Design, Internet and the Audience

I recently participated in Art House’s Scavenger Project (just one of many of their collaborative projects). They sent a list of 24 things for me to create work that represented each item. Art House will then take the images they receive to make a 24 chapter book.

I created my images, mostly featuring typography and bound them in a handmade book. This project was a great outlet to create personal work, and I enjoyed the sharing aspect with other artists. (Do visit the Scavenger Project’s Flickr page to see other’s submissions.)

Participating in this project did get me curious about the Internet’s affect on art and design. Before the Internet, designers and artists would often work on their own or in small groups to create their work. The interaction was only able to go as far as technology allowed, and audience involvement didn’t happen till the release of the work.

For example, imagine attending or participating in the first World’s Fair in London in 1851. Morse code and telegraph machines were the main source for quick communication. In fact, the Pony Express wasn’t even started in the United States until 10 years later, so mail delivery was still not well defined. The World’s Fairs exposed people to the newest advancements in science, faraway cultures and inventions. People were willing to travel far just to see inventions like cereal, the first Ferris wheel or the Eiffel Tower. In the 1851 fair, the largest diamond, the first life-sized dinosaur replicas, the Colt Revolver, a model of Niagara Falls, and a 27 foot crystal fountain among other things were on exhibit. These were things people had never seen or even heard of before. Over 6,000,000 people attended at a time when very few had cars. Other than what people may have seen on a poster or heard from rumors, everything they saw was an amazing surprise, and I wouldn’t doubt some exhibitors were just as surprised by audience reactions.

Communication was so limiting compared to what we have today. It was difficult for artists and scientists to meet other people with their same interests, let alone generate audience involvement for the creation of their work.

Artists didn’t really start using audience participation until after World War II. These artists were still limited by communication, but not to the extent of the folks in the 1850’s. Now, they had telephones (with cords and party lines), an efficient snail mail system and early television. Marcel Duchamp’s belief that audience participation completed the artwork was being embraced, and things like Fluxus and Happenings were beginning to occur by the 1960s.

The Internet has opened a new extreme portal for interaction with the audience. Designers and artists can now reach mass groups at the touch of a button 24 hours a day. It is easy to have audience involvement at all stages of the creation process.

Here are a few links to designers, artists and businesses utilizing the Internet for audience participation:

• Art House Co-Op
  Two college students are using the web to create collaborative design/art projects.
• Define Graphic Design
  Joey Pfeifer is asking designers to contribute to the definition of graphic design so he can build an archive.
• If you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist
  Bernard Canniffe and Piece Studio created this site to raise awareness of social problems facing cities.
• Get Out the Vote
  AIGA’s Get Out the Vote campaign allowed designers to contribute poster designs to promote voting for the 2008 US presidential election.
• Jenny Holzer on Twitter
  Jenny Holzer, an American conceptual artist, is using Twitter to announce her Truisms.
• Post Secrets
  People can release their secrets by sending them on postcards to Frank Warren. He has published many in books, displayed them in galleries, and posted them to his blog.
• 365 Special Days
  Fernando Luis Lara, a Brazillian artist, is drawing people’s most special days of the year.
• Threadless
  Threadless allows people to post their designs to be voted by the public. The most popular designs are then printed onto t-shirts.

Even though the Internet has been around for 20 years, I think we are still in the early stages of using it in this way. Please do leave comments and include any more links that you know about!