Interactive:

Pertaining to a communications environment in which moe than one party is equipped and ready to participate actively in a session or a protocal. Comman usage of the term refers to a session where at least one of the parties is human and another of the parties is a software application.

(Definition by they ATIS committee, Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions)

Interactive:

Accepting input from a human. Interactive computer systems are programs that allow users to enter data or commands. Most popular programs, such as word processors and spreadsheet applications, are interactive. (Webopedia)

Interactive art

a form of art that involves the spectator in some way. Some sculptures achieve this by letting the observer walk in, on, and around the piece. Other works include computers and sensors to respond to motion, heat or other types of input. Many pieces of Internet art and electronic art are highly interactive. Sometimes visitors are able to navigate through a hypertext environment; some works accept textual or visual input from outside; sometimes an audience can influence the course of a performance or can even participate in it. (Wikipedia)

How It All Began

My first forays into interactive art began in the early 90's when I was writing my great Yukon novel. It began as you typical novel with a beginning, middle and an end, characters are fleshed out and overcome obstacles to achieve a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. I realized, the more I travelled across Canada and the States and re-met these characters in different settings that they were completely different than their Yukon counterparts. I also discovered that many of my friends all knew other in different ways and that we were all living in a complex web. I wanted my novel to refect this non-linear approach.

I wanted the reader to traverse through this universe on their own, flipping the pages and moving on to whatever chapter seemed the most logical. I wasn't too sure how to work this out but someone suggested writing a hyperactive novel using links to navigate through the story. The novel grew into a "hypermedia novel" in which I used all forms of media to tell the story, video, flash, text animations, etc. I have been working on this novel for ten years now. The earliest parts of the novel have grown obsolete due to software upgrades, earlier quicktime movies no longer work with the newer formats, etc.

The Works

Gameshow 1.0 is a self-contained studio performance played out in front of a live audience.

TeleVisionQuest is a site-specific installation/performance art piece to be shown in a subway terminal in New York City.

Cat9 is a self-flagellating robot that will take confessions from the audience and will absolve them of all their sins by self-flagellating itself. (Place and time TBA)