Evaluation and Experience in Art

Abstract

This chapter is about evaluation in the creation and experience of interactive art and its implications for practitioner research methodologies. Central to the need for evaluation is the transformative nature of experience in art and the way that the advent of interactivity in the digital age has changed the audience from viewer to a new kind of participant. This has given rise to opportunities for exploring interactive experience in a creative context, one that has been recognised by researchers and art practitioners alike. Although evaluation in the service of art practice is an unfamiliar notion to many, there is no doubt that in respect of evaluation and art experience, the boundaries of what is possible are being extended in interactive art development. In Practice Based Research and Human Computer Interaction new opportunities are arising that bridge the interests of digital art and interaction design. A framework for evaluating interactive art development and experience is presented followed by discussion of the approaches and methods represented in the following chapters of the book. These approaches illustrate the diversity to be found in interactive arts evaluation processes, from documented reflective practice to evidence based methods.