Professor Roy Ascott is an internationally recognized pioneer in media art. He is active in media art both as an artist and a theorist. He innovatively introduced cybernetics and telecommunications into the works of multimedia art and is dedicated to the research into the impact of digital and telecommunication network on consciousness. He joined DeTao in 2012 and continued to present his research into art, science, hi-tech and consciousness in Shanghai as an outstanding artist, theorist and innovative educator in media art.

The syncretic cybernetics exhibition area of Professor Ascott at this biennale is featured by his work La Plissure du Texte. La Plissure du Texte: A Planetary Fairy Tale was originated in 1983. Four versions of this work are exhibited at the biennale: the 1983 version (picture) of La Plissure du Texte (LPDT): A Planetary Fairy Tale, the 2010 version of LPDT2 (video clips of Second Life virtual reality), the 2012 version of LPDT3 (the 3D interactive desktop configuration of Second Life virtual reality) and the 2012 version of Pilgrimage to the West: A Planetary Fairy Tale (global online writing scheme).

Lately, www.eastday.com had an exclusive interview with Professor Ascott, revealing his core concept and updating the readers on the latest of Shanghai Biennale.

Eastday: You are an internationally acclaimed pioneer and innovative theorist in technoetic arts as well as the most significant advocate of interactive computer art. What is interactive computer art? Is it not yet universal?

Professor Ascott: In fact, it’s already universal in our life. For example, when we walk into a building, the door will open automatically once its sensing system identifies the motion. When the room is heated by the sun, the drapes close a bit automatically to keep off the sunlight. These original examples of interaction epitomize what interactive computer art is.

In overall, it’s like an artist converting something via telecommunication and network technology. For instance, we can move any fixed exhibition halls or galleries to any place in the world with Internet. It is also possible to move our works from the wall to the table. All these movements are made possible by telecommunication technology, but of course in a virtual world. There’s a virtual project in Europe called Second Life which is similar to the one in China. There are a lot of architectures in this virtual world and we have many identities, called Avatars. We can interact, talk and design there. A student of mine even exchanged his designed virtual clothing for money in the real world.

The modern hi-tech allows us to travel anywhere in the world and meet anyone you like via Internet, whether you are a designer, an artist, a client or an architect. It is interaction that matters most in interactive computer art.

Eastday: Will this technoetic art pose any threat to the conventional art?Professor Ascott: Art is stationary conventionally. We can read it from a work of art, be it a painting, a sculpture or a drama. Technoetic art stresses interaction. You can interact with the environment, the painting and the sculpture. Our movements are making changes on them. No stationary works exist as long as there is interaction. Visitors and users are all involved in the creating of these works, whether the works are in words or in pictures. This represents a major innovation in art.

Our interaction nowadays has grown more advanced. It has memory and is able to identify people and their demands. If you forget to bring your car key, for instance, an application will remind you. In front of us is the innovation brought by high speed network. The advancement in network gives us access to more instant and detailed data, making our world more civilized and developed.

Therefore, we are increasingly aware of the unprecedented overlapping of tangible art with interactive computer art. The consolidation of these two has developed our art system. Our artistic world is made smarter by telecommunication network.

Eastday: Why do you term the entire collection of your works La Plissure du Texte? Could you give us a description of Pilgrimage to the West on display during this biennale?

Professor Ascott: I name it La Plissure du Texte as a tribute to Le Plaisir du Texte by Roland Barthes. The title not only matches the three exhibits, but also the entire collection of my works. My art is expected to integrate plissure (pleat) and plaisir (pleasure), text and texture, so as to create intimacy and resonance. Telecommunication is also expected to create love.We have launched an international campaign to recruit artists into our copyright sharing production team. The team has been engaged in the production of renewed versions of La Plissure du Texte – Pilgrimage to the West, which was on display during this Biennale. The new production was inspired by a Chinese classic of the same name, the hero of which was better known as Monkey in the west. Readers are able to witness via Skype how the online joint writing is going on. Every member of the team is advised to write in their native language and stay in contact with team members of other nations via Google Translation.

50 members are in the team for the production of Pilgrimage to the West. 25 of them come from China, the other 25 from the rest of the world. They pick a character from myths, either Pilgrimage to the West or myths of other countries. I name every character Avatar, so that the new work is tailored to this character. The new works were demonstrated on the roll screen during the Biennale.

Eastday: These are well-known characters derived from classics. Do writers keep the traits of these characters as they are in the original works? Will the new work become a collection of myth characters?

Professor Ascott: Not really. It is up to the writers to decide what characters to create. It’s inevitable that the traits of Monkey King resemble those in the original classic, but they are not required to be copied, because the identity is created by the writers and by their own perception of the character. Unpredictable possibilities and surprises do appear in writing. The story can either be a lesson as in a fable, or simply a joke. What matters is how the new story is written, because the 50 writers are communicating via network and the same story is differently received in different cultures. This diversifies the implications of the story. It will be equally interesting to read the story and will make good fun.

Not any integration or edition will be done to the stories once the 50 writers finish their work. They are kept intact like archives before being presented. What’s more, they will be posted online or in blogs, so that readers are given direct access to them for comments and further writing, making them more sustainable.

Eastday: It’s been almost a fortnight since your works are put on display at the Biennale. How about the feedback of visitors? Are they able to derive your philosophy in the exhibits?

Professor Ascott: Feedback comes in two types. Five renowned critics from New York highly appreciated my works. They stayed in my exhibition booth, thinking and taking notes. One of my works exhibited was like this: pieces of plastic kitchenware were placed on the table (according to Professor Ascott, table facilitated interaction), and two chairs were placed beside the table. Different people used these tools in different ways. Some students worked out rules for using them, while kids played with them at random. Sometimes, the whole family was there. The parents watched as their kid played with the tools creatively. My works have been well received during the Biennale.

Eastday: Apart from attending the Biennale, you are planning to bring your theories to China on your current trip to Shanghai. Could you brief us on that?

Professor Ascott: People call me Father of Interactive Computer Art, because this term is coined by me. Ascending artists need telecommunication and computer for research. This is also what my research center in engaged in currently.

I’m coming to Shanghai with this education and research model. My cooperation with DeTao has put the model into practice. I am aspiring to enhance the quality of art education with my teaching methodology and at the same time strengthen my research in interactive computer art. The project of interaction we are working on is both screen-based and environment-based. We are therefore required to create a theoretical and critical environment to accommodate our artists and facilitate their free development.

The cultural development has ushered in the electronic generation. This generation is growing up with computer as part of the body. Teachers of this generation however are electronic immigrants and strangers to technology. In some case, when the teacher is giving a lesson at the podium, the students have already managed to search a lot more information with Google, iPhone or iPad in their seats. Our knowledge technology has been made more interactive, fueling a major conceptual switch in education.