People participate in the artist’s work by interacting with their work. In the author’s perspective, the spectator could also communicate with themselves through interactive technology. The author uses the relationship between human’s two eyes and the formation of the depth as an example to explain the stereoscope tension that formed by interactive artwork is “an image of the self from another point of view”. The author also mentioned that in some interactive work, like video games, people could get a sense of power by controlling the characters in the game. However, an interactive artist should provide a mirror with less distortion for the interactor by keeping the balance between people’s sense of control and their encounter with the artwork. Interactive artists could build trust with the spectator by meeting their predictions. In the other hand, some unexpected behavior could contribute to the artist’s “interactive aesthetic”. In conclusion, interactive artists should offer the spectator a relationship with their artworks rather than a finished work so that the spectator could implicate their identification that created through the mirror to the real world. 

This reading reminds me of the newest episode of the Black Mirror, Bandersnatch. This episode tries to provide the audience a sense of control of the character in the episode (a game designer who tries to design a game that the player can control the character) by interacting with the episode on the Netflix website. However, many people claimed that even you can control the character in the episode, actually, this is not you, the audience, who make the decision. The decisions have already been made by the director and the writer before the episode is shot. Therefore, this is not a true character that you can control. You just follow the path that the director and the writer build for you. In addition, interestingly, the name of the show, Black Mirror, represents that the show is a reflection of the real world —— the dark side of the real world. From the perspective of a designer, when you choose to buy a red car, you think you chose the red color; however, it is the designer who chose the red color in their studio. 

Questions: 

1. I think people could also see themselves in books, movies, or songs, which cannot interact with. So does it necessarily be an interactive artwork that people can find themselves? 

2. What is the difference between the Black Mirror episode, an interactive movie, and a game? Or there is no actual difference between them at all? 

3. How many degrees of control in an artwork do you think is appropriate? 

4. Do people really have control even in their real life? 

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton