Strategies of Engagement and Attraction in Interactive Artworks

Kelomees, Raivo, Guljajeva, Varvara and Laas, Oliver and Montgomery, Sean (2021)

Abstract

This article examines interactive artworks through the lens of ‘attraction/engagement strategy’ that functions as a compromise between non-interactive and interactive exhibition strategies. The paper investigates the methods employed to attract the attention of an audience and to solicit their interaction with the piece. In connection with various interactive works audiences may encounter a phenomenon that could be termed the ‘default functioning artwork’, with the piece in its ‘default presentation mode’, meaning that it is already active as a looping visual representation even before audience interaction has been engaged. The different modes of an interactive artwork, such as its default presentation and active states, are introduced and discussed.

Venue: In Radical Immersions: Navigating Between Virtual/Physical Environments and Information Bubbles, 130–137.