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"Over the last fifteen years I have produced hundreds of interactive artworks and performances. Some were success ful; many were terrible and embarrassing. Here are a few simple principles that have helped us make better, more satisfying work with the public:
1. Make it simple. Aim for the idea that you can explain quickly in one sentence. A weak idea doesn’t get better by making it more complicated. Besides, any action undertaken with the public will inevitably reveal unforetold and unexpected complexities. A good project has a clear concept while leaving room for surprises.
2. Make it funny and unexpected. A simple action with an absurdist angle is a winning formula. Try changing just one variable of a familiar structure: stage vacations for houseplants, opera by dogs, or a workshop for children on stealing cars. Other good techniques are to take a joke too far, to take a metaphor as a literal fact, or to treat a literal fact as a metaphor.
3. Iterate and grow your project from a simple starting place. Once you have a core action, you can elaborate on it with bells and whistles. Try the project multiple times with different audiences. New possibilities will emerge with each run-through and can be added to strengthen and enrich your project.
4. Don’t forget the watchers. Some people love to participate and get involved in actions, while others prefer to spectate from the sidelines. Your project should be compelling for both. Make situations that allow for both observing and doing.
5. Practice empathic design. If your project involves some form of restriction or forced activity for an audience, consider why someone would be motivated to participate. Remember that you might like your idea more because you thought it up. Can you imagine your neighbor or someone on the bus being willing to be part of your art piece? Ask why anyone else would want to do that.
6. Don’t make the interaction socially risky or embarrassing. Give the participant something to do that doesn’t require a lot of creativity or skill. Make a framework for a simple action that everyone can perform. No one wants to be judged in public! Consider a structure that has an option to be creative or expressive but that still works if people do the obvious thing. Remember that you’ve been thinking about your idea for a long time. What’s important to you may not be obvious to your audience.
7. Create a tight linkage between action and reaction. The action of a participant and the reactivity of the piece should be clear. If someone presses a button, something should happen immediately. The mechanism of an interactive or participatory project should be clear enough for a chimpanzee, orangutan, or dolphin to follow along.
8. If you have the opportunity, consider making a project for dolphins. That would be amazing."
excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN
"Over the last fifteen years I have produced hundreds of interactive artworks and performances. Some were success ful; many were terrible and embarrassing. Here are a few simple principles that have helped us make better, more satisfying work with the public:
1. Make it simple. Aim for the idea that you can explain quickly in one sentence. A weak idea doesn’t get better by making it more complicated. Besides, any action undertaken with the public will inevitably reveal unforetold and unexpected complexities. A good project has a clear concept while leaving room for surprises.
2. Make it funny and unexpected. A simple action with an absurdist angle is a winning formula. Try changing just one variable of a familiar structure: stage vacations for houseplants, opera by dogs, or a workshop for children on stealing cars. Other good techniques are to take a joke too far, to take a metaphor as a literal fact, or to treat a literal fact as a metaphor.
3. Iterate and grow your project from a simple starting place. Once you have a core action, you can elaborate on it with bells and whistles. Try the project multiple times with different audiences. New possibilities will emerge with each run-through and can be added to strengthen and enrich your project.
4. Don’t forget the watchers. Some people love to participate and get involved in actions, while others prefer to spectate from the sidelines. Your project should be compelling for both. Make situations that allow for both observing and doing.
5. Practice empathic design. If your project involves some form of restriction or forced activity for an audience, consider why someone would be motivated to participate. Remember that you might like your idea more because you thought it up. Can you imagine your neighbor or someone on the bus being willing to be part of your art piece? Ask why anyone else would want to do that.
6. Don’t make the interaction socially risky or embarrassing. Give the participant something to do that doesn’t require a lot of creativity or skill. Make a framework for a simple action that everyone can perform. No one wants to be judged in public! Consider a structure that has an option to be creative or expressive but that still works if people do the obvious thing. Remember that you’ve been thinking about your idea for a long time. What’s important to you may not be obvious to your audience.
7. Create a tight linkage between action and reaction. The action of a participant and the reactivity of the piece should be clear. If someone presses a button, something should happen immediately. The mechanism of an interactive or participatory project should be clear enough for a chimpanzee, orangutan, or dolphin to follow along.
8. If you have the opportunity, consider making a project for dolphins. That would be amazing."
excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN
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