Dominic McIver Lopes

UBC

Interaction and Performance

Some say that interactive art dissolves the distinctions between audience and artist, on one hand, and between audience and performer, on the other. However, a correct ontology for interactive works keeps these distinctions in place. Whereas artists make works, interactors make instances of works; and whereas performers interpret works, interactors make instances of them without interpreting them. That said, interactors share something in common with performers: they are parts of the instances they make. This distinguishes them from traditional art audiences.