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© Nina Czegledy, 2005. Used by permission
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On Audience Response
by Nina Czegledy
Date: 17 July 2005
Event: Banff
Nina Czegledy
Nina Czegledy, independent media artist, curator and writer, has collaborated on international projects, produced digital works and has led and participated in workshops, forums and festivals worldwide. Resonance, Digitized Bodies Virtual Spectacles and the Aurora projects reflect her interest in art, science and technology. She exhibited as part of ICOLS at ISEA2004 and other venues, participated in Girls and Guns Collective in Budapest, Hungary, Tirana, Albania, and Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro. Czegledy has also presented at Cyber@arts Bilbao, in Spain; the Dakar Biennale, Senegal; ISEA2004, 7th Workshop on the Space, the Arts, 55th International Astronautical Congress, Newforms Festival, QI and Complexity in Beijing, ARCO2005 in Madrid and universities worldwide. Czegledy has curated over 35 media programs presented in more than 25 countries and initiated Points of Entry, an Australian/New Zealand digital arts collaboration. Her academic lectures and essays have been published in books and journals in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Czegledy is the president of Critical Media, a Canadian-based knowledge institute, curator of Circuit4.ca culturbase, a member of the LEAuthors and Leonardo SpaceArt Network. She has been appointed by the UNESCO DigiArts Portal as a key advisor to the African Network and is member of UNESCO's Arab States DigiArts group as well as Leonardo's Jasmin group. Nina Czegledy is the current chair of the Inter Society for the Electronic Arts (ISEA).
Abstract
Over the last decade, the increasingly blurring boundaries between artists, curators and audiences created an entirely new ecology where nearly every phase, every aspect, and every role embodied in art practice is radically changing. These days, artists often become toolmakers, curators become entrepreneurs, venues metamorphose into virtual sites - all developing a new economy, and altered environment in the process. Thus the parameters of production, curating, dissemination and reception have shifted - beyond previously imagined settings and conditions. This is especially true of media and electronic art.
Observing the impressive landscape of Canadian as well as international media art, I find that conceptual and/or pragmatic evaluation of audience consciousness is often missing. Surprisingly few artists or curators examine the social relations of the viewer with art objects. As a result the spectacle of technology remains a dominant feature of many digital art projects. This is intriguing as current technological advances clearly enable the search for enhanced communication between the artwork and the audience, providing a variety of options for an effective exploration of the state of consciousness within the interactive loop.
Recent explorations into the nature of consciousness and awareness have found new currency among scientists and artists alike. Various aspects of awareness related to the inter-relations between man and machine, (including artworks), have been researched, presented and widely published. Yet, observing the impressive landscape of interactive installations, I find that conceptual and/or pragmatic evaluation of audience consciousness and awareness is not readily available.
How can the current cultural environment be effectively evaluated? How can we achieve more meaningful presentation artwork created by novel (often untested) technologies, virtual projects? How can these issues best addressed by artists and especially by curators? A detailed analysis of the topic is outside the scope of this text, consequently only a few examples will be discussed.
David Rokeby in "Giver of Names" engages the awareness of his audience by creating a complex feedback loop through the perception, consciousness and memory of the viewer. Rokeby is challenging the viewer's preconceptions of the presented "objects" while he draws them into speculative explorations. Robot"
The artificial personality of Norman White's "Helpless Robot" robot responds to the behavior of the viewer/participant by using a multitude of phrases utilizing an electronic voice expressing a rqange of emotions. By his own admission, White has tried to develop electromechanical systems endowed with "a life of their own."
Nell Tenhaaf's UCBM (You Could Be Me) articulates pertinent questions and responses by inventing a simulated situation. Tenhaaf is deeply interested how the audiences experiene their own sense of subjectivity. UCBM (You Could Be Me) presents a position sensitive interactive video installation, where visitors are "tested" and "evaluated" by a surrogate of the artist on their adaptation to artificial empathy. UCBM investigates the nature of the interactive exchange, by extending the viewer's experience.
The artworks cited above opened up experimental inquiries to evaluate the emotional state and awareness of interactive audiences. It is important to note that without these initial landmarks it would be difficult if not impossible to progress forward on the long journey of investigating consciousness.