Abstract

Since the late 1960s, a new artistic phenomenon--"electronic interactivity" as it is referred to by practitioners--has emerged which is worthy of art historical assessment. As part of such an endeavour, this text examines how electronic interactivity has altered the traditional relationship between art objects and art viewers. The first chapter covers some of the twentieth century art movements that contributed to the emergence of different forms of viewer participation with artworks. The second chapter presents a compilation of the ideologies that have motivated many interactive artists to create work that is dependent on viewer participation. In addition, it provides a dialogue about how viewers have responded to interactive artworks and some associated problems. The third chapter expands upon the definition of "interactivity" by combining artists' and writers' definitions with the author's. This understanding of interactivity provides a spring board to present two main methods for electronic interaction in art in the final chapter--"pathway/explorer" and "cocreator". Both of these terms are used to separate different modalities of information exchange between artworks and art viewers.