Abstract
While interactive media and its interfaces are susceptible to interference on technical and human dimensions, this is rarely considered by theoretical models found in the literature for describing or designing interactive settings and interfaces. This research explores modalities of interference as it affects agency in interactive and performative settings, by analysing a selection of artworks where this phenomenon becomes evident. As observed through the works discussed, modalities of interference redefine successful interaction as discovery of new potential, providing wider latitude for creative expression and collaborative engagement. Paths towards an aesthetics of interference are found on practical and conceptual levels. Challenges are identified, such as the difficulty in mastering highly variable interference, its cumulative increase, and the impossibility of anticipating the full spectrum of possible interference. As an agent for increased affordance generation and wider operational ability, on technical and cognitive levels, interference is demonstrated to be a factor of required consideration for a more informed observation and configuration of interactive and performative experiences.
Highlights
As interference is not limited to the technical domain, it is conceptually employed in various fields, such as psychology and cognitive science, while being related to different dimensions and modalities of interaction
Proactive interference describes the loss of new information by effect of prior knowledge, and retroactive interference refers to the inability to regain prior knowledge due to the focus on new information
As demonstrated the main interaction models found in literature, and commonly employed for practical development of design and artistic practice, include dimensions and modalities susceptible to operational interference
Summary
As interference is not limited to the technical domain, it is conceptually employed in various fields, such as psychology and cognitive science, while being related to different dimensions and modalities of interaction. While noise is approached by Shannon as a negative influence over a signal, it is heralded by Luigi Russolo as a resource to “enlarge and enrich the field of sound”, urging artists and musicians to explore in noise “the means of expanding and renewing itself” (Russolo, 2004) This evolutionary shift of musical art towards noisesound is perceived as a natural consequence of increasing man-machine collaboration [5], and technical developments continually renew opportunities for this type of exploration, with important new differences. John Cage (1939), Christian Marclay (2004) and Thomas Brinkmann (2010) have produced diverse works from similar techniques (Seliger, n.d.), manipulating and modifying vinyl records and turntables to invite noise, glitches and usually undesired effects into musical composition This strategy combines human interference (by means of strategic misuse of artifacts and deliberate alteration of their physical properties) with its consequential technical interference (tone arms slipping and sliding). While this proposition hasn’t established itself as an influential paradigm shift, it still provides intriguing clues to the role of interference between technological and human actants, beyond mere unpredictability as a front for complexity
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