interactivity in the age of the audience

18 august 2011

as part of being core artists at this year's Forest Fringe non zero one hosted a panel discussion entitled Interactivity in the Age of the Audience

the discussion focused on the process of making of interactive work - specifically how different practitioners design an experience that reacts to the input of its participants. how do theatre-makers, promoters, critics and participants approach work that is designed to be different with every performance? how can you be objective and fair about an experience designed to tailor to you, to listen to what you want and what you do, and be different each time? without a set outcome to a piece of work, what is the measure of success for artists and critics and programmers alike?

we also asked "is intimate performance decadent?" in response to Charlotte Higgins’ recent Guardian blog article how can the value outside of box office return be measured, and how can work that is inherently and necessarily exclusive be promoted as a good thing? “great art for everyone” does not have to mean “for lots of people”, but would we make it for more people if we could?

we invited several guest panel speakers:

alex fleetwood, founder and director of hide and seek
harun morrison, producer of lundahl and seitl and joint artistic director of Fierce Festival
lyn gardner, critic at the guardian
mark daniels, executive director of new media scotland
matt adams, artist and co-founder of blast theory

the panel was from 3-4.30pm, in the Forest main hall on thursday 18 august.

an audio recording of the discussion is available on theatre voice