Interactive art emerged in the late 1950s in parallel with artists’ desires to find less alienating and exclusive environments in which to show art. As the street, the warehouse or the shop front became their choice of venue, the art also became more participatory and inclusive.
Artists designed sculptures that could be touched and played with. Niki de Saint Phalle built the monumental walk-in sculpture Golem in Rabinovich Park, Jerusalem, which has a children’s slide. In 1971 Gordon Matta-Clark cooked a pig under Brooklyn Bridge and served 500 pork sandwiches as part of the performance.
Interactive art is also computer based, with the participant responding to the technology set up by the artist like the public artworks of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Interactive art is also associated with relational aesthetics.
