The future is interactive... at least that is the theory. And while the theory itself is not new, the screen through which it is rendered most certainly is. The new screen... one among possible many, and yet despite the many it is the impossible one upon which the interactive future will manifest. "Behind the Screen" is, in this sense, an exploration of the consequences of imaginative technological use, with an emphasis on the ways in which artistic mobilization of screen technology impacts on the interactivity of contemporary living. Focusing on several key installations from the 2007 Interactive Futures Symposium, this paper engages both the representative proofs and disproofs offered by artistic technological use – a theoretical exploration of the critical imaginary potential of new media artwork.