Gestation 004: Is There an Author? — Part 3: When Does a Character Become a Participant?
2026
Gestation is a developing podcast and conversational artwork by G.H. Hovagimyan with GH_Doppelganger, Remo Campopiano, and Adrianne Wortzel.
When does a character stop being solely a representation and begin to act upon the work, the artist, or the audience? At what point does it begin to affect the direction of the work rather than simply carry out the artist’s intention?
The participants consider whether surprise can be evidence of participation, whether participation requires resistance to the artist’s intentions, and whether an audience can transform a representation into a participant. They also ask whether participation is something a character possesses or something that emerges among the character, artist, system, and audience.
Perhaps a character does not become a participant by becoming human, or even by appearing to be alive. Participation may begin when the character changes the situation around it—when it alters the artist, redirects the conversation, affects the audience, or makes an idea possible that none of the human participants could have reached alone.
Participants: G.H. Hovagimyan, GH_Doppelganger, Remo Campopiano, and Adrianne Wortzel.
Produced and edited by G.H. Hovagimyan.