INTRO TO PARTICIPATION

First of all, I feel Bishop uses the term "art" in a different way than most of us are used to hearing it. I mean this in the sense that not only is it used very loosely, but also she uses in a way as to which the implications are that art itself doesn't necessarily mean that it was intended to be art in the first place. As long as there is a collaboration of some sort between separate groups of people in achieving an expirience or goal, art has been achieved. Or, at least "participatory" art. After all, I can't remember the last time I stayed in a hotel and thought to myself "wow, what an artistic experience this has been".

With that being said, I think participatory art differs mainly from individually produced art in that individual art is a reflection from the artist on a particular moment or emotion the artist had. Now while the viewers may have their own opinions about the art, the main purpose is not for the artist to hear these opinions from the audience. Now, with participatory art, the main goal is to recieve feedback and evoke opinions from the audience, which in turn contribute more and more to the art itself with each new viewpoint. For example, note the Brechtian theatre Bishop cites. She explains how it was intended to make the audience take a stand on the story (whether it was correct or incorrect) rather than leading them to believe a certain viewpoint like most theatre does. The more the audience takes up an opinion, the stronger the art becomes.

In present times, the notion of individual art is an extreme rarity. "Independent" filmmaking is hardly independent; hundreds of people collaborate to make the motion picture complete. As Bishop stated "most contemporary art is collectively produced" (Bishop 11).

Furthermore, I enjoy how Bishop makes it clear the three main aspects of participatory art: Activation, Authorship, and Community. In contrast to individualized art, I feel the main thing lacking would be the community aspect that participatory art requires, although quite obviously as their names imply.