record

Thesis Info

LABS ID
00181
Thesis Title
Inhabited Content: An exploration into the role of the viewer through the realisation of In Conversation and other works.
Author
Susan Collins
2nd Author
3rd Author
Degree
PhD
Year
2001
Number of Pages
170
University
The University of Reading
Thesis Supervisor
Professor Stephen Buckley
Supervisor e-mail
Other Supervisor(s)
Language(s) of Thesis
english
Department / Discipline
Fine Art
Languages Familiar to Author
english
URL where full thesis can be found
www.susan-collins.net/inhabited_content.pdf
Keywords
interactive, network, viewer, conversation, performance, networked performance, responsive, chatroom, chatbot, dialogue, online, site-specific, public space
Abstract: 200-500 words
A series of site and situation specific artworks made since 1993 which use electronic media are examined with particular reference to the role of the viewer in the choreography, realisation and interpretation of the work. The artworks are examined both in terms of their relative progression and in particular in relation to a series of research questions. The artworks discussed include works made for a range of locations, all of which have specific viewer expectations attached to them. This includes work located entirely in public spaces (Woolwich Foot Tunnel 1993 and Pedestrian Gestures 1994); works made for the Gallery context (AudioZone 1994, Touched 1996); In Conversation 1997/8 which existed both in public (physical) and public (online) space, and Cruisin' 1999 which exists entirely online. In the first part of the thesis each artwork becomes a case study in pursuit of these questions, with both documentary and anecdotal observation and evidence. The second part of the thesis consists of an excerpt of writing from a self generating (programmed) dialogue, which I have called Inhabited Text, a writing structure developed in order to contextualise and write about the work in a form intended to reflect the nature of the work itself, Inhabited Text seeks to examine and question the recording of encounters with interactive works, through its own dialogic structure, and also through an online version to encourage its own encounters.