participatory exercise for Sept. 24

Participatory Experiment
My idea for our class interactive art would be a responsive game designed to learn a little bit about everybody in the class without the use of words. Verbal and written information is excluded from this activity so we can explore communication without the use of our common vernacular. Okay. So the general idea is that there are two sides of the room. One side is the side of agreement. The other reflects an attitude of disapproval or disagreement.... To what?... An overhead projector or some other method of displaying a visual aid. This visual aid will be one of many globally controversial people, ideas, conflicts, etc. For example... If the picture displays Fidel Castro and his Communist Cuban regime, then those who agree with the man and his movement will move to one side while the others stand to the other side.

There should be a clear divider of the room as this next part is important. The degree to which a person may agree or disagree is also important to the detail of this project. Touching the far wall of the one side will show that one (dis)agrees strongly with his/her opinion. And of course the reverse to that would be that standing/sitting close to the divider may suggest a less aggressive stance on the topic.

And finally, the third rule of this participatory experiment is installed to give credit or not to give credit to ones opinion. This part is also left to the honesty of the participants. One may stand, squat, kneel, or lie flat on their belly. Each persons physical posture will resemble how much they REALLY know about the subject presented to them. For example... If I knew nothing about the topic of Fidel Castro, then i will lay flat on my belly (and should therefore probably be close to the center too) If i know a bit more then I'll kneel. The taller my physical stance, the more I am claiming to know about the provided topic.

These three rules/actions may only take a couple minutes each, so this can be accomplished for a number of topics. We can learn about each others views on different worldly matters while taking part in a unique learning experience. We are also being artistically expressive.

-by Nick Stango