Interactive Art

What would make you interact with a piece of art? I don't mean a print of a Van Gogh that you can color on...I don't mean a digital Picasso that you can move around...I don't mean a big coloring book page with some crayola markers attached...I mean a real piece of art.

If you walked into a gallery to large blank canvas, a string with a pencil, and instructions to draw one object, would you do it? If there was a notepad asking for ideas or thoughts, would you write one down? If someone documented the making of a piece on Twitter through pictures, posting thoughts, and posting details, would you join in on a critique? Would you answer their call for ideas?

Or would you look, read, and keep walking?

The worst thing about making art, for me, is the distance that appears between the viewer and the piece. Like the piece is some sort of definitive statement that should not be spoken back to, that CANNOT be disrespected...and while it does hold value, especially to the artist, it's just a piece of art. What would bring a piece to a comfortable level? What would make it personable instead of intimidating? What would make it engaging instead of confusing? What would make you interested in interaction, instead of feeling like it's some deified object? We aren't gazing at the Mona Lisa and showing reverence to the greatest artists of all time and what they mean to history, you're looking at a piece I made in my living room. Loosen up! What would make you comfortable to put in your two sense, get your hands dirty, or at the very least, get out and meet the people around you creating this stuff? What makes art easy for you?

While Milwaukee's done some great things, I think that is the next great step between having an arts community, and having art become a part of THE community.