Not many trips to an art gallery qualify as interactive experiences, but Washington University’s new contemporary art exhibit definitely fits the bill. Window|Interface leaves a visitor wondering just how much technology and screens have affected our culture and art as a whole.

Window|Interface is The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum’s second addition to the Screen Arts and New Media Aesthetics series. This collection includes artwork from the 1960s to the present and ultimately hopes to draw attention to uses of new media. Photographs, video installations and mixed-media pieces all deal with screens, windows, interfaces, or all three. Unlike most art showcases, this one attempts to reach senses other than sight, by including works with both sound and tangible aspects.

One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit is placed at the entrance: Olafor Eliasson’s Seeing Yourself Seeing. A large pane with parallel stripes of mirror and window, this item creates a united image of what is combined with a mirror image of the viewer.

The first half of the exhibit, focusing on the windows, includes photographs of people captured in everyday activities. Although seemingly simple, these pieces capture a window image of life that proves interesting. While walking through, eerie, yet serene music flows out from an unknown location, providing a peaceful backdrop for viewing pieces, and engaging viewers even more. The tunes come from inside Bob Viola’s curtained-off video installation room, which plays taped segments showing how individuals react to watching television.

The second portion of the collection focuses on interfaces and consists of only one photograph set. The rest is made up of videos and interactive media. Kirsten Geister’s Dream of Beauty-Touch Me consists of a computerized picture of the ideal woman. Viewers are allowed to touch the small screen that her face appears on and watch as her facial expressions change in reaction. One colorful video from the late 1960s shows a performance artist playing a cello made of television sets.

The most feminist work in the collection, Valie Exports 1968 documentary Touch Cinema shows a woman with a screenless cardboard television strapped to her chest. In the video, the artist confronts the public’s obsession with pornography by having male bystanders reach inside the box and feel her breasts. Whether you consider yourself a feminist or not, this video definitely captures the attention and provides a touch of humor to the exhibit.

Kimberly Singer, communication and events coordinator for the museum, believes the collection’s strongest selling points lie within its interactive pieces.

“We hope people will enjoy that about the show”, she said. It is no surprise that Singer’s own favorite piece in the exhibit is last and, arguably, most interactive. Peter Campus’ Prototype for Interface shows two images on a large, clear screen. The first is mirror of whoever stands before it, and the second is a projected image of that same person’s likeness. The two images, depending on the viewer’s choice, can either converge in a middle point or move farther away from one another.

This exhibit actually allows viewers to interact with the artwork to the point that they become part of it. Newer technologies and media have allowed such progressions and have changed the way society views art.