ICT: Scott Snibbe, Creative Practitioner
Scott Sona Snibbe is an interactive media artist based in San Francisco. His work requires the viewers to physically engage with the piece through various forms of interactivity. These forms are often media such as mobile devices, digital projections, and electromechanical sculptures. (snibbe.com, 2010). Snibbe has become popular with mobile app users, being one of the first artists to create interactive apps for the iOS devices. (New York Times, 2010).
Snibbe says that the purpose of his work is to bring meaning and joy to people's lives. (snibbe.com, 2010). This statement resonates with me because I would like to do the same with my work as a creative practitioner. I believe that interactive art is an effective form of communication as it allows the viewer to become more mentally and emotionally engaged in the piece. This engagement is what carries the message or feeling of the piece deeply into people's minds and emotions. Audience involvement destructs the separation between the viewer and the piece itself, bringing the two closer together and letting the viewer get a closer understanding of the piece.
In an interview with Jascha Hoffman (conducted in 2012) he says that he has stopped showing art in galleries because he wants to reach the general public. I think that this goal is echoed widely throughout many trans-disciplinary artists and reflects the mindset of scientific research. It is conducted so that society may better it's understanding of the world. How can society better it's understanding if it is hidden in a gallery?
Snibbe's work inspires me to continue looking for ways to incorporate interactivity into the presentation of art. Realising that someone such as Scott, who is in the industry and making such a difference in his areas, shares many of the same views and purpose is very uplifting and shows me that this could be an area that I am able to flourish in in the future. I am very excited for the what the possibilities of interactive media might able me to achieve.
Through looking at his work and how influential he has been in the world of art I have noticed that interactive art is now much more accepted and endorsed in our culture much due to his work towards making this form more accessible to the average person. I feel I owe Snibbe some thanks for bringing this type of art into a more widely accepted view and made it much more accessible. Had it not been for his work, interactive art may have still been restricted to professional artists.
As an artist I wouldn't class myself anywhere near being professional. I have only recently come to understand that I might actually be an artist. Maybe the increase of accessibility and popularisation of artistic resources has influenced how I thought of myself as a creative practitioner. I thought that because everyone had the resources to make creative works and most people used them, it wasn't something that made me an artist. Now I realise that being an artist is different from being weird. If being an artist is normal now then maybe I'll have to challenge myself to be ahead of the popular culture to be influential.
Snibbe, S. (2010). Scott Sona Snibbe: Bio. Retrieved on 28 April, 2013 from http://www.snibbe.com/bio/
Harmanci, R. (2010, August 19). For Digital Artists, Apps Provide New Pallette. New York Times. Retrieved on 28 April, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/us/20bciart.html
Hoffman, J. (2012). Q&A Scott Snibbe: Nature's Digitizer. Nature, 485 (7397), 172-173. doi:10.1038
