Erkki Huhtamo's "Trouble at at the Interface of the Identity Crisis of Interactive Art" describes interactive art and how they operate. Most interactive pieces share similar properties as they were installations that used computers which were "activated" by the viewer. It required a conscious and physical effort for the piece to function. Interactive art pieces only reveal their meanings when "activated" by the user. Due to the Industrial Era, technology has become closely integrated into our society. It is rapidly advancing and updating. Interactive art uses technology to ask questions about human space and boundaries.
In Lev Manovich's "Database as a Symbolic Art Form", Manovich writes about the database. The database hold no order or story; they simply exist as a related items put together into a group. Unorganized, unordered; the viewer is meant to deduce the meaning through their own interpretation. Items left alone may not have as much impact as they do in a large collection.
Instructional art was the prime focus of Florian Cramer's "Concepts, Notations, Software, Art". The artist provides instructions to the viewer for them to carry out. These orders may be as specific or as ambiguous as wanted. The artwork is not only the work created but also the interaction between the artist and the audience.
An example of the theory in Erkki Huhtamo's article would be Random International's "Rain Room". It was a room that had constant rain. Whenever a human passes through the field, the rain will stop and pause for a little. It creates the illusion of controlling the rain. An example of Manovich's article on databases can be seen in the artwork "Falling Garden" by Gerda Steiner and Jorg Lenzlinger. They hung up various flowers, sticks, and leaves suspended on strings for the audience to gaze up upon. Lastly, instructional art can be seen in Kaprow's "Eighteen Happenings in Six Parts". These happenings were scripted so audiences and performers stick to a script.