Co-authoring with the collective: An iterative design framework for participatory art

Global issues like climate change, public health and social justice require diverse, collective thought in order to materialise solutions, but the way to achieve this is less clear. Participatory art provides fertile ground for research into this topic, and can act as both laboratory and playground in the quest to harness collective methods. This paper explores discourse on participation from the disciplines of Performance Studies and Game Studies in order to develop an experimental framework for participatory art design. The mechanisms and methods mentioned were tested through practice-led research, which culminated in an experimental performance at ArtEZ University in May 2021. Defining participatory art as a form of simulation highlights the multiple roles played by artists of such works that differ from other artistic disciplines, such as designer, procedural author and facilitator. Key aspects of the design framework include ideating from core values, recognising multiple subjectivities within participants, and employing a collaborative approach to design through iterative feedback cycles. The framework can be used as a tool for both creation and critique, contributing to the dialogue about the politics embedded within participatory mechanisms.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Jessica Renfro

Conference

Publication date: September 2021

Publication date (Print): September 2021

Pages: 96-104

Affiliations

[0001]ArtEZ University of the Arts

The Netherlands

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/POM2021.13

SO-VID: bb8b6d02-b7e7-43b5-b5e6-19e61083bd3b

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of Politics of the Machines - Rogue Research 2021

Conference acronym: POM 2021

Conference number: 3

Conference location: Berlin, Germany

Conference date: September 14-17, 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: debate and devise concepts and practices that seek to critically question and unravel novel modes of science

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/POM2021.13

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

E. Aarseth (2004) ‘Genre trouble’, Electronic book review, 3, pp. 1–7.
C. Bishop (2006) Participation. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
C. Bishop (2012) Artificial hells: Participatory art and the politics of spectatorship. Verso Books.
L. De Wildt (2014) ‘Enstranging play: Distinguishing playful subjecthood from governance’, in. Philosophy of Computer Games Conference.
M. Flanagan & H. Nissenbaum (2014) Values at play in digital games. Cambridge: MIT Press.
G. Frasca (2013) ‘Simulation versus narrative: Introduction to ludology’, in The video game theory reader. Routledge, pp. 243–258.
A. R. Galloway & E. Thacker (2013) The exploit: A theory of networks. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
R. Hunicke, M. LeBlanc & R. Zubeck (2004) ‘MDA: A formal approach to game design and game research’, in Proceedings of the AAAI Workshop on Challenges in Game AI, p. 1722.
G. Kester (2004) Conversation pieces: Community and communication in modern art. University of California Press.
S. Mukherjee (2015) Video games and storytelling: Reading games and playing books. Palgrave Macmillan.
J. H. Murray (2016) Hamlet on the holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace. Updated Edition. Cambridge: MIT Press.
J. Rancière (2014) The emancipated spectator. Verso Books.
J. Renfro (2021) We called it ____: Filling the gaps in participatory art design. Thesis, ArtEZ University. Available from: http://www.performancepractices.nl/students/we-called-it--_____%3A-filling-the-gaps-in-participatory-art-design [Accessed 15 January 2021]
K. Salen & E. Zimmerman (2004) Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. Cambridge: MIT Press.
N. Shah (2017) ‘5. In Access: Digital Video and the User’, in Asian Video Cultures. Duke University Press, pp. 114–130.
M. Sicart (2011) The ethics of computer games. Cambridge: MIT Press.
G. White (2013) Audience participation in theatre: Aesthetics of the invitation. Springer.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] E. Aarseth (2004) ‘Genre trouble’, Electronic book review, 3, pp. 1–7.

[2] C. Bishop (2006) Participation. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

[3] C. Bishop (2012) Artificial hells: Participatory art and the politics of spectatorship. Verso Books.

[4] L. De Wildt (2014) ‘Enstranging play: Distinguishing playful subjecthood from governance’, in. Philosophy of Computer Games Conference.

[5] M. Flanagan & H. Nissenbaum (2014) Values at play in digital games. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[6] G. Frasca (2013) ‘Simulation versus narrative: Introduction to ludology’, in The video game theory reader. Routledge, pp. 243–258.

[7] A. R. Galloway & E. Thacker (2013) The exploit: A theory of networks. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

[8] R. Hunicke, M. LeBlanc & R. Zubeck (2004) ‘MDA: A formal approach to game design and game research’, in Proceedings of the AAAI Workshop on Challenges in Game AI, p. 1722.

[9] G. Kester (2004) Conversation pieces: Community and communication in modern art. University of California Press.

[10] S. Mukherjee (2015) Video games and storytelling: Reading games and playing books. Palgrave Macmillan.

[11] J. H. Murray (2016) Hamlet on the holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace. Updated Edition. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[12] J. Rancière (2014) The emancipated spectator. Verso Books.

[13] J. Renfro (2021) We called it ____: Filling the gaps in participatory art design. Thesis, ArtEZ University. Available from: http://www.performancepractices.nl/students/we-called-it--_____%3A-filling-the-gaps-in-participatory-art-design [Accessed 15 January 2021]

[14] K. Salen & E. Zimmerman (2004) Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[15] N. Shah (2017) ‘5. In Access: Digital Video and the User’, in Asian Video Cultures. Duke University Press, pp. 114–130.

[16] M. Sicart (2011) The ethics of computer games. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[17] G. White (2013) Audience participation in theatre: Aesthetics of the invitation. Springer.

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