Classic art is passive. You walk up to a painting and admire it. You approach a sculpture and get to look at it. This doesn’t engage the viewer. This gets in the way of promoting art to the young and limits art appreciation to a dedicated minority. The solution is the interactive art exhibit.
What Is an Interactive Art Exhibit?
Interactive art exhibits are immersive in some way. The simplest ones may have a guided audio tour that you listen to while you’re viewing the paintings. The rise of computers has led to an explosion of interactive art exhibits. For example, the digital artwork may change based on the location or actions of the audience. The artwork may involve the audience in other ways, such as letting them choose a pixel to fill in the screen or incorporate their image for a brief moment. However, interactive art doesn’t have to be high tech. Musical compositions created to serve as the background for an art exhibit is one such example. The concert involves the audience, and the musical selection may change based on what is requested by the participants. And it is participation of the spectator that is the very definition of interactive art exhibits.
Why Are Interactive Art Exhibits So Popular?
Interactive art exhibits are a much more engaging experience. This tends to draw a much larger crowd than traditional art exhibits. People may come to the interactive art exhibit for the sheer novelty of the technology or for the joy of experiencing a virtual reality adventure.
Interactive exhibits are a valid way to update a classic exhibit, attracting new attendees and generating new interest. It can also retain the interest of younger children and teenagers who may not care about classic or modern art. This is why Salisbury Cathedral created a virtual art exhibition tour. It is something you can bring the entire family to see. Their interactive modern art exhibit is open to the public though the Magna Carta and other historic documents remain off-limits. In normal times, the interactive modern art displays attract large crowds, some of whom visit the historic documents, as well.
Museums have learned that information retention is far greater if people interact with the subject matter. This is why you learn more when you take notes than if you simply listen to the lecturer. You’ll retain even more if you do an experiment base on the facts that you learned. This is why interactive exhibits related to art, history and science have become commonplace in museums; it facilitates their goal of educating the public.
When Did Interactive Art Exhibits Arise?
The first interactive art exhibits appeared in the late 1950s. Their goal was to move away from the exclusive and often alienating museum and out into the public sphere. This made art more accessible for both the public and the artist, since artists could attract attention and experiment with pieces that couldn’t make it into a museum. This is why many interactive art exhibits appeared in warehouses or mobile outdoor displays. For example, walk-in sculptures became popular in the 1960s. Performance art is a natural complement to interactive art exhibits, since that attracts a crowd for the interactive exhibits.