Participation Is Risky

Equated with notions of public interaction, the term "participation" is often used very loosely, especially within the contexts of new media and innovation research. Among a recent generation of artists and designers working in new media, there is an increasing need to work across disciplines and domains in ways that enable end users to contribute content, form and structure. These artists are currently developing new parameters in creative collaboration and participation in order to meet the specific working methods and processes required by new media. Participation Is Risky illustrates how interesting participative practices and results are typically characterized by the "risky" confrontation between the differences of disciplines and perspectives. While their work will have no fixed form, Participation Is Risky proposes that artists who engage in participative practices must take the risk of abandoning their traditional roles and evolve through participatory collaboration.