Expanding the Definition of Interactive Art

The Interactive Art category in Prix Ars Electronica competition has been constantly changing it’s classification of “Interactive Art” all through its existence since the 90’s. What is considered inside the category and what not has been shifting every two years when the awards were given to numerous artwork from all around the world. In some cases, like 2004’s Golden Nika winner (the highest award in the competition) Listening Post,whether the artwork fits the category of “Interactive Art” was open for criticism. Despite those critics, every two years, the juries kept expanding the definition of Interactive Art bit by bit. In 2016, to clearly mark the change in the definition and point out the widening of the definition, the name of the category changed and it became “Interactive Art+”. The “+” sign was a sign by the committee to state they will keep broadening the definition.

When we go through several other artworks that won a prize in the Interactive Art category, there appears some other artworks that can be seen as questionable to fit in, such as Perpetual Storytelling Apparatus by Benjamin Maus and Julius von Bismarck. In this artwork, a CNC plotter draws blueprints from millions of different patents. The common point of the blueprints it prints is they are being referenced by each other in their related patent documents. That way, the viewer can have a birds eye view on the obscure relationships between inventions. Since the user interaction is non-existent, similar to the critics on Listening Post, it can be questioned if this artwork fits the Interactive Category or it should be competing in a different category for its nature.

Another artwork by the Berlin based artist duo Quadrature, which had an honorary mention in the Interactive Art category in 2018 was Positions of the Unknown. This artwork has 52 small machines constantly following unknown objects that are orbiting the world. While the viewer doesn’t directly interact with the artwork, conceptually one can say that the artwork somehow interacts with our world itself by “pointing” to “unknown” objects that exist in the physical space.

The same artist duo Quadrature has another artwork that has things in common with both of these artworks yet has a prize, but in a different category. This artwork can be seen as a great example to make a discussion on the classifications in different categories in the competition. The artwork Satelliten by Quadrature is a CNC plotting device that is placed on a map in the exhibition space. The device connects to a database and plots the satellites that are flying right above itself onto the map that it was being put on. Despite the fact that it is relatable to both artworks that was mentioned before, the artwork had the honorary mention in the “Hybrid Art” category. Altogether, it makes a good example of how the Interactive Art category blends into a different category in Prix Ars Electronica competition.

In conclusion, the Interactive Art category in the Prix Ars Electronica competition has undergone significant evolution since its inception in the 90s. The category’s definition has expanded over time and it may continue to expand in the future. While the critics can be made considering it’s status as a competition category, broadening the definition can be seen as an opportunity to experiment new methods of interaction not only between computers and humans but also between different real and virtual systems and actors. This can lead to evaluating the world by considering not only humans and computers but also concepts like data, networks, knowledge and reality all together.