Acting and Reacting to Act/React

After watching the dvd of the Milwaukee Art Museum's exhibit "Act/React," the instillation I was most eager to see was Brian Knep's Healing Pool. As a kid I always loved those toys that would change colors according to your body heat. You could put your hand down on it and a colorful hand print would remain. When I got to the floor piece that had the design on it, I immediately ran across it to watch the cells start to reform around my path. Not only was the entire experience aesthetically pleasing to look at, but the concept that my walking across it destroys part of a floor and it can rebuild itself was pretty attractive as well. It made me think about the butterfly affect and how causing one thing to happen will change it and make it become something else. Before I stepped on this floor, the pattern it shown was created by the people who have stepped on it before me. When I was done wandering around on it, the creation that was left was there for whoever came later to change it. It became an ongoing process as more people entered the museum and found amusement by running around on it. It was interesting like how a snowflake is interesting. Knowing that what I'm seeing now will never again look EXACTLY like this once someone else comes in and changes it.
The other piece of work that I found intriguing would have to be Janet Cardiff's To Touch. Watching it on the dvd didn't interest me nearly as much as when I saw it in person. The atmosphere of it being in a room all by itself and lit only by an overhead lighting made it creepy yet inviting. I was pretty bored with the concept I learned about it prior to going, but when I interacted with it, I had fun playing around with it. I would hear sounds that I wanted to keep going after it stopped, but I wouldn't be able to find it as I hunted around for it. I kept trying to find the carnival song but I kept hearing other sounds instead. It became sort of frustrating as I sorted through the other unwanted sounds to find mine. The fact that it brought out that emotion in me when I thought it would be the most boring piece there was what made me think it was the second best. The table itself is pretty boring but interesting so it plays well as a good hook to draw people in. When people interact with it and experience the sounds that they are somewhat responsible for causing, they help to not finish the piece, but keep it alive.
In his article, George Fifield talks about how up until a few decades ago, the main form of interactive art was video games. Being able to take a joystick or controller and move around people and objects that someone else has digitally placed onto your tv was a great way to give the players creative leeway into the creators art. Now, with the Act/React exhibit as a leading example, we get to see how things have changed over the years. Simple objects that we see or use everyday, such as a table, are transformed into a fun type of game. Boring floors that we're used to walking on are changed into a colorful and ever-changing work of art.