Act/React - Field Report #2

The Milwaukee Art Museum’s “Act/React” show was an interesting glimpse into the world of interactive art. Each piece provided a different form of interaction with the viewer. Several pieces stood out in my mind above the rest.
After seeing the presentation in class, I found that the “Healing” piece by Brian Knep wasn’t going to be something I spent a lot of time with. I had seen it in the film and disappearing digital ooze didn’t sound all too exciting at the time. However, when I went to see the piece in person, my perception changed. The ooze had me hooked. I couldn’t stay away from it. I drew circles in the ooze. I ran around in the ooze. I literally lost my mind and played in the ooze for quite some time.
What I eventually came to love about that piece was its simplicity. The casual give and take of the piece made me feel like there was an artist there at all times. It was as if the artist were painting, and I was ruining their painting for a moment, but they encouraged it. This piece was the easiest to control or dictate what was going to happen, because it was so simple. One could, as many did, casually walk across the piece while walking from room to room without a second thought, while others spent time manipulating the piece and playing with it. It is very versatile in that sense.
One piece that I was very impressed and intrigued by was “To Touch” by Janet Cardiff. I waited until there was no one left in the room. The spotlight lighting on the table gave me an ominous feeling. I felt as thought I were a hero in an ancient time and I was to go to the “Talking Table” to discover my destiny; or something to that effect. I walked slowly to the table, the slow hum of music was sort of creeping me out. I began to move my had across the table and listen to what the table had to say. I took it pretty seriously, for some reason, and it was very sublime. The voices speaking to me, and the soft music made feel like I was completely alone, which felt great. In George Fifield’s essay, he states that “Through interactivity, contemporary artists mirror, distort, and confuse the audience’s experience, not of representation, but of reality itself.” This perfectly described my feelings with “To Touch”. The artist took me into a place that was not of reality. I was able to decide what I wanted to touch, but the artist led me along into a distorted reality, which was a wonderful bit of escapism for the day.
I was then interrupted by a couple that stormed into the room and rushed the table. The woman said to the man, “Look at this thing, it talks.” My near religious experience with the table was ruined by a very inconsiderate, and idiotic, couple, which brings me to my only real gripe with the Act/React show. People were not considerate of others when viewing the work. Regularly people barged into displays or pieces while someone was trying to experience them themselves. In Liz Phillips “Eco Evolution” on several occasions there was one person playing with the piece and a group would come in and try to mainipulate it as well. The piece would usually black out or get very dim. The person would usually exit looking a little unhappy. I was interrupted several times when trying to experience a piece. While in the “Snow Mirror” several people were barging in and walking in front of me. I hope that people were much more respectful on other days than they were when I went.
“To Touch” and “Healing” provide two very different experiences but in a similar fashion, and with similar goals in mind. “Healing is purely visual piece, which slowly covers up the impressions that the viewer makes on the piece. “To Touch” is mostly a sonic experience. The voices are dictated directly, using the table, and almost mysteriously, the voices disappear without a trace. It had direct reaction to ones touch, but was much more ambiguous and mystical than “Healing”. The tables ability to dramatize the situation dictates the way in which the viewer will feel about he actions they are getting, whereas the open un-touched space which “Healing” is placed leaves the mood of the piece up to the viewer. Both pieces provided and interesting and new experience.
When I finished with Act/React, I went to look at the sensory overload exhibit. I sat in the infinity chamber, which was an awesome experience. While I was there, I thought about John McKinnon's presentation on the progression of op art and interactive type art. I felt like i was moving through history, witnessing what came before the Act/React era of interactive art. Kudos to The Milwaukee Art Museum for providing both of these experiences. I will be back for any new exhibit they have.