Participation

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

Participatory art tends to have a larger affect on society because more than one person can participate. It allows the audience to participate, to have a say. One can say that democracy is an art. Participatory art has greater meaning to the participants so the end result will have a greater impact on the audience as a whole, such as a political demonstration or a play. But a smaller work of art such as a painting or a song, can be collaborated on by several artists, but the mass public tends to only credit only one person or artist.

It is much easier in today's world to engage in participatory art than it was even 15 years ago. What we are doing here on this website is participatory art. Individual produced art is increasingly disappearing in my opinion because of the advent of the Internet. Even if we write an essay, we are still collaborating with others to get it done--utilizing secondary research and having someone or several people proofread the work. This is also seen elsewhere on the Internet in social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

Individual art is open to so many interpretations...like a painting or a photograph...making the audience wonder what the artist and subjects were thinking and/or doing when the piece was created. A photograph is individual art when it is taken and even when the artist manipulates it in Photo Shop, but doesn't the art become participatory when the photographer orders prints? Someone else is creating the final product. What about when the photographer asks the subject to pose a certain way? Or is just taking a candid photo? The subjects are creating the art when the photographer is only capturing it.

All art is interconnected and is decreasingly individualistic. This post is my own work of art, but it wouldn't have been possible if this blog hadn't already been created by someone else, or if Claire Bishop hadn't written the article on Participation.