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Preserving Interaction

This book section investigates the characteristics of interactive, digital art and the challenges of capturing the essence of interactive art in order to curate it into the future (including the notion that an authoritative record of an ephemeral event can be captured at all). The chapter views HCI theory through the lens of dramaturgy, combining the two to discuss experience design. It goes on to examine the most common motivations for different groups (artists, archivists, users) to curate interactive art and what curatorial methods are most suited to each driver, alongside a realistic indication of what representations of the work are practical to document and preserve.

Research combines performance theory with the latest research on Human Computer Interaction, specifically the concept of 'trajectories' which lends itself to an examination from a dramaturgical perspective. Using personal experience as a long term advisor on the curation of complex objects/events, the chapter moves from theory to practical advice on how to achieve the best results from different curation motivations.

This chapter draws on research developed over several years and presented in early forms at several conferences. It was originally published in an e-book as Abbott, Daisy (2012) Preserving Interaction. In: The Preservation of Complex Objects; Volume 2: Software Art. JISC, Bristol, UK, pp. 61-70. ISBN 978861376209 The book section now forms part of a substantial collection of valuable documents produced by the Preservation of Complex Objects Symposium (http://www.pocos.org/) on the curation of visualisations, simulations, software art, games, and virtual worlds.