Point & Click power

Interactive media can change a traditionally passive spectator media experience —reading a magazine, watching T.V., etc.—into an active participatory exchange. Point & click exploration requires dynamic interplay between the user and the media.

Viewer Engagement

Interactivity is something that cannot exist without the viewer. A system is set, with more or less flexibility, the user engages that system, and in the process of their engagement the work is formed. In doing this, something very interesting happens: the artist ceases to become the sole author of the work, and the user becomes the sole creator, and an integral part of the medium itself.

So if a piece does not exist before the audience's engagement, only a framwork of systems and variables, then what are the politics of this medium? How does that compare to the previous popular model of fine art? What would happen if a piece of art dealing with love or the subtlety of human interaction become just as captivating to play with as a Sony Playstation? The implications are worth thinking about...

James Paterson

The Ubiquitous Pervasive Web

The web for many has become a important platform for disseminating information and voicing personal opinions on the world cascading around us. But Social Media?

Social media is slowly killing real activism and replacing it with ‘slacktivism’
"Although social media activism brings an increased awareness about societal issues, questions remain as to whether this awareness is translating into real change. Some argue that social sharing has encouraged people to use computers and mobile phones to express their concerns on social issues without actually having to engage actively with campaigns in real life. Their support is limited to pressing the ‘Like’ button or sharing content." Source »

On the other hand, online learning through interactive multimedia has proved to be very effective especially during the recent home-bound isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly online time alone cannot provide many of the informal social interactions a "live" learning experience can, but studies have shown interactive activities force engagement by all participants resulting in sharpened focus and heightened knowledge retention. 

Web Wonders...

Today, net surfers can roam the web and gather data at a scale and speed unprecedented in history. Never before has it been as easy to pinpoint specific information you're looking for or simply veer off on a tangent--at a moment's notice--to follow a new-found pathway of interest.

Maps, inherently visual, work wonderfully as interactive info graphics. Learning about railroads, location-specific history, linguistic groupings or whatever can all be greatly enhanced by user-driven actions exposing clickable info.

And sometimes just a fascination with mouse events driving a seemingly random sequence of events provide a kind of "poetry to the eye." The interconnected kinetic aspect of "motion-linked" objects has taken the 60s lava lamp to a whole new dimension of user-controlled psychedelia to the web...