INTERACTION.

Jury: Sabine Himmelsbach, Sally Jane Norman, Atau Anaka

We have remarked that for some time, the field of Interactive Art - itself something of an intersection of forms - has been at a crossroads. Not only has the field grown, but its means have been democratised. Finished is the era of big productions realized exclusively on Silicon Graphics Onyx machines and prohibitively expensive sensor technologies. Having the power of an Onyx running in a Powerbook laptop does not only make media art practice more widespread - it ought to change the fundamental nature of the form. The work that we found compelling, then, was not that which posed the age-old question of the relationship between humans and technology. Instead, interesting developments were seen in those who leveraged the newfound accessibility and portability of the technology to find new contexts in which interactive art can be deployed in novel, meaningful ways - in public spaces, in unnoticed corners. It is no longer a question of hi-technology, and not even the provocation of lo-tech - digital media have been assimilated in our daily lives to the point that technology is not the main issue. Interactive situations as social catalysts formed the common thread in diverse works that we found equally interesting. We sought out work that succeeded in creating a poetic balance between social interaction, execution quality, vision, and aesthetic. We perceive a will among artists in our field to seek out new contexts thereby re-examining the place of technology in contemporary society, thereby extending the reach of art into a new century. We did not consider any single work of those reviewed to be “outstanding”. The three pieces given honourable mentions are successful representatives of the values outlined above, and provide pointers for current and future developments. In arriving at this decision and formulating our position as jury, we hope to stimulate what we feel is a much needed debate in the field of interactive art.