Characterising Artworks for Emergence

Abstract

Emergence can occur in artworks, in their participants , and in varying ways. Pioneering artists in artificial life have simulated emergent landscapes, generating computational emergence for participants to interact with. Emergence in interactive art may also be happening in the system’s participants—with or without the artist's intention. Such instances may have been anticipated or designed for by the artists, or the artist may not have mentioned the concept of emergence at all. This chapter fleshes out some of these varied instances of emergence in the interactive arts by reviewing six works by artists across the world: Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau, Ken Rinaldo, Simon Penny and Jamieson Schulte, Romy Achituv and Camille Utterback, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and David Rokeby. These digital, interactive artworks are characterised by using a ‘lens’ of emergence, and by drawing on the TEIA . The discussion broadens our understanding of the forms emergence in interaction can take as well as providing additional ways of appreciating these works.