Intro to Participation

Bishop cites specific differences between participatory art and individually produced art while discussing topics of authorship and creativity. She claims that shared production is "seen to entail the aesthetic benefits of greater risk and unpredictability." This being beneficial through the practice of participatory art, Bishop continues and claims, "collaborative creativity is therefore understood both to emerge from, and produce, a more positive and non-hierarchical social model." Beyond this, she makes the claim that most contemporary art is collectively produced and that participation plays a key role in the production of an artistic medium; it is used as "business tool".

The difference that came to my mind when comparing the traditional participatory art that we are reading about compared to contemporary mediums that we discussed in class such as Youtube, is the face-to-face connection that has been lost. The mock trial and public involvement of "The Storming of the Winter Palace" are prime examples to compare to the faceless connection that people make with each other through the internet, although Youtube at it's core thrives from it's connection to participatory art. Bishop highlights how "...these events moved out of the cabaret halls and into the streets," while in the end they merely just moved into their computer chairs.