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Dear Beryl, Thanks for raising ambient art as a theme. One aspect of the question was particularly interesting. You asked whether ambient art offers more interaction between the art and the audience members than traditional media. It seems likely that ambient art offers more opportunities for interaction simply because we have greater opportunity to interact with any experience that surrounds us and interpenetrates the daily environment. At the same time, most forms of ambient art can become background as readily as they can become a context. Ambient art can be as omnipresent AND as invisible as the recorded music in a shopping center. When we attend a symphony concert or a concert-style chamber orchestra recital, we are obliged to focus on the music. When a chamber orchestra performs at a reception or a restaurant, it risks fading into the background while conversation or dining occupy the center of attention. Ambient art that interpenetrates a larger context of experience can have many implications. Ambient art can erase the sharp boundary between art experience and daily life established in the traditional forum of the gallery or museum. In doing so, it shifts the frame of the art experience. Art is the focal point of gallery or museum. In contrast, ambient art offers one possible experience among many possible focal points. When a member of a potential audience chooses to focus on the art, interaction is higher. If he or she is more interested in something else, interaction is lower. This may not be bad. I recall some years ago reading an analysis of visitor behavior in art museums and galleries. The average visitor spent little time in front of any single work of art. The average stop in front of any specific work was measured in seconds, and nearly always less than a full minute. Ambient art offers a different kind of engagement. For some, the interaction will be deeper and richer. Best regards -- Ken Friedman, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design Department of Leadership and Organization Norwegian School of Management Visiting Professor Advanced Research Institute School of Art and Design Staffordshire University