT
Computer technologies have been decisive in shaping the literature on interactive arts. Much of the existing discourse has drawn on new media, engaging primarily with the history of human-to-machine relationships, while the relevance of non-electronic works has not yet permeated the established genealogies and theoretical frameworks.1 Moreover, the trend towards high technology has generally located canonical interactive works in metropolitan countries, creating a need for the re-examination of media archaeologies in relation to marginal geographies. My objective is thus two-fold: first, to investigate the conceptual groundwork of interactivity through an examination of Julio Le Parc’s 1962 Lumière en mouvement, a non-electronic kinetic installation where perceivers have an actual influence in the work’s unfolding; and second, to propose a theoretical framework for a discussion of OP_ERA: Sonic Dimension (2005), a high-technology installation by Brazilian artists Rejane Cantoni and Daniela Kutschat. By looking at the conceptual relevance of movement, where the role of the observer is re-defined in relation to her perception and physical involvement with the work, my paper investigates how the experiences instigated by kinetic artists might contribute to a critical discussion of technology-based interactive arts. My methodology draws upon phenomenology and media art history and theory, in a much-needed effort to expand the critique of new media arts in general, and of interactive arts in particular.