The Designing and Realization of Digital Interactive Media Art based on Activity Theory

Abstract

Activity theory presents a broad and conceptual framework of analysis for HCI (Human Computer Interaction). As media art matures and becomes accepted as an art form, a theoretical and conceptual framework for its analysis and evaluation is needed. Activity theory studies the level of connection between the individual, community and society in a broad sense, and the connection's process of development is studied through different human practices as a philosophical base. As a branch of structuralism, activity theory analyzes the connotations of meaning in human activity and not the activity itself. Activity theory comes to researchers of interactivity, intuitively. The reason for this is that activity theory provides a common language in comprehending the delivery of meaning from an interactive art work, in the cultural and societal sense. In order to understand the activity of the participant of the artwork through activity theory is to clarify the purpose of the activity involved, pinpoint the elements of influences in the activity systems; the artist/designer can thoroughly plan the interactive art elements, and ultimately comprehend the apprehension of the participants. The pragmatics of the system transcend its uses into artist meaning and message through the participant own history of cultural and societal experiences.