Defining Interaction

Abstract

Roy Stringer believed that it is the artist, rather than the engineer, who leads in the finding of new visions, or what he calls the “emergent order”. Billy Kluver also remarked that “the artist widens the vision of the engineer” [2]. But is this just the railing of the artist against the power of the technocrat? What is the evidence from past experience that supports the idea that artists, as distinct from anyone else, have something special to offer innovative technology and the “emergent order”? The people who invented ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) on which the Internet was built, were not artists, nor were those who brought the portable music player and the mobile phone into everyday use. Many people from different walks of life and with different goals and expertize have contributed to the development of ideas, artifacts and new forms. If artists have a role to play in creating a new order, what kind of role is it and is it really distinctive from the role of designers, engineers and technologists?