Introduction to Participation

What are some of the ways that participatory art differs from individually produced art, historically and in the present?

Individually produced art is a artist's message to the audience, coming from his/her mind, his/her ideology, his/her intent, and is meant to be interpreted by the audience. However, despite how many people view and comment on an individually produced art work, the subject doesn't change, the meaning doesn't change, the ideas behind it doesn't change.

Participatory art includes the audience, and in fact depends on the participation of the public to exist. Participatory art is a social experiment of sorts, a way to include everyone and observe how different people react in a certain environment to create a working art show. The 60s had many instances of participatory art through music, dancing, and even a shopping experience with garage sales. Today, participation art includes youtube videos, such as the MadV video we viewed in class. While that was one artist's creation, it depended on the participation of many youtubers. Another example, however low brow this art could be seen, is reality tv. Certain shows, like Big Brother or American Idol, not only depend on contestants, but also audience members to participate, effecting the outcome.

While Walter Benjamin is quoted as saying that thinking about a work of art in relation to its historical production can allow the audience to participate, I don't believe this could possibly be a sound argument that all art is participatory. The time and events surrounding the individually produced art will never change, and the artists' intent behind the art will never change, no matter how many interpretations there are.