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Universität für künstlerische und industrielle Gestaltung Linz
Kunstuniversität Linz
Institut für Medien
Interface Culture
e Mapping Between Interactive Art and
Classical Rhetoric: An Analogy Approach
Yao Guo
Masterarbeit
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
MA - Master of Art
Betreut von:
Univ. Prof. Dr. Christa Sommerer
Univ. Prof. Dr. Laurent Mignonneau
Univ. Prof. Dipl. Ing. Martin Kaltenbrunner
Datum der Approbation: 30/05/2016
Linz, 2016
©2016 Yao Guo(Nathan)
All Rights Reserved.
yellingbytes.com
Merging modern science and technology, media art has become an increasingly crucial genre of
contemporary art. e ways that media art appeals, generates, congures, persuades, stylizes and
delivers resemble the general principles of rhetoric. Modern rhetoric, inspired by posthumanism,
has expanded into a wide variety of domains, including lm, visual art, journalism, advertising,
ction, architecture science and so forth, yet the linkage between media art and rhetoric remains
relatively unaddressed. is thesis explores this connection by highlighting the intersections
between interactive art, one of the most representative genres of media art, and classical rhetoric,
which established the paradigm for general rhetoric. is aim of the thesis is to provide a
methodology for analyzing interactive art from the rhetoric viewpoint and to propose a paradigm
of Media Art Rhetoric. In this research, methods of analogy study, case studies of the author’s artistic
work and scientic modeling are utilized. e two domains are outlined and bridged according to
their characteristics, mapped according to the ve canons of rhetoric, the extracted methodology
is applied and nally, a visual model is generated as the result. Although this thesis is limited within
the domains of interactive art and classical rhetoric, there are still enormous potentials for further
research in other realms of rhetoric and media art.
Abstract
iii
Table of Contents
1Introduction 1
1.1 Methodology........................... 2
1.2 Source and Target Domains ..................
.2
3.2 e Evolution of Interactive Art ................. 12
1.3 Structure............................
.3
1.4 Examples............................. 3
2Outlining:ClassicalRhetoric5
2.2 HistoricalSummary ....................... 6
2.3 Principles............................
.8
2.1 Denition . ............................ 8
2.4 ExpandingRhetoric ........................ 9
3Bridging: InteractiveArt with ClassicalRhetoric11
3.1 Introduction ........................... 11
3.3 EncounterRhetoric ....................... 13
3.4 Beyond Scope .........................
.1
5
4Mapping:AFunction Basedone FiveCanons 16
4.1 From Invention to Generation .................
.1
6
4.2 From Arrangement to Conguration ..............
.27
4.3 From StyletoStylization .....................30
4.4 From MemorytoRepresentation .................43
iv
4.5 From Delivery to Action .....................44
5Applying:eAuthor’sOwn ArtisticWorks 46
5.1 Root Node . ...........................47
5.2 Wanderl_st............................49
5.3 Alibi. ...............................51
6Modeling: Media ArtRhetoric52
7Conclusion 55
Bibliography 58
Appendix 61
v
Acknowledgments
Cultivated in the niche of Interface Cultures Lab during the past three years, I feel lucky and
grateful that I have acquired and achieved a plenty of things, among which are intensive rsthand
resources and inspirations, overall practical techniques and workows, precious opportunities as
well as experiences and valuable academic qualication.
Firstly I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Christa Sommerer who helped me during the
elaboration of this thesis. Furthermore I must be thankful to Prof. Laurent Mignonneau, Prof.
Martin Kaltenbrunner and Prof. Kazuhiro Jo for the advices. During the years in which I aended
the master Interface Culture, I had the chance of receiving the precious help of Mag. Marlene
Brandstäer and Mag. Michaela Ortner. Secondly this project would have been impossible
without the support of the Die Beihilfe für ein Auslandsstudium and Vörderungsverein. irdly I
would like to thank my dear colleagues, especially Mihaela Kavdanska, Cesar E. Andaluz, Alessio
Chierico, Enrique Tomas, and Qian Xu. Certainly I cherish the good old days cooking and hanging
out in our lovely IC kitchen. Lastly I’m very much obliged that I received the support from Ping
Lu, Muchen Zhang, Jianan Qu and Sally Shi.
I dedicate this thesis to my parents Fuze and Junxiang. I hope that this achievement will complete
the dream that you had for me all those many years ago when you chose to give the best education
you could.
vi
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Along with the sparkling scientic advancement and booming technology in past few years, (new)
media art (sometimes also referred to as digital art) has been developing dynamically and vividly.
Cross-disciplined with broad elds, mediated both conventions and inventions, harnessed with
fresh ideas and authentic approaches, media art, as an ongoing-contraversive and becoming-
legitimate genre of contemporary art[1], has been drew a lot aentions and expanded at large. e
ways that media art appeals, generates, congures, persuades, stylizes, and deliveries resemble the
principles of rhetoric signicantly.
Roughly ten years ago, Lev Manovich discussed emerging new media in terms of aributes, literacy
and possibility in his well-known book Language of New Media[2]. Shortly aer, some insights
about new media poetry[3] from Eduardo Kac came out. Following that, some other researches
had dealt with the correlation between literary science and media art from various perspectives.
On the other hand, modern rhetoric, inspired by posthumanism, has evolved into a wide variety
of domains, including lm, visual art, journalism, advertising, architecture, science and so forth.
1 “Medienkunst gibt es nicht | Stefan Heidenreich.” 2010. 16 Apr. 2016 <hp://www.stefanheidenreich.
de/2008/01/medienkunst-gibt-es-nicht/>
2 Manovich, Lev. e language of new media. MIT press, 2001.
3 Kac, Eduardo. “New media poetry: Poetic innovation and new technologies-Introduction.” Visible Language
30.2 (1996): 98-101.
2
However, the linkage between media art and rhetoric keeps unaddressed. In order to establish the
linkage pertinently, this thesis highlights a representative genre of media art called interactive art
and narrows the general rhetoric down to classical rhetoric that established the main principles.
It is organized by outlining the two objects, bridging them according to their characteristics,
mapping them according to the ve canons of rhetoric, applying the extracted methodology and
modeling a picture rhetoric in media art. In the research, the methods of analogy study, case study
and scientic modeling are also applied. is thesis aims to provide an authentical methodology
for analyzing interactive art from the rhetoric viewpoint and to propose a paradigm of Media Art
Rhetoric. Although this thesis focuses currently on the domains of interactive art and classical
rhetoric, there are enormous potentials for further research in other realms of rhetoric and media art.
1.1 Methodology
is thesis mainly adopts the approach of analogy, which is a cognitive process of transferring
information or concept from particular subject to another in order to solve problem, make
decision,etc. e analogy research comprises of exemplication, comparison and conclusion.
In this thesis, inferences are made by exploration of the similarities between interactive art and
classical rhetoric. In the research, case study, diagram, datasheet, and visual modeling are the
assistant methods for the beer illustration of the analogous relationships.
1.2 Source and Target Domains
In principle of the analogy, the source domain and target domain are supposed to be dened[4].
In this thesis, classical rhetoric is chosen as the source domain, while interactive art as the target
domain. As rhetoric is one of the oldest subject of knowledge, it encloses the abundant theories
and principles of rhetoric from all its history, from classical rhetoric to the Middle Age rhetoric,
from the Renaissance rhetoric to modern rhetoric. In the period of classical rhetoric, great minds
like Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Quintilian and other Sophists, established the paradigm and theories,
which lay the foundation of today’s rhetoric. erefore classical rhetoric is dened as the source
4 e tradition in cognitive psychology, in literary theory, and in specializations within philosophy outside of
logic, speaks of a mapping from what is typically the more familiar area of experience, the source, to what is typically
the more problematic area of experience, the target. “Analogy - Wikipedia.” 2011. 2 May. 2016 <hps://en.wikipe-
dia.org/wiki/Analogy>
3
domain of the analogy. On the other hand, interactive art is dened as the target domain for several
reasons. Firstly, interactivity acts as the one of the most recognizable and typical essence of media
art, and historically interactive art is one of the major and founding genre in realms of media art.
Secondly, having been richly developed since 1990s, interactive art has vast amount of accumulated
materials, theories and resources which could facilitate this thesis. irdly, as the author has been
doing interactive art for a couple of years, the accumulated experiences of conceptualization,
realization and exhibition could facilitate greatly with the research.
1.3 Structure
is thesis rstly takes an overview of classical rhetoric in Chapter 2, outlining its denition, brief
history, and basic principles. Chapter 3 covers an introduction of interactive art, its evolution, some
aributes, and aspects that are similar with classical rhetoric in order to bridge them. Following
that, Chapter 4 operates a detailed mapping function according to the ve canons of rhetoric
which play a significant role in general rhetoric analysis. The mapping encompasses major
procedures and activities that rhetoric principles may involve in interactive art, from generation to
conguration, from stylization to representation, from action to distribution. Next, Chapter 5
demonstrate the author’s own interactive artworks as the case study. And then, Chapter 6 quanties
the data and establishes a rhetoric visual model of interactive art. Lastly, Chapter 7 reviews the
whole analogy research, concludes the ndings and results, and points out the practical values of
media art rhetoric and research outlook.
1.4 Examples
In order to illustrate the mapping between classical rhetoric and interactive art, the most
representative and illustrative artworks are selected from the interactive art category of Prix Ars
Electronica[5]. Born in the year of 1979 and formally known as Klangwolke Festival, Ars Electronica
is one of the rst and most inuential media art events throughout the world. In 1990, it launched
the prize called Prix Ars, also known as Award of Cyber Arts. It contains Golden Nica(GN), Award
of Distinction(AD) and Honorary Mention(HM). Since then, Interactive art category exists till
5 “Ars Electronica | Prix Ars Electronica - Ars Electronica Center.” 2011. 7 May. 2016 <hp://www.aec.at/prix/
en/>
4
now. Every year, various experts related to the eld team up a jury group, choosing the outstanding
artwork among thousands of entries that year. e accumulated projects represent the historical
trend of media art in each year, and systematically render the development timeline of interactive
art. Furthermore, the widely accessible and rich online archive of Ars Electronica[6] provides
catalogs, pictures, and documentaries of all Prix Ars entries from all its history. Additionally, the
rst-hand artistic description, key shots, jury statement of the project will be the ideal reference for
the following rhetorical analysis.
All these would serve the aim of beer understanding and interactive art creation from the rhetoric
point of view. is thesis discusses how this particular media art form reects the theory of classical
rhetoric and how it may be generated, congured and stylized according to the canons of rhetoric.
As an analogy study, this thesis aims to provide a framework for analyzing interactive art from the
rhetoric point of view and to propose a paradigm of rhetoric in media art.
6 “Ars Electronica Archiv.” 2012. 7 May. 2016 <hp://archive.aec.at/>
5
Chapter 2
Outlining:
Classical Rhetoric
Rhetoric has been taught and practiced for more than two thousand years. Although it sometimes
suered from the pejorative aitude and severe criticism, it is still valuable and inestimable if
people realize its power and pervasiveness. Before linking it with other subject, it is necessary
to unfold the some of the basics and principles of rhetoric, especially in the ancient Greek and
Roman period.
2.1 Denition
e classical rhetoric refers to the practices and pedagogy of rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome
from roughly h century B.C. to the early Middle Ages. It was intended to help citizens succeed
in the court. us, it is highly associated with persuasion. As one of the oldest academic subjects
throughout the history, it is a great challenge to precisely dene rhetoric dened, since the scope
and debate about it evolved dramatically over times. From the origin, “e word rhetoric can be
traced back ultimately to the simple assertion ‘I say’ (eiro in Greek). Almost anything related to the
act of saying something to someone in speech or in writing can conceivably fall within the domain
6
of rhetoric as a eld of study.”[7] Perhaps the best-known denition of rhetoric comes from the
writer of Rhetorica Aristotle “Rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic. It is the faculty of discovering
in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion”.[8] In Cicero’s dialogue De Oratore,
rhetoric is dened as “Speech designed to persuade”.[9] Quintilian mentioned that “Rhetoric is
the art of speaking well”.[10] George Campbell: “[Rhetoric] is that art or talent by which discourse
is adapted to its end. e four ends of discourse are to enlighten the understanding, please the
imagination, move the passion, and inuence the will.”[11] In the modern time, Kenneth Burke:
“e most characteristic concern of rhetoric [is] the manipulation of men’s beliefs for political
ends...e basic function of rhetoric [is] the use of words by human agents to form aitudes or to
induce actions in other human agents.” [12]
Rhetoric can assist us in becoming more eective writers. Regarded as a system for gathering,
selecting, arranging, and expressing our material, rhetoric represents a positive approach to the
problems of writing. It is an art and a discipline that facilitates our understanding of the nature and
function of symbols in our lives.[13] Rhetoric can also eectuate the speech or composition, and in
turn make people inuential. It also teaches and trains people to be smart, logic, rational, and to
become beer citizen.
2.2 Historical Summary
e origin of rhetoric dates back to 5th Century B.C., when Corax and his student Tisias founded
it for the purpose of forensic speech in a colony named Syracuse in Sicily of ancient Greece.
Around 465 B.C., there was a revolution that terminated the monocrat despot and started the
democratic system. en, an abundance of exiled people came back asking for lawsuit for their
lost possession. Since there were barely any contract or evidence, they had to claim their property
via forensic speech. Consequently, Corax, on purpose of instruction, wrote a treatise called Art
7 Richard E. Young, Alton L. Becker, and Kenneth L. Pike, Rhetoric: Discovery and Change, 1970
8 “Aristotle’s Rhetoric (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).” 27 Apr. 2016 <hp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/
aristotle-rhetoric/>
9 Cicero, Marcus Tullius., E. W. Suon, H. Rackham, and Marcus Tullius. Cicero. Cicero. De Oratore .. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1942. Print.
10 Gunderson, Eri k. e Cambridge companion to ancient rhetoric. Erik Gunderson. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
11 Bitzer, Lloyd F, and George Campbell. “e Philosophy of Rhetoric.” Philosophy & Rhetoric 1.4 (1968): 255-258.
12 Burke, Kenneth. A rhetoric of motives. Univ of California Press, 1969.
13 Foss, Sonja K, Karen A Foss, and Robert Trapp. Contemporary perspectives on rhetoric. Waveland Press, 2014.
7
of Rhetoric and helped structure judicial speeches into various parts: poem, narration, statement
of arguments, refutation of opposing arguments, and summary,. which lay the foundation of
later rhetorical theory. e concept of rhetoric was then introduced by Corax’ student Tisias and
Gorgias(483-376 B.C.) to ancient Greek. Gorgias wrote Encomium of Helen, which set up the well-
known speech paradigm. In Athens, democratic political system allows citizens to discuss public
aairs and laws to ensure the social order. In this background, speech and argument is prevalent. A
new profession, the early teacher of rhetoric, known as Sophists, which refers to those who masters
the styles and skills of speech, was gradually appeared in Greece.
Protagoras(490?-420?B.C.), the initiator of sophistic movement, was one of the rst Greek
thinkers to give an account of language and reality that functioned ideologically as a defense
of democracy and open debate. He posed his famous statement that “Man is the measure of all
things”, strengthening that there is no absolute truth, but that which individuals deem to be the
truth. Because of the charge of sophists and awayness from the true, people start to doubt about
the value of sophist. Isocrates(436–338 BC), a representative of sophists, argued that rhetoric is
a creative art that focus on morality and character, which le the strong inuence in the history
of rhetoric. Rhetoric at that time became the cornerstone of classical education. Among the great
minds, Plato hold the negative opinion towards the rhetoric of sophist. In his books Gorgias and
Phaedrus, Plato disagreed with sophist intensively, believing that rhetoric ignores the truth and
knowledge and should be regarded as a skill rather than art. In Phaedrus, he comprehensively
stated the arrangement and style of speech. While on the other hand, Aristotle, the student of Plato
and one of the most important gures, wrote a book Rhetoric, systemizing the rhetoric and laying
the foundation of western rhetoric studies. In Rhetoric, combining Plato’s and Sophists’ traditions,
he made a conclusion of previous rhetoric development, gave a relatively well-round denition
to rhetoric, categorized the rhetoric according to various elements and styles, and proposed basic
principles.
In ancient Rome, the earliest text on rhetoric could be the anonymous Ad Herennium, a roman
version of Greek rhetoric, classically structuring rhetoric in ve skills. Another crucial gure in
Rome is a well-known rhetorician and politician named Marcus Tullius Cicero. He wrote De
8
Inventione and De Oratore. He tried to recombine philosophy with rhetoric, and found a balance
between styles of the plain, the moderate and the grand. Around 1st Century B.C., there is another
rhetorician and educator called M.Fabius Quintilian, who wrote Institutes of Oratory, a highly
systematic encyclopedia of rhetoric. Not only did it absorb widely from previous literates, but it also
incorporated with his own teaching experience, shaping a theoretical system. Since then, rhetoric
developed through the periods of Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment and new rhetoric.
2.3 Principles
Aristotle denes the Art of Rhetoric into the three proofs, which considered three agents involved
in speech or composition. e rst proof is ethos, which emphasizes the credibility of speaker or
writer, in other words, how the character and credibility of a speaker can inuence the audience.
ere are three qualities that contribute to a credible ethos: perceived intelligence, virtuous
character, and goodwill. e second proof is logos, which focuses on the use of reasoning, either
inductive or deductive, to construct the arguments. e third one is pathos, which concentrates
on the aection and emotion alternation of audience through a variety of rhetorical strategies like
metaphor, amplication, storytelling, and so forth.
Aristotle also classied the art of rhetoric into three branches determined by the three classes
of speech listeners, namely Deliberative (legislative; to exhort or dissuade; Latin(L.)genus
dehberativum; Greek(G) genos symbouleutikon), Forensic ( Judicial; to accuse or defend; L. genus
iudiciale; G. genos dikanikon), and Epideictic (Ceremonial; to commemorate or blame; L. genus
demonstrativum; G. genos epideiktikon or panegyrikon). Deliberative type deals with political
legislatures; forensic type deals with legal aairs and issues; epideictic type refers to display speech,
ceremonial speech, and festival speech. It should be noted that Aristotle added the time aribute
to the branches. He argued that these three kinds of oratory represent dierent kinds of time,
purpose, and argument:
ese three kinds of rhetoric refer to three dierent kinds of time. e
political orator is concerned with the future. . . . e party in a case at law
is concerned with the past. . . . e ceremonial orator is . . . concerned
9
with the present, since all men praise or blame in view of the state of
things existing at the time.[14]
In Ars Rhetorica,[15] Aristotle identied three steps of rhetoric: invention, arrangement , and style.
Later Cicero, who was key orator and educator among Roman rhetoricians, expanded the rhetoric
and stated that it is one great art comprised of ve parts: inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, and
pronuntiatio. Aerwards, the ve arts became the ve canons of rhetoric on purpose of structuring
a speech or an essay, which were translated as Invention (G. Heuresis, L. inventio), Arrangement
(G. taxis, L. dispositio), Style (G. Lexis, L. elocutio), Memory (G .mneme, L. memoria), and Delivery
(G.hypocrisies, L. actio). ese ve canons will be the clue to make the analogy in this theis.
2.4 Expanding Rhetoric
e scope of rhetoric has been debated since the ancient times. Traditionally rhetoric was
constrained in the realm of political, forensic or ceremonial discourse and composition, while in
the modern times, scholars liberated and extended it into almost every social aspect, including the
natural and social sciences, ne art, religion, journalism, digital media, ction, history, cartography,
and architecture. Some examples are given connecting rhetoric with other domains.
e Belgian semioticians, known under the name Groupe µ[16], developed a method of painting
research to apply the fundamental rhetorical operations, known as structural semantic rhetoric,
for the interpretation of a work of painting. In 1965, Gui Bonsiepe stated in Visuell-verbale Rhetorik
that “it can be shown that a modern system of rhetoric might be a useful descriptive and analytical
instrument for dealing with the phenomena of advertising.”[17] In Design as Rhetoric, Gesche Joost
and Arne Scheuermann demonstrate a panorama of expanding rhetoric:
Proposals made by Bonsiepe [1965], Eco’s ‹ Untersuchung zur Rhetorik
der Werbung › [1972], Barthes’ ‹ Rhetorik des Bildes › [1990], as well
as analyses by Ehses [1984, 1988, 1989] and Poggenpohl [1998] are
14 Aristotle .Rhetorica. Translated by W. Rhys Roberts. In e Works of Aristotle Translated into English, ed. W. D.
Ross, vol. 11. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
15 Aristotle. Ars rhetorica. Edited by W. D. Ross. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959.
16 “Groupe µ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” 2011. 2 May. 2016 <hps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Groupe_%C2%B5>
17 “Bonsiepe Visual Verbal Rhetoric 2010 - der Zeitschri der hfg ulm 14/15/16 (1965)
10
of special importance. Unger presented a persuasive elucidation for
music rhetoric, applying rhetorical forms, as early as in 1941, which
can be referred to in connection with design for creative works in the
auditory eld. In the world of the cinema, authors present themselves
in short lms. In the area of interface design, paern and gures have
been the subject of discussion for a short time. Works by van Welie
1999, Borchers 2001 and Tidwell 2006, however, do not refer to the
study of rhetoric and, therefore, the devices are not arranged into
a subordinate communication context, but refer to Christopher
Alexander’s architectural theory terminology of ‹ paerns › as solutions
for architectural tasks.
Furthermore, natural science can also be explained from the rhetorical point of view. Scientic
methods involve problem-solution topoi (the materials of discourse) that demonstrates
observational and experimental competence (arrangement or order of discourse or method), and
as a means of persuasion, oers explanatory and predictive power.[18]
To sum up, the principles stated above formulate a basic understanding of classical rhetoric. ey
act as the useful resource or guidance for the later analogy research with interactive art and play
a critical role of analyzing, evaluating, and structuring rhetoric in media art. Inspired by those
interdisciplinary approach associating rhetoric to other elds, this thesis it is going to be bridged
with interactive art.
18 “Rhetoric of science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” 2011. 2 May. 2016 <hps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Rhetoric_of_sc
11
Chapter 3
Bridging: Interactive Art
with Classical Rhetoric
is chapter begins with introduction about the interactive art, and then compares some of the
representative aributes with classical rhetoric. Compared with classical rhetoric, interactive art
shares many common traits.
3.1 Introduction
Generally speaking, interactive art is an art genre that calls for active participation of audience
and provides various ways of engagement and involvement. e behaviors of audience, nishing a
feedback loop in turn, has been a crucial part of the artwork. However, the interaction may occur
not only between artwork and audience but also between objects within the artwork, between the
artwork and external data or environment, or between dierent audience. Interactive artists may
apply wide range of scientic subjects or digital technology and may deal with a variety of social
topics. e interactive art keeps away from traditional static or passive form of art, and therefore
renders new sense of space and time. Interactive art is regarded as the subcategory of (new) media
12
art or digital art, and as a young-developed art form that emerged in 1960s.
It appears in many dierent forms, ranging from dance, music, drama, performance,
kinetic, device, robotic, architecture, animation, etc. Technically speaking, interactive
art is oen realized by various hardware, soware, even wetware[19], for instance,
Arduino[20], Max/MSP[21], Processing[22], OpenFrameworks[23], or Pure Data[24].
3.2 e Evolution of Interactive Art
As early as 1920s, some pioneers started to bring some basic forms of interactivity to static visual
art. e works from Marcel Duchamp, the Rotary Glass Plates(1920), Anemic Cinema(1926) and
Rotoreliefs (1935) remarkably aached the kinetic motion realizing some optical illusion to art.
e idea of participative art began to spread in 1960s. Some artists creatively invited the spectators
to co-create or co-perform. Roy Asco was among such kind of artists changing paintings at large.
He worked with cybernetics and telematics, on an art which is technoetic, focusing on the impact
of digital and telecommunications networks on consciousness. eoretical works like e Open
Wor k(Opera aperta) by Umberto Eco proposed the openness to interpretation and spectator of
modern works. By the end of the decade, American computer artist Myron Krueger developed
early interactive works building virtual reality and augmented reality for audience. Found in 1967,
the group called Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T) established the collaborations between
artists and engineers. In 1970s, artist began to use television, early electronic and satellites to explore
more possibilities of performance and installation. Nam June Paik, though renowned as the father
of video art, is also one of the most active gure in the participative art stage. In 1980s, the pioneer
Jerey Shaw from Australia developed several milestone projects such as Inventer la terre (1986)
and Legible City (1989). In 1981, V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media[25], an interdisciplinary center
for art and media technology was founded in Roerdam. In the year of 1985, MIT Media Lab[26]
was founded, which boosted the kin relationship between art, media and technology. With the
19 It can be referred to the description of molecular biology and synthetic biology or brain science.
20 Open-source electronic prototyping platform allowing to create interactive electronic objects.
21 Max connects objects with virtual patch cords to create interactive sounds, graphics, and custom eects”Max|
Cycling ‘74.
22 Processin g is a exible soware sketchbook and a language for learning how to code within the context of the visual arts.
23 openFrameworks is an open source C++ toolkit for creative coding.
24 Real-time graphical dataow programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing.
25 “About - V2.” 2011. 2 May. 2016 <hp://v2.nl/organization>
26 “MIT Media Lab.” 2 May. 2016 <hp://www.media.mit.edu/>
13
development of computer-based interaction, 1990s was seen as the maturity of interactive art. Prix
Ars Electronica set up the interaktive Kunst (interactive art) category in 1990. In that decade, artists
like Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Maurice Benayoun, Toshio Iwai, Masaki Fujihata, Christa Sommerer
and Laurent Mignonneau are among the active interactive artists. e universities and institutes
dedicated into media art started to appear, to name a few: e Academy of Media Arts Cologne
(KHM)[27], Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (ZKM)[28], N InterCommunication Center
(ICC)[29]. Since 2000s, with more available and accessible soware and hardware, interactive art
has widely appeared in university system. e open source technology and a great many developer
tools speed up the interactive art dramatically. Today’s interactive art has been evolved into a blurry
hybrid. e hacktivist Paolo Cirio is a good example, in that he operated a social hacking activities
targeting copyright, nance, democracy and so forth. In academic eld, scholars like Frank Poppe,
Christiane Paul, Oliver Grau, Dieter Daniels, Katja Kwastek made signicant contribution to
interactive art.
3.3 Encounter Rhetoric
Interactive art, from conceptualization to realization, from exhibition to interpretation, from
presentation to distribution could be considered as a rhetorical system. Numerous similarities are
shared by both rhetoric and interactive art.
Intention Similarity
In general, rhetoric has the primary purpose of persuasion. Similarly, in order to convey the
meaning of the work, interactive art encourages or persuades audience to nish a cloze created by
the artists. Applying a variety of strategies like rhetoric, it invites the visitors to either perform the
scenario, to activate objects, to witness phenomena, to sense the nuance changes, or to experience.
Communication Essence
Rhetoric is both the practice of persuasive communication and a formal subject of studying
27 “Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln: Aktuelles.” 2 May. 2016 <hp://www.khm.de/>
28 “ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe.” 2002. 2 May. 2016 <hp://on1.zkm.de/zk-
m/e/>
29 “ICC ONLINE | ABOUT ICC | INTRODUCTION.” 2004. 2 May. 2016 <hp://www.nicc.or.jp/About/
introduction.html>
14
such communication. Similarly, interactive art operates the communication, yet in a reciprocal
way. Interactive art is built upon the participation of audience, during which the conversation is
formulated. It composes a context for the audience and is dedicated to providing a conversation
either within a specic system or with audience. In 1949, Shannon and Weaver constructed the
model of communication as Sender, Channel, and Receiver and vice versa. On the other hand, the
model of rhetoric, compared with general model of communication, could also be illustrated in
Figure below.(Fig 1.).
Triangular Consideration
Interactive art essentially involves three parts of consideration: the conceptualization from artist
side, the design of an interactive system inside the artwork and the participation of audience. ese
three parts, whose subjectives are the artist, artwork, and audience, correspond to the three Proofs
in terms of rhetoric as mentioned earlier: the ethos, logos, and pathos. e ethos of interactive
art lies in how original, reliable, and honest the artistic expression is. e logos of interactive art
leads the induction and deduction so that the interaction could actually come into eect. e
pathos of interactive art denes how the artistic story telling could arouse audience’s aection,
anity,interest, and appreciation.
Additionally, interactive art concerns not only about the artist, artwork, and audience, but also
about actual relationships in all other occasions and aspects between curator, collaborator,
assistant, performer, museum guide, reporter, reader, etc.
Fig 1. Comparison Between Model of Communication and Rhetoric
15
Beyond Scope
Like the rhetoric, media art has also been expanding its theme and topic largely to wide elds
like politics, economy, laws, and a variety of societal aspects. Instead of persuasion in all these,
whenever interactive art deals with economics, politics and law, it may sometimes use ironical tone
or transgression approach to convey its wit, wise or poetic artist concept. is will be explained in
following chapters. In addition, originated from the explorative nature, artists would always expand
their artistic practice into all surrounding elds. Interactive art, or media art in general is not an
exception of this. From Stephen Wilson’s samples[30], we realize how broad the scope of the media
art could be.
• Biology (microbiology, genetics, animal and plant behavior, the body, brain & body
processes, body imaging, and medicine)
• Physical Sciences (particle physics, atomic energy, geology, physics, chemistry,
astronomy, space science, and GPS technology)
• Mathematics and Algorithms (algorists, fractals, genetic art, articial life); Kinetics
(conceptual electronics, sound installation, and robotics)
• Telecommunications (telephone, radio, telepresence, web art)
• Digital Systems (interactive media, Virtual Reality, alternative sensors - touch,
motion, gaze, personal characteristics, haptics, activated objects, articial intelligence,
3-D sound, speech, scientic visualization, surveillance, information systems)
In a word, interactive art from its denition and evolution, involves the persuasive invitation,
concerns the triangular relationship of the artist, artwork, and audience, possess the essence of
communication, and expands to many other elds interdisciplinarily. Next chapter will bring this
analogy to a more detailed level.
30 Art and Research - Stephen Wilson.” 2012. 3 May. 2016 <hp://userwww.sfsu.edu/swilson/papers/wilson.caapa-
per.htm>
16
Chapter 4
Mapping: A Function
Based on The Five Canons
Given that rhetoric and interactive art share numerous similarities, it could be reasonable and
valuable to carry the analogy further to an overall rhetoric framework. An analogy that exerts a
mapping function requires a reference or clue in order to transfer information or meanings. Since
historically, the ve canons of rhetoric serve as a common guide for persuasive messages and
arguments, they are selected as the reference of the mapping function. As we described in the
Chapter 1, interactive art is designated as the target domain of the analogy. Interactive art in general
involves development of an idea, creation of an art piece, seing up for exhibition, presenting or
performing to the audience, explaining to the audience and distribution of the artwork, which could
t in the ve canons.
4.1 From Invention to Generation
In the realm of rhetoric, invention (“to nd” , G. heuresis, L. invenire) means nding or discovering
something to argue. It also sometimes refers to the art of concept developing, process of the idea,
17
creation and discovery. Not only does it associate to the creation of composition and argument, but
also deal with a problem and leads to a judgement or a solution. Invention concerns a systematic
approach or method for nding subjects and arguments. e procedure of invention requires
several fundamental selections of proper and persuasive arguments, proofs, and topics.
By analogy, in the “invention” phase of interactive art, the artists not only start to develop idea
or concept with accumulated knowledge, information, and resources, but also have imagine the
possible exhibiting scenario, to plot the narrative of the interaction, to speculate the response of the
audience as well as to consider the persuasive point of view: how to engage audience, how to utilize
and apply the artistic theory and technology properly, how to provide an innovative perception
and experience, etc. In order to organize all of these considerations, we are going to refer to the
principles of invention in terms of rhetoric, which may in turn benet the conceptualization and
realization of interactive art. erefore, the canon of invention is mapped with the generation in
terms of interactive art.
4.1.1 Proofs
Aristotle pointed out two kinds of proofs for persuasion, namely non-artistic one and artistic one.
Non-artistic proofs are: laws, witnesses, contracts, tortures, and oaths, which are unrelated to the
interactive art. More relevant proofs are the artistic ones via the appeals of the speaker, content
and audience.
Artist’s Ethos
As we investigated in the previous chapter, ethos emphasizes on the establishment of rhetor’s
credibility with the audience. In interactive art, the credibility of artist is established by several
approaches.
First and foremost, the quality of the interaction sets up the most of the credibility of the artist.
e quality consists of mainly originality, preciseness, and intuitivity. Original interaction catches
the aention of the audience dramatically. Intuitivity ensures the interaction being smooth and
natural; preciseness will let the audience trust the artist and admire the creation. In one of the
18
most inuenced interactive artworks, e Legible
City (1990, AD[31], Fig 2.) by Jerey Shaw, which
invites audience to ride on the bike in front of a city
constructed of English characters. In this piece,
Shaw innovatively and intuitively transformed the
bike gestures into the virtual digital world. e
movement, the responsive images and the digital
content are matched precisely.
In interdisciplinary and collaborative artworks, the people, group, or institute from other elds,
add the professional layer of the piece, which would increase the credibility of artist. Agnes Meyer-
Brandis, has collaborated with numerous scientic institutes and laboratories. In her work SGM –
Iceberg Probe(2007, HM[32]) and Earth Core Laboratory and Elf-Scan(2003, HM) she explored the
possibilities of taking geology as an interface by utilizing scientic instrument and collaborating
with engineers, programmers and laboratories.
Some interactive artworks, for dierent purpose, deliberately show the inner component or partial
functionality in order to give some hint of how the artwork is fabricated. In some cases, it could
raise their credibility. Ma Richardson’s Descriptive Camera(2013,HM)outputs a text description
of the scene instead of an image. In the package of the work, the artist exposes what’s inside the
“camera” to conrm his artistic intention. Ken Rinaldo also uncovered the electronic component
in the work Augmented Fish Reality (2004, AD). So did Norman T. White in his Helpless Robot
(1990, AD).
31 AD is short for Award of Distinction of Prix Ars Electronica.
32 HM is short for Honorary Mention of Prix Ars Electronica.
Fig 2. Quality of the interaction.
Jeery Shaw, e Legible City.
Fig 3. Interdisciplinary and collaborative. Agnes Meyer-Brandis, (a)SGM – Iceberg Probe; (b) SGM – Iceberg Probe.
(a) (b)
19
Artists can also increase the ethos by creating series of correlated projects based on a certain
theme or by applying certain type of medium or material. In this way, they set up a strong image
and identity, increasing the credibility accordingly. To illustrate this point, Daniel Rozin could
be a perfect example. Daniel Rozin is an artist who transformed wide ranges of daily objects into
various reective mirrors. e idea of physical mirror serves as his name card even without his
introduction.
Some artworks involves some assistant materials like performance footage, lab-based experiment,
the making-of video, the function explanation, texts, graphics, or other supporting materials
etc. ey are accompanied by detailed documentary along with core parts of the work. Typical
examples are Loophole for All (2014, GN[33]) and Face to Facebook (2011, AD) by Paolo Cirio. As
he did interactive art in the broader society scale, the artwork is not available for interaction on site.
us, the documentary and documents are presented in the exhibit.
33 GN is short for the Golden Nica of Prix Ars Electronica.
Fig 4. Inner Component. (a) Ma Richardson,Descriptive Camera; (b) Ken Rinaldo,
Augmented Fish Reality; (c) Norman T. White, e Helpless Robot.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 5. Series of projects. Daniel Rozin, (a)Angles Mirror, (b) Wooden Mirror, (c)Peg Mirror.
(a) (b) (c)
20
Artwork’s Logos
Logos is the appeal for reasons that reect the intellectual power of one’s speech or writing. e
logos of interactive art point to its soul: the interactivity. It is the signicant essence and unique
expression which sets itself apart from other kinds of contemporary art. Interaction means the
certain action that occurs when two or more objects have an eect upon each other. Interactive
art requires the detialed design of it, though it does not necessarily go for the purpose of eciency
and accessibility like interaction design. It deals with the practice of designing interactive digital
products, environments, and systems. Moreover it also asks for logical reasoning of overall aspects
and details of interaction: deduction and induction which involve the analysis of the psychology
and behavior, consideration of cognition, imagination, narrative ploing, etc. Since these issues
are partially overlapped with the next chapter, only dominant parts are discussed in this section.
e logical reasoning of interactivity lies mainly in the deduction and induction. Deduction is a
form of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises. In interactive
art, artists use premises of audience to modify them, and plot the narrative and construct a certain
scenario. On the other hand, induction is a form of inference producing propositions about
unobserved objects or types, either specically or generally, based on previous observation. When
projected into interactive art, it means aer perceiving and experiencing the artwork, audience will
address the comments from aesthetic or the applicable point of view. In the end, artists invite the
audience to get close to the work, participate in the work and inspired or inuenced by the work.
e piece Nemo Observatorium(2009, GN) by Lawrence Malstaf induces the audience by giving
them premises of playground to experience the eye of storm and allowing them to observe from
Fig 6. Assistant Materials. Paolo Cirio, (a)Loophole for All, (b) Face to Facebook.
(a) (b)
21
outside the experience of others. e buon inside gives the installation clear and straightforward
aordance. Aer having a fresh experience, audience may deduce some feedback and comments.
Audience’s Pathos
e third proof is Pathos, or emotional appeal, according to Aristotle in the Rhetoric, “when the
audience are brought by the speech into a state of emotion... ey give dierent decisions under
the sway of pain or joy, and liking or hatred”.[34] Aristotle also dened the emotions as “those states
which are aended by pain and pleasure, and which, as they change, make a dierence in our
judgments”. Interactive artists use several methods to largely arouse audience’ interest, curiosity,
motivation, and aection. Consequently, they consciously or unconsciously appeal the audience’s
emotions. Roy Asco once claimed that “Once positioned in relation to an artwork, he can
become totally involved in it physically, intellectually, and emotionally.”[35] Emotional and pleasure
theories exist to explain people’s responses to the use of interactive products. ese include Don
Norman’s emotional design model[36], Patrick Jordan’s pleasure model[37], and McCarthy and
Wright’s Technology as Experience framework[38].
34 Aristotle. e Rhetoric of Aristotle. Ed. and trans. Lane Cooper. Englewood Clis, NJ: Prentice, 1960.
35 Asco, Roy. “Is there love in the telematic embrace?.” Art Journal 49.3 (1990): 241-247.
36 Norman, Don. “Emotion & design: aractive things work beer.” interactions 9.4 (2002): 36-42.
37 Jordan, Patrick W. “Pleasure with products: Human factors for body, mind and soul.” Human factors in product
design: Current practice and future trends (1999): 206-217.
38 McCarthy, John, and Peter Wright. “Technology as experience.” interactions 11.5 (2004): 42-43.
Fig 7. Logos in interactive art. Lawrence Malstaf, Nemo Oberservatorium, (a)site view, (b) buon inside.
(a) (b)
22
Sensorium modication or the manipulation of senses, is the core part for almost all genres of
interactive art. Sensorium refers to the sum of an organism’s perception. Media theorist Marshall
McLuhan claimed that media has the eect of manipulating the ratio of our senses. Artist, using
dierent media, also aims to remix the sense of audience and give them a specic sensory experience.
Plenty of interactive artworks arouse audience’s relational memory via providing the daily scenario
and objects, which can also be seen from contemporary art in general. Ever since Marcel Duchamp,
artists intend to provocatively challenge the boundaries between art and everyday life. It would
give them more intimacy and curiosity to discover. More oen, they would be utilized as a new
interface for artistic purposes. As Katja Kwastek stated, “In fact, everyday objects are oen used
as an interface for the very reason that their function, symbolism, or operation is familiar to the
recipient”.[39] However, another aspect of the intersection between art and daily life is even more
signicant for the aesthetic experience of media art: Because the technical devices with which
media art operates are increasingly becoming everyday objects themselves. New questions are now
arising about boundary between the artistically congured
work and the everyday environment. For example, the
umbrella interface in the piece from Paul DeMarinis
is called RainDance(2001,HM) which converted the
umbrella into a sound generator. It gave the audience a
fresh sensary experience.
Providing souvenir or some outputs for the audience to take is also an aractive pathos. For
instance, Wim Delvoye created Cloaca(2007, AD), a huge assembly machine that produces
excrements. He provided the nal products called Cloaca and sold them online.
39 Kwastek, Katja. Aesthetics of interaction in digital art. Mit Press, (2013):18-19.
Fig 8. Sensorium Modication
Paul DeMarinis, RainDance
Fig 9. Souvenir or output. Wim Delvoye, Cloaca (a)installation, (b) Ad, (c)package.
(a) (b) (c)
23
Some pieces reect the identity or property of the audience and it could be also another strategy
of pathos. Interactive art takes considerable number of aributes from audience as the source of
parameters, ranging from body characteristics to personal belongings. People would naturally be
more aware of something that are related to themselves; therefore those emotions of them would
be signicantly enhanced. Take Timo Toots’ Memopol-2 (2012, GN) as an example, it is a social
machine that maps and visualizes the visitor’s information eld through requiring from them the
ocial personal documents. Same with Ryota Kimura’s S.U.I(2006,HM) which extracts geo-
location from people’s metro cards. Other projects may take people’s body identity like Daniel
Rozin’s mirrors which reect the body shape of the audience.
Some artists follow the path of enabling people to tackle or create something. In this way, they
provide the audience a way to interact with the artwork, and meanwhile they give them the
feeling that they are taking signicant part in the artwork via becoming artists themselves. e
strengthened subjectivity makes emotional fondness. e EyeWriter(2010, GN) is the epitome of
this kind. It is a pair of a low-cost eye-tracking glasses paired with custom soware, which allows
paralyzed artists and grati writers to draw using only their eyes. Not only does it give the user
an ability, but also enable a new sensorium and power of creation. Another example, Laurent
Mignonneau and Christa Sommerer created a piece called A-Volve (1994, GN), an interactive
environment where visitors can draw two dimensional shapes, see vivid three dimensional(3D)
creatures, and further interact with them. Except for creating by drawing, Top o bo (Amanda Parkes,
Hayes Raes, 2004, HM) is a constructive 3D assembly system with embedded kinetic memory
and the ability to record and play-back physical motion. It extends possibility of creation, and
more importantly, it interests children.
Fig 10. Identity reection. (a) Timo Toots, Memopol-2; (b) Ryota Kimura, S.U.I.
(a) (b)
24
Last but not the least, the gamication would also gain pathos, which could be dened as an
application that applies the gaming structures, elements, or principles in non-game contexts. e
ood of Fluxus and happening movement made game narrative a fundamental strategy for art.
Game is naturally aractive for lots of people. While on one hand, interactive art is sometimes
criticized for blurring the border with art and game; yet on the other hand, the playfulness that
originated from game elements are emotional araction for the audience. To name a few, Chris
O’shea’s Hand om Above(2010, HM) enables passengers to be playfully transformed on big
monitor; Myron Krueger’s Videoplace(1990, GN) allows participants to interact with objects
provided by the computer system and the silhouee of people. Messa di Voce (2004, HM) is a
concert in which the performers’ speech, shouts, and songs are radically augmented by custom
interactive visualization soware.
Fig 12. Gamication. (a)Chris O’shea, Hand om Above, (b) Myron Krueger, Videoplace,
(c) Jaap B, Joan L.B, Golan L., Zachary L.,Messa di Voce.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 11. Enable creativities. (a) Zach L., James P., Tony Q., Evan R ., Chris S., eo W., EyeWriter;
(b) Christa S & Laurent M., A-Volve (c)Amanda P., Hayes R .,Topob o.
(b) (c)
(a)
25
4.1.2 Topics
Topics (G. topoi, L. loci) are the concept introduced by Aristotle to dene how to locate certain
arguments that are appropriate to a given subject. Aristotle identied two main categories of topics:
(i) the special topics (idioi topoi); (2) the common topics (koinoi topoi). e special topics were
limited to classes of arguments, which t to particular kinds of discourse, as the three branches of
classical rhetoric described in previous chapter. By contrast, the common topics refer to a series of
arguments that could be used for any occasion or type of speech.
In interactive artworks, it is probable to nd out that certain objects are digitized and the extracted
parameters are associated with some other objects, which resembles the four categories of common
topics. Edward Corbe[40] gave us an optimized outline and we could map it with the aributes of
interaction:
Denition (Genus/Division) resembles the type of the
parameter that are chosen for interaction. In Khronos
Projector(2006, HM), Alvaro Cassinelli chose the push
gesture(forward and backward) to intuitively map with time
parameter of the image.
Comparison (Similarity/Dierence/Degree) resembles the
algorithm of how the parameters are compared. Sports Time
Machine(2014,HM) from Ryoko A. and Hiroshi I. simply
compares the previous running records projected on wall.
Relationship(Cause and Eect/Antecedent/Consequence/
Contraries/Contradictions)resembles the reaction which
interaction brings. Fly tweet(2012, HM) by David Bowen is a
device sends Twier[41] upateds based on the activities of a
40 Corbe, Edward PJ. “Classical rhetoric for the modern student.”
(1973):97-98.
41 Twier is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages
called “tweets”.
Fig 13. Khronos Projector
Fig 14. Sports Time Machine
Fig 15. Fly Tweet
26
collection of houseies. It discusses the contradiction of the activities between animal and human
reecting the principle of cause and eect relationship.
Circumstance (possible/impossible/past/future) resembles
the status of the interaction. Benedikt Groß challenged the
possibility of print the agricultural and digitally alter the
landscape in his project Avena Test Bed(2014, HM). Markus
Kayser’s Solar Sinter Project(2012, AD) explores the potential
and possibility of desert manufacturing. ey both creatively
develop circumstance topic with futuristic vision.
Furthermore, interactive artworks nowadays do not merely demonstrate the potentiality of the
technology, but also associate themselves with certain topics or themes, adding a meaningful
layer and impact for the audience in multiple perspectives. e pervasive ability of interactive
media art has been expanding and permeating into such a diverse range of elds that Prix Ars
has to create another category called Hybrid Art. Coincidently, this could roughly ts the special
topics of rhetoric. If we include projects which belongs to Hybrid Art, the realm of interactive art
could reach itself to natural sciences, social sciences as well as humanities, which is far beyond
the magnitude of political, ceremonial, and judicial branches. Some provoking projects like Julian
Oliver’s Newstweek (2011, GN), Julius von Bismarck’s Image Fulgurator(2008, GN) and Paul
DeMarinis’ e Messenger(2006,GN), all deal with more broader societal issues and bravely touch
some sensitive points of the society.
Fig 18. Special topics of interactive art. (a)Julian Oliver, Newstweek,
(b) Julius von Bismarck,Image Fulgurator; (c)Paul DeMarinis, e Messenger.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 17. Solar Sinter Project
Fig 16. Avena Test Bed
27
4.2 From Arrangement to Conguration
Arrangement(L. dispositio; G. taxis)concerns how one orders his/her speech or writing. In his
early treatise De Inventione, Cicero dened invention as the “discovery of valid or seemingly valid
arguments to render one’s cause probable.” In ancient rhetorics, arrangement referred solely to the
order to be observed in an oration, but the term was broadened to include all considerations of the
ordering of discourse, especially on a large scale. Cicero and Quintilian identied these six:
• Exordium(G. prooimion; L. exordium): introduction and statement of goal;
• Narrative (G. prothesis; L. narrâtio): background facts and context;
• Partition (L. divisio or propositio or partitio): divided points;
• Conrmation(G. pistis; L. conrmatio or probatio): argument support the case;
• Refutation (L. confutatio or reprehensio): weakness of opponent’s arguments;
• Peroration (G. epilogus; L. conclusio or peroratio): conclusion.
In A Rhetoric of Motives, Kenneth Burke dened the arrangement as “rhetorical form in the large”
involving the following: “a progression of steps that begins with an exordium designed to secure
the goodwill of one’s audience, next states one’s position, then, points up the nature of the dispute,
then builds up one’s own case at length, then refutes the claims of the adversary, and in a nal
peroration expands and reinforces all points in one’s favor while seeking to discredit whatever had
favored the adversary.”[42]
By analogy, the arrangement could be translated as the conguration of interactive art which
contains spatial conguration and the temporal conguration. Oskar Bätschmann referred the
artworks as “congurations of experience”[43] , which suits the interactive art perfectly. ese
congurations are of great importance for interaction with several reasons. First, the majority of
interactive artworks are mixing dierent hardware, soware or even wetware in non-standard
way, which calls for a great eort to congure each presentation. Second, most artists do not
have the fabrication ability or strict and reliable test like those for commercial products. In the
exhibit scenario, a lot of works have to thoughtfully consider the over or misuse by audience
42 Burke, Kenneth. A rhetoric of motives. Univ of California Press, 1969. 69-70. Print.
43 Kwastek, Katja. Aesthetics of interaction in digital art. Mit Press, 2013. 59-60.Print.
28
and maintenance of the project. ird, the location of the exhibit could sometimes aect the
artwork dramatically. In order to show roughly how each step of arrangement is mapped with each
procedure of conguration in interactive art, a table has been shown below(Table 1.). From it, we
could grasp the overall process of arrangement in rhetoric and space or time conguration.
CANON II. ARNGEMENT CONFIGUTION
Steps Explanation Spatiality Temporality
Exordium Introduction,
Statement of goal
Site specicity, exhibit
theme Entrance araction
Narration Background facts,
context
Trac ow, how audience
approach
Observation and
expectation
Division Divided points Allocation based on the
oor plan
Understanding of
procedure
Proof Arguments support
the case Test run and evaluation Aemptation and
exploration
Refutation Weakness of
opponent's arguments
Counter fraud,
maintenance, debugging Guessing and criticize
Peroration Conclusion Installation Exit and conclude
Spatiality
To begin with, the exordium of spatiality requires the concern about the theme of the exhibit
which results in having certain people with certain expectation for it. Besides, the basic aributes
of location like lighting, networks, electricity etc. e narration also requires knowing the
exhibit trac ow and how audience approach the artwork. Next, the division means allocating
components of artwork according to the specic oor plan. Later, the proof conrms the
functionality of the work by testing and evaluating. And then the refutation avoids the fraud or
misuse and further care about maintenance and emergency solution. Eventually, the peroration is
the nal installation.
To depict this exactly, Ken Rinaldo’s Augmented Fish Reality (2004,AD) would be a good example.
It is an interactive installation of ve rolling robotic sh-bowl sculptures designed to explore inter-
species and trans-species communication. It was exhibited in CyberArts 2004 in OK Center for
Table 1.
29
contemporary art. A collection of winning
projects of Prix Ars were shown there. e
work required a narrow long square space with
projection on the side wall. In such way, when
exhibit trac passed through the work, they
would have enough time to see the sh and
robotic interaction along with the surveillance
camera. Considering of the visibility of projection, there were only some spotlights on robots.
In this piece, Ken Rinaldo spreaded out a circle of rocks with equal distance around the moving
robots, which made the piece more natural and poetic. Along with the blanket covered on, a
playground was well-dened. Furthermore, the rocks would friendly keep the audience outside of
robots’ playground.
Temporality
Firstly the exordium of temporality could be some intriguing sound, some indication light or
other small excitement. Shortly aer, the narrative starts when the audience observe, assume, and
expect. en, the proof unfolds if the audience aempt to try out and further explore the piece.
Later on, the refutation is generated with form of guess and criticism. Finally, peroration acts as the
conclusion in the opinion of the audience.
Take the piece by Norimichi Hirakawa as an
example, a plaything for the great observers at
rest (2008, AD). It is an installation which
enabled the audience to control the viewpoint
and switch between geocentric model and a
heliocentric model by operating device. From
my own experience, before entering the black
box, the audience could hear the spacious rustle, which arouses the curiosity. Stepping into the
dark room, a metal device stood in the center of a circular moving images with geometrical lines.
Right at this moment, the interactive narrative was expected as the device triggered the moving
Fig 19. Ken Rinaldo, Augmented Fish Reality
Fig 20. A plaything for the great observers at rest
30
images. Reading the description of the work which listed the functionality of each components,
the procedure could be dened as: turning the metal bar and moving spheres would simulate
the celestial view and switch the models as previously described. Aer immersive explorations, a
guess of how to realized the interaction was generated and some comments were made. Eventually,
when the audience exited the room, they would have the aective celestial aesthetic audio visual
experience.
4.3 From Style to Stylization
Style is the third canon of classical rhetoric, which is interpreted as the devices or gures that
ornament discourse or composition. If invention and arrangement focus on what to say, then, the
style would emphasize on how to say or present. e style of rhetoric, especially rhetoric gures
could be found in large amount of interactive artworks, which is the original intention of the
thesis. From the rhetoric perspective, the strategies harnessed in media art could be considered
as styles and gures. Furthermore, the principle of style also aects and permeates into all the
other canons, no maer behavioral or conceptual, composition or speech. rough the “stylish
creation and modication” which is a process of stylization, interactive art aords more tension
and expressiveness, thus, unexpectedness and poetic.
4.3.1 e ree Levels
e canon of style starts with the description of the grade. ere are fundamentally three levels
of style: the low or plain style (aenuata, subtile); the middle or forcible style (mediocris, robusta);
and the high or orid style (gravis, orida). Additionally, Quintilian associated each of those
style with various function of rhetoric. e plain style t in instructing (docendi); the middle
in moving (movendi); and the high in charming (delectandi). Accordingly, interactive art could
also be measured with rhetorical levels depending on the parameters of scale or size of the work,
complexity of the components or procedures, intensity of the interaction, pace of the reaction, and
feedback, advancement in terms of technology. A table here(Table 2.) by will illuminate the three
equivalent levels in measurement of interactive art.
31
3 LEVELS
INTECTIVE ART MEASURE
Scale Complexity Intensity Pace Advance
Plain Micro Minimal Light Piano Low tech
Middle Neutral Medium Mild Mezzo Intermediate
Florid Macro Complex Strong Forte High tech
Standard for the measurement of interactive art is not dened. Yet for the purpose of research
and classication, we roughly dene three levels in terms of scale, complexity, intensity, pace, and
advance. Scale literally refers the size of the artwork, ranging from handheld/wearable scale like
Necomimi(2013,HM), through table-top scale like Empathetic heartbeat(2011, HM), to wall scale
like the installation Mark Hensen and Ben Rubin’s Listening Post(2004, GN).
Complexity evaluates how sophisticated and complicated the components of the interactive
artworks are: from minimal LED Eyelash by Soomi Park (2008,HM), through the medium level
Tischgeüster(2010,HM), to complex Rhizomatiks’ Particles(2011, AD).
Fig 21.Scale of artworks. (a)Neurowear, Necomimi,
(b)Hideyuki A, Masahiko S and Junji W, Empathetic heartbeat; (c)Mark H., Ben R., Listening Post.
(a) (b) (c)
Table 2.
Fig 22.Level of coplexity. (a) Soomi Park, LED Eyelash,
(b) eGreenEyl, Tischgeüster; (c)Rhizomatiks, Particles.
(a) (b) (c)
32
Intensity elucidates the immersive level of interaction, ranging from DIY style i3DG(2010, HM)
through medium like Keith Lam’s Moving Mario(2008, HM), to the head-mount or full body
immersion like Clouds(2014,HM).
Pace represents how fast and rich the interaction is processed. Ranging from the piano level
like Perpetual Storytelling Apparatus(2009, HM) through the mezzo as Double-Taker(2009,HM,
Stephen B, Lawrence H) to the forte level like Tetsuaki Baba’s Freqtric Project(2007, HM).
Advancement identies how advanced the technology is applied in the projects, ranging from
low tech projects like Gabriel Barcia-Colombo’s Animalia Chordata(2007, HM), through typical
accessible technology used in project like Outerspace (2006, HM, Markus Lerner, Andre Stubbe),
to massive technologically devoted projects like gravicell(2005, HM) by Sota Ichikawa and Seiko
Mikami.
Fig 23. Level of Intensity. (a)Direction Inc., i3DG,
(b)Keith Lam, Moving Mario; (c)James G., Jonathan M., Clouds.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 24.Scale of artworks. (a)Bejamin M, Julius v B., Perpetual Storytelling Apparatus,
(b)Golan L, Fannie W., Double-Taker ; (c)Tetsuaki Baba, Freqtric Project.
(a) (b) (c)
33
4.3.2 e Four Virtues
Two pupils of Aristotle, eophrastus and Demetrius, developed the virtues of styles. en ancient
Roman rhetoricians Cicero and Quintilian modied them slightly and taught the virtues to their
students. e four virtues had been discussed and regarded as the basis of style in De oratore. e
four virtues correspond with the qualities of the interactive art in many ways.
Purity ( purus et Latinus), refers to the correctness of the speaking or writing in accordance with the
grammar rules and norms. Cicero says “we shall preserve case and tense and gender and number…”
[44]Correct usage of language ensures clear and precise communication and increase the credibility
of the speaker. is virtue could be mapped with the preciseness of the interaction. is contains
the accuracy of the data, the feedback as expected, the cras inside artwork and so forth. is
virtue could improve the credibility or ethos of the artwork dramatically. An example for purity
can be found in the piece named Captives(2014, HM) by Quayola, the sculptures made digitally by
robotics, which he dened as a contemporary
interpretation of Michelangelo’s unnished
series Prigioni (1513-1534) and his non-nito
technique. e accuracy is provided by the
precise movement of the robotic arm as well as
the original digital modeling. Conceptually the
accuracy is crucial for its exploration of man-
machine dialectics.
44 Cicero, Marcus Tullius., E. W. Suon, and H. Rackham. Cicero: De Oratore. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP,
1959. Print.
Fig 25.Level of Adcvancement. (a)Gabriel Barcia-Colombo, Animalia Chordata,
(b)Markus L. Andre S., Outerspace; (c)Sota Ichikawa, Seiko Mikami, gravicell.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 26. Purity. Quayola, Captives
34
Clarity (dilucide palenque) means to keep away
from ambiguous expression, excessive number
of words, too elaborated metaphors, broken
sentence structure and any confused and
disturbed elements. is virtue emphasizes the
simplicity and comprehensibility, which is also
suitable for interactive art. Artwork with spirit
of simplicity stands out in that it conveys the meaning more directly and honestly. John Maeda
once mentioned “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.” One of
the good instance for this is the Robotic Chair(2006, HM) is an apparently practical and generic
wooden chair with the unique capacity to fall apart and put itself back together. Its iconic clarity
unfolded countless contemplation and imagination.
Propriety (decorum) deals with ing the
style to the subject and occasions of the speech,
the character of the speaker, the sympathies of
the audience, and the kind of speech. It could
also be understood as saying the right thing at
the right place and at the right time. Propriety
of interactive art lie in the proper design of the
interface and sometimes good user experience.
Blast eory’s Can You See Me Now?(2003, GN) would illustrate the virtue of propriety. e piece
uses the overlay of a real city and a virtual city to explore ideas of absence and presence. ey built
up portable interface and online real-time platform for this mixed reality game. Proper timing and
geo-positioning is the core element of the piece.
Ornateness (Ornatus) utilizes the rhetorical gures or device to make the speech or composition
interesting. Interactive art does have lots of rhetoric gures, which will be more thoroughly in next
section.
Fig 27. Clarity. Raaello A, Max D., Ma D., Robotic Chair.
Fig 28. Blast eory, Can you see me now?
35
4.3.3 Selected Figures
ere are roughly two hundred rhetoric gures and terms, ever since the birth of rhetoric, having
been invented by Latin and Greek over time and applied into speech and composition. Over
time, the gures have been organized and classied in a variety of ways to make sense of them and
to distinguish their nuanced distinctions and functions. Traditionally, they are divided into the
dichotomy of either Tro pes and Schemes or gures of speech and gures of thought. In order to
associate them systematically with interactive art, a customized way is introduced classifying them
according to the three dierent phases in the workow of interactive art whicare conceptual gures,
expressive gures, and descriptive gures. Compared with traditional rhetoric classication, it is
exible in that the gures are applied depending on various pieces. Some gures can be used in all
phases, while some applied to only one phase.
Figures for interactive art
Conceptual Expressive Descriptive
Antithesis, Archaism,
Animalication, Irony,
Personication, Metaphor,
Simile, Synaesthesia, Ellipsis,
Paradox, Symbolism,
Malapropism, Verisimilitude,
Innuendo, Zeugma, Kairos, etc.
Parallelism, Matrix,
Repetition, Synecdoche,
Asyndeton, Climax,
Metastasis, Parody,
Onomatopoeia, Vernacular,
Hyperbole, Meiosis,
Anastrophe, Cacophony,
Rhyme, Palindrome, etc.
Epigraph, Idiom,
Allusion,Euphemism, Pun,
Portmanteau, Hyperbole,
Meiosis, Climax, Ellipsis,
Parallelism, Vernacular,
Tone, Metaphor, Asyndeton,
Repetition, etc.
Conceptual Figures
In the phase of concept, artists outline the topic and theme, generate ideas, decide materials or
structures, conrm the tone and style of the expression, roughly sketch the blueprint of the piece,
imagine how the audience interact with the piece, etc. From the rhetoric point of view, chances are
that they will apply one or some gures.
Table 3.
36
Metaphor and Simile both refer to one thing as another, yet the laer implying a comparison while
former without. ey are widely used in interactive art and actually a lot of other contemporary
art in general. Typically they can be found through the
interface manipulation. For instance, Turing Train Terminal
(2004,HM) used toy train as the metaphor for data
transferring gate and processing. More clearly implies the
comparison, simile can be commonly found in simulation
works such as a playing for the great observer at rest and
Clouds as we shown previously.
Personication refers to abstractions or inanimate objects
as though they had human qualities or abilities. Most
robotic artworks display this gifure. Like the Android
eater(2011, HM, Hiroshi Ishiguro) other than robotic,
like Audience(2009, HM) consists of a large crowd of
head-size mirror objects. Each object moves its head
in a particular way, simulating the most basic dierent
characteristics of human behavior.
Similarly, animalication, in which the animal aributes
are imposed upon non-animal objects. As Double-Taker
(2009, HM, Steven B., Lawrence H., Golan L., Fannie W.)
deals with a creature on roof that made from pipe making
contact with passengers. Furthermore, it can be found in
projects like Beach Animal (2005 SP) by eo Jansen and
Scavengers (1996, AD, Louis P. Demers and Bill Vorn)
Synaesthesia refers to a technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters, or places in such
a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell etc. at a given time.
Fig 29. Severin H. and David M.,
Turing Train Terminal
Fig 30. rAndom International ,Audience
Fig 31. eo Jansen, Beach Animal
37
Iori Nakai’s Streetscape(2003, HM) a device that extracts
environmental sounds and city form, and immerses visitors
in them so that you can imagine your surroundings. It give
them a sense of drawing, going through the city, and hearing
the sound at the same time.
Zeugma, from Greek “yoking” or “bonding”, is a gure of speech
in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more
than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically
dierent ideas. Interactive artist are used to changing the objects
in daily statement and replace with new concepts. For instance,
Menstruation Machine(2012, HM)) bonds male with the
experience of menstruation. Solar Sinter Project bonds sand
with 3d printing technology.
Antithesis, which literally means the opposite, is a rhetorical
device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a
sentence to achieve a contrasting eect. It uses words to
convey ideas in dierent ways from the common words and
expressions of daily life. us, it conveys the meaning more
vividly than ordinary speech. When contrasting ideas are
brought together, the idea is expressed more emphatically. Equipped with this gure, interactive
art tends to be conceptually more robust. Rain Room(2013, AD)) by rAndom International is
spectacular example for this gure. It invites audience to walk in the raining area without being
drenched in the process. e antithesis of rain and no-rain is strongly emphasized in this piece.
Paradox is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth.
Paradox is widely used in most poems openning the mind of reader. In the art eld, It is a long-
established term referring to some contradictory elements of the work that are dierent from the
previous experience and understanding. Here are two projects that have the feature of paradox
Fig 32. Iori Nakai Streetscape.
Fig 33. Sputniko!
Menstruation Machine.
Fig 34.rAndom International, Rain Room.
38
the most. One is Pendulum Choir(2013, GN) by Cod.Act
group, which constitutes of nine sophisticated mechanical
stands for nine a cappella voices and 18 hydraulic jacks.
e platform and structure empower the performers to tilt,
rotate, and move along with the quality-changing sonority
voices, which creates both visual and audio paradox.
e experience that is opposite to nature fact could be
tremendous paradox like the recent work by Jacob Tonski. In
his Balance om within(2014, AD), a sofa stands on its one
leg. Another one is when laughter trips at the threshold of the
divine(2009, AD) by Osman Khan and Kim Beck. It moves
the automatic sliding door to a natural environment. e
door stands without any connecting walls and functions as
usual when people pass by. Paradox makes the works more
poetic and meaningful not only in the poems but also in the
artist context
Irony is a gure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is
dierent from the actual meaning of the words. Irony makes a work of literature more intriguing
and forces the readers to use their imagination and comprehend the underlying meanings of the
texts. Irony is not fresh at all to discuss in the realm of art. Interactive art is not an exception. Paolo
Cirio, Julian Oliver and Julius von Bismarck are distinctive examples using irony. Via their devices,
activity, performance, the provoking and ironical power that scorns, criticizes and challenges the
all kinds of social orders and norms could be found as crucial part of their artifacts and aesthetics.
e audience is not only intriguing into the artifact, but also feeling mind-blowing.
Ellipsis is a literary device that is used in narratives to
omit some parts of a sentence or event, which gives the
reader a chance to ll the gaps while acting or reading it
out. It sometimes incorporates into the conceptual part of
Fig 36. Osman K., Kim B.,when laughter trips
at the threshold of the divine
Fig 37. Jacob Tonski
Balance om within
Fig 35. Cod.Act,Pendulum Choir
Fig 38. Rejane C., Leonardo C.,Tunnel
39
interactive art. Like the kinetic architecture work Tunnel(2011, HM, Fig 38.) excludes any digital
control and electricity, any type of complex interface and description. e uid array of porticos
sways according to just the body mass of audience. Another example would be again Quayola that
intentionally omits the le work of the sculpture, leaving both araction and imagination.
Verisimilitude is a gure that mimics the reality so that the
object can be more plausible. is applies typically to the
artwork dealing with virtual reality and augmented reality.
ey simulate an environment as an experience for the
audience. For instance, the virtual space built by Knowbotic
Research in 1990s.
Expressive Figures
Expressive gures refer to the artistic conguration during the period of realization and exhi-
bition of the artworks. Artists generate ideas about how the work be arranged, customized and
exhibited in order to present it in ecient and impressive way. Some gures typically used in this
phase will be discussed below.
Hyperbole, derived from Greek meaning “over-casting” is a gure of speech, which involves
an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis. e gure partially correlates to the telematic
works, giving audience a perspective of exaggerated world. Such as Global String(2002, HM, Atau
T., Kasper T.), a network-based musical instrument that exaggeratedly allow audience to co-play it
in multiple sites. Telematic Dreaming(1993, HM, Paul Sermon) made a hyperbole by enabling the
telematic presence in the same bed.
On the contrary, Meiosis is the gure that diminish or beliles something or someone, giving
the impression that the object is less important than it is. Body Movies - Relational Architecture No.
6(2002, AD)by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer equipped with the meiosis. It simply uses multiple lights
to create body shape onto the facade. More examples are previously mentioned robotic chair and
Fig 39. Knowbotic Research,
Simulationsraum-Mosaik mobiler
Datenklänge
40
clouds intended to use some unaractive common word in a humble way to title their works.
Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar
in their construction, sound, meaning or meter. It allows speakers and writers to maintain a
consistency within their work and create a balanced ow of ideas. is gure calls back what we
have already discussed before, the series of artworks that enhances the ethos or credibility of
author. Artists, in some cases, would like to create series of artworks that have the same concept
or same structure. Maywa Denki’s pieces well explain this point. Tsukuba Series is played by the
movement of motors and/or electromagnets at 100V and makes a sound by physically beating/
knocking a substance.
Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an
idea clearer. ere are several types of repetitions commonly used in both prose and poetry. It is
one of most widely used in ne art context in general and also appears in several dierent forms.
Matrix is one of the representative, though there’s no specic gure in rhetoric literacy could
match this form. Matrix, in terms of mathematics a rectangular array, is the phenomenal essence
of digital content, since the basic visual images function based on it. Matrix here refers the multi-
dimensional repetitions that exist in interactive art. For instance, the interactive work Global
Fig 40. Parallelism. May wa Denki, Tsukuba Series
Fig 40. Hyperbole and Meiosis. (a) Atau T., Kasper T., Global String,
(b)Paul Sermon, Telematic Dreaming; (c)Rafael L.H., Body Movies - Relational Architecture No. 6.
(a) (b) (c)
41
Interior Project(1996, GN), Epiphyte Chamber(2014,HM), and POD (Wind Array Cascade
Machine)(2005, HM), also including what we mentioned previously Listening Post and Gravicell
.
Anastrophe is a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed in order to
achieve a particular eect of emphasis. It creates the balanced eects or makes emphasis on certain
point. e title of the piece Music Plays Images x Images Play Music(1997, GN) Toshio Iwai and
Ryuichi Sakamoto implies its content and emphasize the mechanism behind it via anastrophe.
Similarly, the Jammer Horn(2009,HM) conceptually reverses the function and aribute of horn
and in fact blocks the modern communication. Furthermore, in the piece called On the Expressive
Potential of the Computer Controlled Human Face(1997, HM), artists switch the order of the fact
that muscles trigger music.
Descriptive Figures
Description phase comes aer the expression. It comprises the title of the artwork, description text,
picture or video documentary, as well as other documents for media coverage and distribution. In
this sense, rhetoric here is almost identical to its traditional composition. erefore, description
Fig 42. Anastrophe. (a) Toshio I., Ryuichi S., Music Plays Images x Images Play Music; (b) Wil ly Sengewald, Jammer Horn;
(c)Arthur E., Huge H., Remko S., On the Expressive Potential of the Computer Controlled Human Face.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 41. Repetition. (a) Masaki Fujihata, Global Interior Project,
(b)Philip Beesley, Epiphyte Chamber; (c)Steve Heimbecker, POD (Wind Array Cascade Machine).
(a) (b) (c)
42
period could contain all of the gures. Concerning about the aim of the thesis, feature ones
discussed below. e gures in this part make the artworks aractive and memorable without
actually seeing them.
Idiom, refers to a set expression or a phrase comprising
two or more words. e phrase is understood as to mean
something quite dierent from what individual words
of the phrase would imply. Plus, idioms vary in dierent
cultures and countries. is gure apply into the creation of
the title or concept indicating that the artwork inspired or
driven by the idiom. Ishin-Den-Shin(2013, HM), a Japanese idiom, is also the name of the artwork
that denotes the traditional concept of interpersonal communication through unspoken mutual
understanding. Messa Di Voce is another example that applies the musical term from Italian. is
gure adds both pathos and ethos for the artistic expression.
A pun is a play on words in which a humorous eect
is produced by using a word that suggests two or more
meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having
dierent meanings. For instance, Newstweek, a device for
manipulating the news read by other people on wireless
hotspots, contains the two layers of meanings: news and
tweek, adding the logo that ironically resembles the famous media called Newsweek. Another
example is PainStation(2002, HM, Volker M., Tilmann R.), an arcade game based on Pong with
pain feedback, reects both “pain” and “PlayStation”.
Alliteration, means a number of words, having the same rst consonant sound, occur close
together in a series. is applies to the title of the artwork, for example, pieces like Face to Facebook
and Turing Train Terminal.
Portmanteau is a gure that combines two or more words together. As a common gure for
Fig 43. Disney Research Lab,
Ishin-Den-Shin
Fig 44. Volker Morawe, Tilmann Rei
PainStation
43
making the titles of pieces, it makes the concept of the artwork explicit to understand, such as the
EyeWriter, Raindance as well as PainStation.
4.4 From Memory to Representation
e fourth canon of rhetoric is memoria (Greek, mnēmē), concerned with memorizing speeches.
In Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero wrote,
ere are, then, two kinds of memory: one natural and other, the
product of art. e natural memory is that memory which is imbedded
in our minds, born simultaneously with thought. e articial memory
is that memory which is strengthened by a kind of training and system
of discipline. [45]
Plato asserted that the use of wrien characters is a hindrance to memory, as once we have commied
a thing to writing, we cease to guard it in our memory and lose it out of sheer carelessness[46].
In the realm of interactive art, memory is also needed in variety of dierent situations and groups
of people. e artist explains to audience, museum guide or the media and they further explain to
others. In order to convey or distribute the idea, content, function and other detailed aspects of the
work, dierent people may apply various strategies.
e memory of the interactive artwork lies in all the surrounding material of the artwork like the
title, descriptive text, keyshot of the artwork, demonstrative video and so forth. ey need to be
kept in artist’s mind, audience’s mind, curator’s mind and the infor-trainer’s mind. e requirement
or demanding of the memory level diers in those groups.
Another strategy that artist used is to create series of artwork either within same theme, with same
material, or with same principle. In this way, artwork creates bonding memory with audience.
Daniel Rozin created a bunch of mirrors based on physical objects , ranging from wood, feather, peg,
45 CAPLAN, H. Ad C. Herennium de ratione dicendi (ad herennium III xvi 28-29) 2013.
46 “Plato, Phaedrus, section 275d.” 2010. 7
44
mirror, brush and so on. Zach Liebermann has the principle of Poetic Computation[47]. He created
work within this principle. e keyword will be the key factor for the artist to be remembered.
It is an interesting fact that relatively few people pay aention to is that the concept of the artwork is
partially conveyed by a third-party group, the museum guide whose normal profession is not art or
related to art. Apart from the traditional responsibility of taking care of the work and informing the
visitors about artworks, they are also required to bear in mind more or less the functionality of the
work which requires sometimes some basic background knowledge. e standard museum guide
of Ars Electronica Center (known as the info-trainer) is one of the most demanding in the world.
It requires info-trainer to discuss and exchange views with visitors and furthermore requires prior
knowledge in the elds of digital media, the life sciences (biotechnology & genetic engineering,
neurosciences, robotics, bionics) or geo-information. For the memory purpose, they have to
combine their background and interests with the artwork. And through the communication with
dierent audience, their memory about specic artworks will denitely be strengthened.
4.5 From Delivery to Action
e h canon delivery concerns how things is said. e Greek word for delivery is “hypokrisis”
or “acting”, which rhetoric has borrowed to represent the aention to vocal training and to the use
of gestures. In Book III of the Rhetoric, Aristotle considers delivery “of the greatest importance.”
And in De oratore, Cicero asserts that delivery “is the dominant factor in oratory.” In Rhetorica ad
Herennium, Cicero boldly arms the usefulness of the delivery. He then explains it in two sides:
voice quality and physical movement.
By analogy, delivery lies in the key moment when interaction happens, the specic gestures trigger
the hidden content, and simultaneously the feedback and certain response exert backwards. It
could be any action: witnessing, observing, walking, running, wearing, drawing, pushing, buying,
performing or even peeping, damaging. is action plays a critical role in interactive art, since it
is the very moment that the audience get aected, amazed, and engaged, the very moment the
47 “School for Poetic Computation: SFPC.” 2013. 5 May. 2016 <hp://sfpc.io/>
45
project realizes itself, and the very moment that the artist is most satised with. For the majority
of the interactive artworks, this action movement plays key role in making the unique artistic
expression, generating what Benjamin coined authentic and unreplicable Aura and aesthetic
experience[48]. Lorenz Dimann states that the work becomes manifest only in the moment in
which it is experienced , and thus, calls for a concept of art that places the intuitive presence of the
artwork at center stage.
In order to present this canon in interactive art,, a dataset of action in interactive artworks from
Prix Ars is visualized according to the frequency as the form of word-cloud below(Fig 45.).
So far, a clear map between classical rhetoric and interactive art has been unfolded. On purpose of
visualizing the mapping function, a mind map is shown in Appendix 1.
48 Benjamin, Walter. “e work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.” Visual Culture: Experiences in Visual
Culture (2011): 144-137.
draw
move
use
open
run
look listen
touch
walk
wear
swipe
shoot
assemble
blow
play
capture
speak
investigate
bike
swing
reflect rotate
follow
exchange
call
write
track
dance
type
immerse
delete
stamp gaze
sell
device
roll
hear
sculpt
feel
close damage
experience
tweet
flash
store
push
fabricate
tour
see
trigger
peep
buy
tweat
modify
shout
collect
hit
viberate
attract
distribute
match
caputre
swim
project
view
whip
pull
control
hold
navigate
stand
Fig 45. Wordcloud of actions in interactive arts
46
Chapter 5
Applying: The Author’s
Own Artistic Works
In the rhetorical pedagogy eld, an inuential rhetorician called Peter Ramus divided rhetoric
into two main activities: analysis and genesis. e observation of successful speaking or writing
(analysis) preceded and improved one’s own speaking or writing (genesis)[49]. Analysis, for him,
was the foundation of operating didactically on a work, which was not sort of art but an exercise.
On the other hand, he believed that genesis, which he also named as compositio, begins with
mimicry and simulation then gradually became a free expression. Previous chapters, concerned
mainly with investigation and examination of interactive art based on the principles of classical
rhetoric, act as analysis. is chapter concentrates more on genesis, in other words, the application
of those analysis. e author’s interactive artworks are demonstrated, which were inspired by those
rhetorical principles, analyses and paradigms.
49 Ramus, Peter. “Arguments in rhetoric against Quintilian.” e rhetorical tradition: Readings from classical times
to the present (1986): 681-97.
47
5.1 Root Node
Root Node is a site-specic interactive installation. It involves stacked layers of disassembled remote
controllers that are strung together by conductive rods and planted into the ground. Whenever
its root gets damp, nodes can be generated due to the conductivity of the earth interface, which
in turn triggers the pulse-signal-based soundscape. e visitor wears the head-mount device to
receive the signals within the range of the infrared light.
In the piece, the circuit boards of remote controller and electronic components of the helmet are
exposed, which partially increases the ethos. ere are also some graphical instructions stick on
the two pedestal. ey are benecial for the beer appreciation and interaction of the work, in
other words, for beer logos. e work concerns the pathos by representing the daily objects as
well as the activity in a fresh way so that it triggers the curiosity of audience. e topic has mainly
chosen the cause and eect relationship. e water activates the connection of the buon, the
buon triggers the infrared signals, the helmet receives the signals and translates it into sounds.
ese series of data transfer and process form the mechanism of the interaction.
e exordium for this piece would be the vertical extension in the exhibit space. It arouse the
curiosity of audience before entrance into the room. e work was installed at main square of Linz
as Interface Culture’s 10 Years Anniversary exhibition that is incorporated into Ars Electronica
Fig 46. Yao Guo(Nathan), Root Node(2014), (a) Interaction from Top View;
(b) Exhibit Setup at Interface Culture 10th Aniversary., 2014
(a) (b)
48
Festival. In that context, a large number of visitors are very experienced in media art eld. us,
many of them observed and already expected the work to be interactive. Concerning how they
approached to the piece, I put the main sculpture in the middle of the room so that people could
easily see it, when they come closer, two parts of assistant objects were presented on the pedestals.
en the audience picked the water can and put the helmet on. Aer they poured the water into
the roots of the sculpture, they would hear some various beep sounds triggered by the signals.
e installation used medium rhetoric level. ough it’s tall, it doesn’t count as large scale. e
structure requires some loads of fabrication and some time to interact with. Technologically
speaking, it’s also the intermediate level. But in terms of pace, it belongs to piano level, since it
needs a bit of time to get wet and contact.
When it comes to rhetoric gures, the installation applies, rst of all, the gure of repetition:
stack of dissembled remote controller line up to the ceiling as the basic element. e sculpture
part seems more impressive and integrated. Secondly, the common usage of remote controller
is actually inverted: instead of pushing the buon and controlling the TV, the installation let the
actuator receive the signal of the controller. In this reversion, irony is generated so that people
Fig 47. Partial Conguration of the project Root Node
49
could think in deeper layer. irdly, the container of sand and stone, the water bole and the title
of the piece established the metaphor of a plant that made out of electronics. e piece becomes
more poetic. Lastly, the title of the work is a pun since root node refers originally the topmost
or the boom node in a tree data structure. In this work, root ts the metaphor and node ts
the connection contacted buon triggered by the water. is installation has several actions: wear
the helmet, switch on the buon, pick up the water can, water the roots, move around and listen
to the signal. Among them, watering the roots is the key moment triggering the function of the
installation.
5.2 Wanderl_st
Wanderl_st is an interactive installation which utilizes the digital dartboard system as an agent of
google map navigator. e user can get to certain geo-locations step by step according to the relative
positions of thrown darts on board. Meanwhile the routes are collected and the familiar directional
guidance is translated spatially into rhythmic acoustic. e computing queries therefore creates an
innovative way to explore the geographical territory with trans-spacial experience.
Firstly the immediate sound feedback when the darts hits the board increases the ethos. Additionally,
the monitor presents the path that the audience has made and levels up the credibility of the artist.
Secondly the dartboard interface of this artwork boosts the pathos dramatically. e gamication
Fig 48. Yao Guo(Nathan), Wanderl_st(2015)
50
approach makes people aected and engaged well. irdly the logos are reected by the footprints
on the ground that indicate the position where the parameter of the map can be changed. e
interaction in this piece contains two common topics. One is the cause and eect, as the audience
throw the dart immediately they get the corresponding position on map as well as the indicating
sounds. e other is comparison. People will naturally compare each dart they threw and compare
the result with the actual map and the knowledge they have about the map.
e work was installed in the Post City[50], a storage warehouse of former Austrian post in Linz
and also stands as the theme of the Ars Electronica Festival 2015. It is allocated in a room with the
length of 5 meters and width of 4 meters. e image was projected on the side wall so that when
people pass by, they can grasp the panorama of the piece. Zooming function of the map is indicated
by the footprints sticker on the oor; e cordons are also installed alongside the footprints for the
safety of the audience. e darts are situated on a bar of wood in front of the projection. e author
made a lot of test run and debug especially for the space.
Regarding the canon of stylization, the piece can be classied as medium level, in terms of scale,
complexity, intensity, pace or advance. Its interaction reects the virtues of purity and propriety:
process and response is accurate; sensor value is interpreted well; it does have certain aordance.
Moreover, it employs several rhetoric gures. In rst place, the title utilizes the omission and
wordplay. e underscore in Wanderl_st could be replaced by audience according to their
understanding of the work. Simile is visual resemblance of both dartboard and navigator. e
delivery of the artwork is the action of throw, the key moment when people realized the artistic
value and start to think about what it means and what is it used for.
50 “2015 Ars Electronica Festival - Post City.” 2015. 9 May. 2016 <hp://www.aec.at/postcity/en/>
Fig 49. Yao Guo(Nathan), Wanderl_st, (a) Graphic as symbol; (b) Sensor; (c) Spcial Setup.
(a) (c)
(b)
51
5.3 Alibi
Alibi is an ongoing project that also applies the media art rhetoric paradigm. Basically it is an
interactive installation that creates an astronaut suit for sh and gives it the ability to move around
via mounting to a robotic arm. Inspired by the “Becoming Animal” concept by Gilles Deleuze[51] and
the approach of critical design, this project intends to propose a playground for animal, provide
a high tech scenario and the right to explore the “outer-space” for the animal, meanwhile to give
people a vigilant and reective contemplation.
For the conceptualization part, this piece is equipped with the gures such as zeugma via
questioning what if technology is applied to animal instead of human; verisimilitude via mimicking
the motion of sh by robot; symbolism via taking astronaut suit as the techno fact; mild irony and
paradox via giving the impression that the sh swims in the air. For the expression, parody and
hyperbole can be found in the performance of the installation. For the description, the title is the
metaphor indicating that the sh is away for some reasons. We plan to use climax and parallelism
to lm the making-of video about how we realize the project.
51 Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guaari. “Becoming-intense, Becoming-animal. Becoming Imperceptible.” A ousand
Plateaus. Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1987): 232-265.
Fig 50. Yao G.(Nathan), Munchen Z., Alibi(2016)
52
Chapter 6
Modeling:
Media Art Rhetoric
So far we have outlined the basic principles of both classical rhetoric and interactive art, made the
analogy systematically by mapping aributes from classical rhetoric to interactive art and applied
the mapping result to my own artistic practices. In this chapter, we are going to build an example
based on the analogical model of media art rhetoric in order to visually demonstrate the whole
picture of the research. e modeling contains two parts: rating and visualizing.
e rating procedure are following: rstly, we collect Golden Nica winner projects of Prix Ars in
each year and order them chronologically. Secondly, they are analyzed according to the rhetorical
framework as we used previously. irdly, we lter out the aributes that are dicult to quantify
and le only the representative aributes, the level of the rhetoric, the three proofs and three classes
of rhetoric gures. Fourthly, we rate the each aribute according to how each individual project
reected or applied the rhetoric function and nally generate a rhetoric index for each artwork. Take
the project Listening Post as an instance. It increases the credibility of the artist in several points:
natural human sounds, ow of the information, the collaboration of the laboratory and partners
from various backgrounds(Ethos). It builds up its interaction by streaming the live post from
53
internet(Logos). It is equipped with the gures in concept: synaesthesia, metaphor, symbolism;
in expression: repetition, asyndeton, metastasis, parody, vernacular, hyperbole, cacophony and
rhyme; in description: asyndeton and climax. We add base point of 2, add every 2 points to each
item and rate it as below. For the rhetorical level, we rate the project according to scale, complexity,
intensity, pace and advance of technology and get a level index.
Ethos Logos Pathos Concept Expression Description
6 4 6 6 16 6
Scale Complexity Intensity Pace Advance Level Index
8 7 6 6 5 6.4
Aerwards, we visualize the data above by a six axis extruded radar chart. ree axes illustrate the
three rhetoric proofs while the other three depict three classes of rhetoric gures. e extrusion
represents the rhetoric level of each project. For example, Listening post could be illustrated as
follows:
Fig 51. Rhetoric radar charts for media art, (a) t wo rhetoric triangles; (b) extr usion illustrates rhetoric level.
(a) (b)
Table 4.
54
Additionally, the models of my own projects are shown below:
As a result, each interactive artwork could have a three dimensional model in order to characterize
its rhetoric feature. e model partially represent what we have discussed in previous chapters. By
averaging three proofs, rhetoric gures and level, a rhetorical index could be exported to indicate
overall rhetoric value embedded in the artworks. e index called Media Art Rhetoric Index(abbr.
MARI) can be found in the (Appendix 3.) . As the practice, 24 golden nica winner projects are
visualized (Appendix 1.).
Last but not the least, since we were dealing with large amount of analogies and mapping functions
in the thesis, a large mindmap is given to explicitly present the structure (Appendix 4.).
Fig 52. e rhetoric model of my own projects.
55
Chapter 7
Conclusion
is thesis has outlined and bridged classical rhetoric and interactive art, mapped between them in
theory and practice, drawn models representing the rhetoric value in each artwork and as a result
proposed a paradigm of Media Art Rhetoric. Analogous discussion, examination, comparison,
and argument were made in order to discover and analyze the critical aributes, characteristics,
and essences, which are shared by classical rhetoric and interactive art. is framework of media
art rhetoric is meaningful in two aspects: analysis, to analyze the rhetorical value in media art in
scheme of rhetoric invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery and genesis, to propose a
paradigm guiding artists create new pieces with assistance of the rhetorical picture. ey both lead
to these questions:
• How does it establish the credibility, improve the interaction and appeal to the audience?
• How ca n it be i nstal led an d ploed in terms of spatiality and temporality?
• How does it stylize its concept, expression, and description?
• Which gures does it employ?
• How do es it ens ure th e conve yed me ssage i s more memorabl e?
• How do es it del iver the interac tive action?
56
Besides, classical rhetoric, there are certainly plenty of resources of general rhetoric that could
be referred to. And other genres of media art also contains various factors, aribution and
qualications. As a relatively brief analogy research, this thesis can hardly cover all the categories of
rhetoric and all elds of media arts. Further directions for this research concern broader reference
to modern rhetoric and other categories of media arts.
57
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60
Appendix 1.
Loophole For All Pendulum ChoirPendulum Choir Memopol-2 Newstweek
The EyeWriter Nemo Observatorium Image fulgurator Park view hotel
The messenger MILKproject Listening Post Can you see me now?
n-cha {n} tPolar Vectorial Elevation
Relational Architecture #4
The Difference Engine #3
World Skin Music Plays Images x
Images Play Music Global Interior Project A-Volve
Simulationsraum
Mosaik mobiler Datenklänge
Think about the people now VideoplaceHome of the Brain
61
CANON III.STYLE
Ethos Credibility artist
Interaction/interdisci
plinary/component
exposure/serie/assist
ant material
scale complexity intensity pace advance
Logos Reasoning artwork introduciton/deductio
nLow micro minimal light piano low tech
Pathos Emotion audience sensorium/daily
objects/output/id/ena
ble/gamification Middle neutral medium mild mezzo intermediate
Definition Genus/Division
Comparison Similarity/Differenc
e/Degree 4 VIRTUALS
Relationship
Cause/Effect/Ante
cedent/Conseque
nce/Contraries/Co
ntradictions
Purity
Circumstance Possible/Impossibl
e/Past/Future Fact Clarity
Forensic Politic
Judical Law
Ceremonial Testimonial
Steps Explanation FIGURES
Exordium Introduction,
Statement of goal
Narration
Background facts,
context
Division Divided points
Proof Argument supoort
the case
Refutation
Weakness of
opponent's
arguments
Peroration
Conclusion
CANON 1. INVENTION GENERATION EFFECTUATION
THE THREE PROOFS
Explanation Relationship
THE 3 LEVELS
INTERACTIVE ART MEASURE
Topics
Common Topic
Explanation Interaction
High macro complex strong forte high tech
type
algorithm INTERACTIVE ART QUALITY
reaction preciseness of data procesing
status clearness and honesty of the concept
Special Topic
politic, law, religion, economy
society, biology, network
sci-tech, privacy
…
Propriety interface design and user experience
Ornament application of figures
CANON II. ARRANGEMENT
CONFIGURATION
Spatiality Temporality INTERACTIVE ART STRATEGY
Site specificity, exhibit theme Entrance attraction
Conceptual Figures Antithesis, archaism, animalification, irony, personification,
metaphor, simile, synaesthesia, ellipsis, paradox, symbolism,
malapropism, verisimilitude, Innuendo, zeugma, kairos
Traffic flow, how audience approach Observation and expectation
Allocation based on the floor plan Understanding of procedure
Descriptive Figures Epigraph, idiom, allusion, euphemism, pun, portmanteau,
hyperbole, meiosis, climax, ellipsis, parallelism,
vernacular, tone, metaphor, asyndeton
Test run and evaluation Attemptation and exploration
Counter fraud, maintainence,
debugging Guessing and criticize
Expressive Figures Parallelism, matrix, repetition, synecdoche, asyndeton,
climax, metastasis, parody, onomatopoeia, vernacular,
hyperbole, meiosis, anastrophe, cacophony, rhyme, Palindrome
Installation Exit and conclude
Appendix 2.
62
Year
Prix Work Artist Ethos Logos Pathos Concept Expression Description Delivery Scale Complexi Intensity Pace Advance Ethos Logos Patho Concept Express Descrip Level Index
14 GN Loophole For All Paolo Cirio
assitance,
interdisciplin
ary,
hacking
strategy,
emotion,
export,
irony,
malapropism repetition irony investigate 5 8 2 2 4 4 4 6 4 2 2 4.2 3.93
13 GN Pendulum Choir
Michel
Décosterd,
André
Décosterd
exposure,
interdisciplna
ry,
antigravity, exposure,
serie, paradox repetition,
climax, tone tone move 7 6 7 5 5 6 4 6 2 6 2 6 5.17
12 GN Memopol-2 Timo Toots past portrait,
data,
affordance,
monitor,
daily object,
portamantea,
irony,
irony,
symbolism
climax,
hyperbole,
asyndeton,
vernacular,
portmantea,
pun, swipe 7 6 5 4 6 6 6 8 4 10 6 5.6 6.13
11 GN Newstweek Julian Oliver,
Danja Vasilliev
assitance,
device, test, plug, device, daily object,
irony, pun
malapropism,
irony, zeugma,
versimilitude
repetition,
parody,
hyperbole
meiosis, tone distribute 7 5 7 4 6 6 6 6 8 6 4 5.8 5.90
10 GN The EyeWriter
Zach
Lieberman,
James P, Tony
Q, Evan R,
Chris S, Theo
W
exposure,
assistance,
eyewear,
capture,
emotion,
sensorium,
empower,
tool,
hyperbole,
zeugma,
synaesthesia,
omission
hyperbole portmantea,
epitach eye move 3 6 5 7 5 6 6 10 8 2 4 5.2 5.60
09 GN
Nemo Observatorium
Lawrence
Malslaf opaque, button,
metaphor,
affection,
sensorium,
simile,
hyperbole, hyperbole, idiom, experience 8 3 8 6 2 4 4 8 6 4 4 5.4 5.20
08 GN image fulgurator julius von
Bismarck
assistance,
making-of,
play,
performance,
repetition,
curiocity,
effection,
irony,
parody, irony,
symbolism,
simile
anastrophe,
parallelism,
parody,
allusion, shoot flash 3 4 5 5 5 6 8 8 8 8 4 4.4 5.70
07 GN park view hotel Ashok
Sukumaran
lab
collaboration
, terms,
scope,
feedback,
privacy,
daily object,
public space,
anastrophe,
zeugma,
hyperbole,
meiosis, allusion, shoot 4 4 4 4 6 6 8 6 6 6 4 4.4 5.20
06 GN The messenger Paul DeMarinis
interdisciplia
nry, serie,
exposure,
email,
communicatio
n,
effections,
archaim,
zeugma,
metaphor,
synaesthesia
parallelism,
vernacular, allusion, type 6 7 5 5 5 8 6 4 8 6 4 5.6 5.80
05 GN MILKproject
Riga Center for
New Media
Culture
interdisci,
assistance gps, affection, daily
object, - - - track 6 6 2 1 4 4 4 6 2 2 2 3.8 3.57
04 GN Listening Post Mark Hansen,
Ben Rubin
natrual
sounds,
information,
interdisciplin
ary,
internet sound
feedback,
daily object,
affection,
sensorium
synaesthesia,
sensorium,
metaphor,
symbolism,
repetition,
asyndeton,
metastasis,
parody,
vernacular,
hyperbole,
cacophony,
rhyme
asyndeton,
climax, look & listen 8 7 6 6 5 6 4 6 10 16 6 6.4 7.20
03 GN
can you see me now?
Blast Theory
interdisciplin
ary,
assistance,
cell phone,
gamification,
gamification,
daily scenario,
affection,
simile,
verisimilitude,
parody,
metastasis,
synecdoche,
hyperbole,
rhetorical
question, track 6 6 6 6 7 6 6 8 6 10 4 6.2 6.43
02 GN n - cha {n} t David Rokeby grammar listsen sensorium,
daily object
metaphor,
symbolism,
parallesim,
repetition,
vernacular,
pun, look & listen 5 5 4 4 4 2 2 4 6 8 4 4.4 4.37
01 GN Polar
Carsten Nicolai
/ Marko
Peljhan
serie, cubical room,
light sounds,
curiosity,
sensorium,
immersive,
versimilitude,
symbolism,
innuendo,
juxtaposition
, hyperbole,
rhyme, tone
allusion, look & listen 8 7 7 7 5 2 6 8 8 8 4 6.8 6.40
Appendix 3.
63
Year Prix Work Artist Ethos Logos Pathos Concept Expression Description Delivery Scale Complexi Intensity Pace Advance Ethos Logos Patho Concept Express Descrip Level Index
00 GN
Vectorial Elevation,
Relational
Architecture 4
Rafael Lozano-
Hemmer
website,
streaming
video,
internet,
control, beam
of light,
city scape,
sensorium,
zeugma,
symbolism,
metaphor,
parallelism, allusion, control 9 6 6 7 7 6 8 6 8 4 4 7 6.50
99 GN
The Difference Engine
3
Lynn
Hershman
avatar,
website,
interdisciplin
ary,
button,
exposition in
virtual space
gamification,
exportation,
affection,
versimilitude,
metaphor,
simile,
parallelism,
exposition,
parody,
metastasis,
hyperbole,
meiosis,
allusion navigate 3 6 5 4 5 8 4 8 8 14 2 4.6 5.97
98 GN World Skin
Jean-Baptiste
Barrire,
Maurice
Benayoun
shaddow
icon,
virtual scene,
immerse,
war, affection,
sensorium,
metaphor,
versimilitude,
hyperbole,
cacophony,
idom,
allusion,
metaphor,
symbolism
immerse 4 5 3 4 6 4 4 8 6 6 8 4.4 5.20
97 GN Music Plays Images
x Images Play Music
Toshio Iwai,
Ryuichi
Sakamoto
performanc
e,
interdiscipli
anry,
the match, affection,
sensorium, simile,
synaesthesic,
climax,
rhyme,
anastrophe,
juxtapositio
n,
anastrophe look & listen 4 5 6 7 6 6 4 6 6 10 2 5.6 5.63
96 GN Global Interior
Project Masaki
Fujihata assitance, opening
door, video,
feedback,
curiosity,
affection,
daily object,
metaphor,
simile,
symbolism,
zeugma,
versimilitude,
repetition,
metastasis,
hyperbole, allusion, meet 7 7 6 5 6 4 8 8 12 8 4 6.2 6.77
94 GN A-Volve
Laurent
Mignonneau,
Christa
Sommerer
technical, display,
moving creation,
affection,
animalificatio
n,
verisimilitude
,
repetition,
meiosis,
rhetorical
question,
metaphor,
simile,
draw 6 5 4 3 7 4 4 6 6 6 8 5 5.33
93 GN Simulationsraum-
Mosaik mobiler
Datenklänge
Knowbotic
Research equipment,
interdiscip
room
explore,
wearable,
sound
feedback,
emotion,
sensorium,
animalificatio
n, metaphor,
synaesthesia,
verisimilitude
,
repetition,
synecdoche
,
explain
dash experience 7 7 6 6 8 4 8 6 10 6 2 6.8 6.40
92 GN Home of the Brain
Monika
Fleischmann,
Wolfgang
Strauss
assitance, material
presence,
abstraction,
sensorium,
emotion, versimilitude,
metaphor hyperbole, allusion, experience 7 7 6 6 8 4 6 6 4 4 4 6.8 5.73
91 GN Think about the
people now Paul Sermon scenario hypermedia,
affordance, joystick,
storytelling, metaphor,
symbolism, metastasis,
epitaph, play 3 5 5 5 7 2 6 6 6 4 2 5 4.67
90 GN Videoplace Myron
Krueger performace, shadow
indication, gamification, symbolism, parody, allusion, reflect 4 3 7 7 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 5.6 4.80
15 - Root Node Nathan Guo exposed,
reverse,
water trigger,
instruction
pictures,
daily objects,
sensorium,
metaphor,
symbolism,
irony, repetition, pun,
parallelism, water 5 6 4 4 3 4 8 6 6 4 6 4.4 5.03
14 - Wanderl_st Nathan Guo assitance,
footprint,
path
recorder,
feedback,
daily object,
gamification, simile, matrix,
cacophony, omission,
wordplay, throw 4 3 5 6 4 4 8 6 4 6 6 4.4 5.03
16 -Alibi Nathan G,
Muchen Z. assitance, robotic arm, affection, zeugma,
verisimilitude
, symbolism,
irony,
paradox, climax,
parallelism, move 4 3 7 7 7 4 4 4 8 6 6 5.6 5.47
64
Appendix 4.
APPEAL
ETHOS
PATHOS
LOGOS
INVENTION
TOPICS
COMMON TOPIC
DEFINITION
GENUS
DIVISION
COMPARISON
SIMILARITY
DIFFERENCE
DEGREE
RELATIONSHIP
CAUSE AND EFFECT
ANTECEDENT AND CONSEQUENCE
CONTRARIES
CONTRADICITIONS
CIRCUMSTANCE
POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE
PAST FACT AND FUTURE FACT
SPECIAL TOPIC
FORENSIC
JUDICAL
CEREMONIAL
GENERATION
EXORDIUM
NARRATION
DIVISON
CONFIGURATION
PROOF
ARRANGEMENT
REFUTATION
PERORATION
SOURCE: CLASSICAL
RHETORIC
3 LEVELS
LOW OR PLAIN STYLE {ATTENUATA, SUBTILE)
MIDDLE OR FORCIBLE STYLE (MEDI- OCRIS, ROBUSTA)
HIGH OR FLORID STYLE (GRAVIS, FLORIDA)
4 VIRTUES
PURITY
CLARITY
PROPRIETY
ORNAMENT
STYLIZATION
STYLE
FIGURES
TROPE
REFERENCE TO ON THING AS ANOTHER
SUBSTITUTION
OVERSTATEMENT/UNDERSTATEMENT
WORDPLAY/PUN
SEMANTIC INVERSION
SCHEME
STRUCTURES OF BALANCE
CHANGES IN ORDER
REPETITION
OMISSION
MEMORY
DELIVERY
CONCEPTURALIZING
ARTIST
AUDIENCE
INTERACTION
PROTOTYPING
TYPE
ALGORITHM
PROCESS
FLOW
TOPIC
POLITICS
LAW
REILGION
OTHERS
ECONOMY
SCOCIETY
BIOLOGY
NETWORK
SCIENCE
PRIVACY
…
SPACIALITY
SITE SPECIFCITY
EXHIBITION THEME
NARRATIVE OF ACTIONS
FLOOR PLANING
COUNTER FRAUD
MAINTAINENCE
DEBUG
INSTALLATION
TEMPORALITY
ENTRANCE
OBSERVATION
EXPECTATION
ATTEMPTATION
EXPLORATION
EVALUATING
CRITICIZING
FUNCTION
TARGET: INTERACTIVE
ART
LEVELS
MINIMAL, MICRO, MILD, STRAIGHTFORWARD, PIANO, LOW TECH
NEUTRAL, MEDIUM, INTERMEDIATE, MEZZO, MILD
COMPLEX, MACRO, INTENSE, FORTE, SOPHISICATED, HIGH TECH
QUALITY
PRECISE
CLEARNESS
USER EXPERIENCE
USEING STRATEGIES
STRATEGY
CONCEPTUAL
SIMILE, METAPHOR
PERSONIFICAITON
SYMBOLISM
SYNAESTHESIA
REPLACEMENT
EXAGGERATION
HUMBLE
PARADOX
VERISIMILITUDE
DESCRIPTIVE
COINED TERM
PORTMANTEAU
IDIOM
RHETORICAL QUESTION
EXPRESSIVE
SERIES
ANTITHESIS
SEQUENCIAL
CYCLED STRUCTURE
REPETITION
ELLIPSIS
REPRESENTATION
CONTENT
TITLE
DESCRIPTION
CONCEPT
SUBJECT
FOR ARTIST
FOR MUSEUM GUIDE
FOR CURATOR
FOR REPORTER
ACTION
RESPONDING
EXPLAINING
ACTIVATIING
RESTATING
PERFORMING
REACTING
65
APPEAL
ETHOS
PATHOS
LOGOS
INVENTION
TOPICS
COMMON TOPIC
DEFINITION
GENUS
DIVISION
COMPARISON
SIMILARITY
DIFFERENCE
DEGREE
RELATIONSHIP
CAUSE AND EFFECT
ANTECEDENT AND CONSEQUENCE
CONTRARIES
CONTRADICITIONS
CIRCUMSTANCE
POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE
PAST FACT AND FUTURE FACT
SPECIAL TOPIC
FORENSIC
JUDICAL
CEREMONIAL
GENERATION
EXORDIUM
NARRATION
DIVISON
CONFIGURATION
PROOF
ARRANGEMENT
REFUTATION
PERORATION
SOURCE: CLASSICAL
RHETORIC
3 LEVELS
LOW OR PLAIN STYLE {ATTENUATA, SUBTILE)
MIDDLE OR FORCIBLE STYLE (MEDI- OCRIS, ROBUSTA)
HIGH OR FLORID STYLE (GRAVIS, FLORIDA)
4 VIRTUES
PURITY
CLARITY
PROPRIETY
ORNAMENT
STYLIZATION
STYLE
FIGURES
TROPE
REFERENCE TO ON THING AS ANOTHER
SUBSTITUTION
OVERSTATEMENT/UNDERSTATEMENT
WORDPLAY/PUN
SEMANTIC INVERSION
SCHEME
STRUCTURES OF BALANCE
CHANGES IN ORDER
REPETITION
OMISSION
MEMORY
DELIVERY
CONCEPTURALIZING
ARTIST
AUDIENCE
INTERACTION
PROTOTYPING
TYPE
ALGORITHM
PROCESS
FLOW
TOPIC
POLITICS
LAW
REILGION
OTHERS
ECONOMY
SCOCIETY
BIOLOGY
NETWORK
SCIENCE
PRIVACY
…
SPACIALITY
SITE SPECIFCITY
EXHIBITION THEME
NARRATIVE OF ACTIONS
FLOOR PLANING
COUNTER FRAUD
MAINTAINENCE
DEBUG
INSTALLATION
TEMPORALITY
ENTRANCE
OBSERVATION
EXPECTATION
ATTEMPTATION
EXPLORATION
EVALUATING
CRITICIZING
FUNCTION
TARGET: INTERACTIVE
ART
LEVELS
MINIMAL, MICRO, MILD, STRAIGHTFORWARD, PIANO, LOW TECH
NEUTRAL, MEDIUM, INTERMEDIATE, MEZZO, MILD
COMPLEX, MACRO, INTENSE, FORTE, SOPHISICATED, HIGH TECH
QUALITY
PRECISE
CLEARNESS
USER EXPERIENCE
USEING STRATEGIES
STRATEGY
CONCEPTUAL
SIMILE, METAPHOR
PERSONIFICAITON
SYMBOLISM
SYNAESTHESIA
REPLACEMENT
EXAGGERATION
HUMBLE
PARADOX
VERISIMILITUDE
DESCRIPTIVE
COINED TERM
PORTMANTEAU
IDIOM
RHETORICAL QUESTION
EXPRESSIVE
SERIES
ANTITHESIS
SEQUENCIAL
CYCLED STRUCTURE
REPETITION
ELLIPSIS
REPRESENTATION
CONTENT
TITLE
DESCRIPTION
CONCEPT
SUBJECT
FOR ARTIST
FOR MUSEUM GUIDE
FOR CURATOR
FOR REPORTER
ACTION
RESPONDING
EXPLAINING
ACTIVATIING
RESTATING
PERFORMING
REACTING
