Reading Response 7 (Bishop)

Participatory art: an approach to making art which engages public participation in the creative process, letting them become co-authors, editors, and observers of the work. This type of art is incomplete without viewers' physical interaction.

How Important Is The Role Of Collaborative Art In Our Society Today?

In the reading by Claire Bishop, “The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents,” Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, I understand that the author is debating on the role of participatory art in the contemporary art world. She says that it needs to be included in the majority as a part of self-sufficient consumerism and that "Participation became an important buzzword in the social inclusion discourse" in which makes me think that collaborative art should take a bigger role in society today. In my opinion, I feel that when the artist makes an art work that is interactive with the public the experience is more interesting and makes them feel important to be there. In today's society we can see many digital art work from all part of the world, but when the artists decide to make the art piece a participatory work, the viewer is forced to do more than what they are expected to do (in some cases are forced to go to the physical place instead of being in front of a computer screen). In addition to that, I also believe that it is a good way to stand out from other art pieces because making an artwork easily interactive and collaborative can facilitate their work to become famous. Participatory art changes the audience role from viewer to a performer, and I think it is a great strategy in the art market today because people can be more curious about the art work . Bishop describes participation “as a constantly moving target”(30) and I think is an important statement because we see how it has the tendency of changing over time, just like our society is changing today. Because of that I think collaborative/Participatory art should be accessible so that it follows the societal changes/evolution.