First review
01 September 2022
The first review of the book is published in the online newsletter Vital Weekly, written by Bauke van der Wal. You can read it at http://www.vitalweekly.net/1350.html.
“Now, this is a solid book about an intriguing subject. Over 600 pages of information - technological, philosophical, practical and theoretical - subtitled “An artist’s guide to building expressive interactive systems”. Marije has been active as an artist in this field for over 20 years, so it’s safe to state she’s an authority in this field. Moreover, these last five years she spent writing this book. So when I was asked if this would be interesting for me to read and review, I dove in head first, knowing I had a holiday coming up where there was hardly any internet to spend my spare time. Win-win.
If the book were to be contained in one sentence, it would be like “Guidelines on how to handle the field between input and output of a system in the mostly digital domain”. Or more readable: The realisation of how gestures or changes can be perceived and the translation and manipulation of information streams into an artistic outing. She goes through the whole process with a little distance, making it interesting for artists in all fields. And with well-thought examples in performance art, modern dance, and music, she connects the theory to praxis, making it tangible and comprehensible.”