REFLECTION
These last three studies I feel as if I have really exhibited my advancement as a media creator. The creative process of these three assignments I believe was quite successful, I am very pleased by the outcome of all three studies, however, I do believe as always that there is further refinement/advancement that can be done.
Prior to this semester, I had never even heard of MAX, so having to continuously use this software caused many difficulties, however, because of this I had to learn a lot within quite a small period of time. Previously, I tended to stay within the bounds of comfort and because of that I was able to actually execute what I had envisioned, however those creations were very ‘basic’ and limited. Yet within these studies, I really pushed myself as there were many new elements that I wanted to explore further. It was difficult during the creative process as I would conceptualise various potential studies yet I would realistically not be able to construct them on MAX, I tried my best through external research and what I had learnt within class to construct an engaging piece of interactive art. With these last few studies, I found that my creative process (apart from the technical difficulties upon conception) had become even more so refined than I had stated in my previous reflections.
Techniques of interactive art making that I have learnt this semester include on a basic level what truly shapes user interactivity, being sensory elements such as sound, tangibility, sight etc that can all be utilised within interactive art. Also I had found that the concept of giving the audience agency upon the outcome of an artwork very interesting as most usually the artist holds primary agency. As there can be various users of interactive art, this provides a certain diversity in which would have not existed if there was only one sole creator (being the artist).
What I would consider successful about my work so far would be quite a lot in comparison to where I began at the beginning of the semester, but most notably is the appearance of the completed studies, they include both informative and decorative elements such as instructive text, photos or colouring. I have previously received a lot of criticism from peers referring to my lack of care for the look of my studies, so for these, I gave extra attention to making the finished patch appear polished. Yet ultimately, in all studies I had created what I had envisioned, with some compromises, of course, my studies have all been successful to a certain extent (of course being realistic of what can be achieved under time restraints and minimal knowledge of MAX). Going into this semester my ultimate objective was to create art which can adequately interact with a user for either a short or sustained period of time, which I believe I have achieved throughout all of my studies. Most importantly I feel as if my personal improvement as an interactive artist is most evident when comparing these three studies to my first. Not only are my creations much more technically advanced yet also the appearances of these pieces are much more refined. In comparison to where I had begun with my practically non-existent understanding of MAX and limited knowledge of interactive art in general, I feel as if I have come a long way, and I am very much pleased.
As I progressed throughout the semester with each study I had created, I feel as if I was constantly improving as an interactive artist, this incline of skill is very much evident from my first creation to my most recent. This form of art intrinsically relies on the participation of a user in order to determine the outcome of the piece, which is the ultimate objective of user interactive art and is what I believe that I have successfully achieved within all of my studies. Overall I am quite content with where I am skilfully yet always eager to continue to learn and advance my works.
How I believe I can improve my work is as I have stated numerous times, ultimately become more proficient with MAX, being more aware of different controls within MAX (as I have mentioned previously) will allow myself to be able to actually bring my ideas to conception. At the begging of this semester using this form of technology in order to achieve numerous different effects was very much new to me, I still have moments of confusion or frustration as I don’t think I will ever confidently say that I have a complete understanding of MAX, yet with everything I have made so far I have been exploring/ improving with the software more and more. Ultimately, I am very pleased with all I have created this semester, I have learnt a lot about interactivity and what encompasses audience agency.