No "spectators" allowed, no passive bystanders. You can't appreciate new media art from a distance. Objectivity is banned. You have to feel it, be part of it, and at China's first International Interactive Art Exhibition you are just that, writes Weng Shihui.Technology is changing, so are people's lives, and the art world as well. The emerging of new media in the last two decades is a good example.Unlike traditional art forms that can be materialized as a painting or a sculpture, the new media art differentiates itself by its cultural objects, which relies heavily on technical support, and presents the art concept in a more interactive way.Now, 11 artists from nine countries and regions, including Japan, Austria, the United States, Germany, France and Sweden, and the Netherlands, are bringing their works to China's first International Interactive Art Exhibition, organized by Fudan University's Visual Art Institute and the Shanghai Sculpture Center. It aims to raise awareness of the new art and technology, starting from Sunday to August 12."Technology is a means of civilization, an illusion of control over our environment, what we called 'nature'," notes Kurt Hentschlaeger, who brought his latest installation piece "Karma" ("Destiny") to the Shanghai exhibition. "People create a second nature, which is supposed to control the original nature. This is certainly impossible.""Karma" is an artwork that comes "alive" by using procedural techniques, in particular the real-time synthesis of sound, 3D animation, often seemingly unwell, trembling and oscillating.The 3D characters are presented as puppets on strings, instilled with a familiar yet ambiguous sense of human life, resulting in an indefinite dance of the almost living dead.Each 3D character moves and creates sound in the same frame, yet each of them has their own will to an extent that their actions and movements cannot be predicted within the space.However, at the same time, the characters live in a very confined environment, and are equally controlled from the outside.As such, "Karma" raises a question in a contradictory way - who is in control in people's life?According to the Austrian artist Hentschlaeger, from the Western modern perspective, people believe they can control their life by their own will. However, the old perspective contains more mythological and religious thinking on that question. It holds that there is a life path that people cannot avoid, that is what people called "destiny," also called karma by some."Through 'Karma,' the two concepts clearly clash in the modern world," says Hentschlaeger. "Who is in charge of our life? There is no certain answer."This is also the question for the new media artist, when he or she is creating his work - who is in charge, technology or the human being?Most of the 11 artists invited to the show probably believe that people have an obsession with technology since all their installations and art works are realized through the support of high technology."Obviously the world we are living in is not obsessed with philosophy, but people are deeply addicted to technology," comments Hentschlaeger, who is deeply convinced by the theory that human beings can ultimately control their destiny and the world through technology. "The way I started living with technology became part of my way of looking at the world."In this new media art exhibition, the theme "Body Media" stands out as a feature of interactive art as a part of new media art. It refers to the idea of human exchange or interaction with a technological artwork. As a user's actions and reactions are monitored, the outer environment will change and do something in interaction.Curator Gong Yan, who proposed the idea of "Body Media," says the new media is a relatively young art form in its own history. It is not very well known by the Chinese public."With more and more young and old artists exploring this new art form, we are just wondering how long it could last for a single piece of new media artwork," she says. "This show aims to promote this new art form in a way that has various possibilities."However, it is an over-estimation to call most of the work "interactive," says Hentschlaeger, since mostly it is just reactive. An interactive art work should be a strong and meaningful work that can process the reaction (the idea and sound raised) by an audience."This exhibition is divided into three parts: the body as an actor or revelation of the artwork; the body represented in the artwork; and the body as an artwork itself.Artworks by Jeffrey Shaw who created the world's first interactive cinema will be on exhibit. Besides, the innovator of "beach animals," Theo Jansen from the Netherlands, who believes "art is evolving," will also attend.The new media artworks are often associated with virtual reality as if traditional art had nothing virtual about it. It is interesting to see that over and above the natural verticality any other art form, electronic arts and modern technologies do allow for a greater physical involvement of the audience and the "truth" of their own bodies.At the age of 47, Hentschlaeger had experienced the twists and turns in the new media art field for more than 20 years. He started his art career in photography and painting, what people called "traditional fine art." He shifted to new media art in Vienna 20 years ago out of pure curiosity.He found that the classical fine art world and the new media art world are really separate since there is very little connection between them and because new media art is difficult to sell."What we need in the future is a 3D real time environment," notes the artist, who believes new media art is a "time-based art. It is a virtual 3D space where you can combine all the media, including the cultural part, visual art, sound and interactive part into one coherent media."The exhibition opens on July 15-August 12 (closed on Mondays) at Shanghai Sculpture Center, 570 Huaihai Rd W.