Research: Pockets Full of Memories--'' The Art of Participation 1950 to New''

'The Art of Participation 1950 to New' is my favorite book  in the college library so far. This book introduces a lot of artists who work on participation art and shows a lot of nice works related audience's participation and communication in an artworks.


For example, there is a work called 'Pockets Full of Memories' which is George Legrady’s map work.

First of all, it is no denying that making audience join an artwork and define a space by themselves in a gallery is a way to enhance visitors’ enthusiasm, which likes a live design show worked by artist and visitors together.Harris said that to better understand vitality, we need to enter the audience. It is clear that our interactions with each other as members of an audience help to define our experience of live events. I think that an empty room has no special meaning and interactivity for people; therefore, the redefinition and reuse of a void space becomes increasingly important, which can build a new connection between the space and viewers. In this section, I am going to refer to the image-changing projects of participation in process by audience, because the combination and separation of images is a typical using of graphics. When it is used into an interactive space and related to viewers’ participation, the interactive and visual effects will be animate and surprised. On the one hand, image-changing graphic language provides a vivid and interactive way for people to participate. In contrast, artist can get more accidental effects from the working process by audience, which gives their project vitality and creativity.

Here George Legrady designed an interactive installation called Pockets Full of Memories, which focuses on a relation between digital systems of classification, semantic category and memory recall. In the gallery space, visitors are invited to scan their personal belongs and describe them by words in a database.

I consider that mapping as a typical graphic, is a developing system, which can be updated conveniently and quickly at any time. Obviously, mapping by system offers a good way to create the connection between visitors and the work, which is also an expression of collaboration by the participation of visitors. As William Owen mentioned, maps give their makers the power to define the territory in their terms. On the other hand Maps give their readers the simple and magical ability to see beyond the horizon. Particularly, they use their belongs as graphic shapes, contribute to the mapping system and make a new definition for the space. Meanwhile, the accidental and unpredictable effects will happen in the end of the work or the process of the work; therefore, people do not know what would happen, which is also the glamour of participation art. As a result, it can be seen that how to define a room or a wall is significant for creating interaction for views in a gallery space.