Instantiable gesture object techniques are described in which native gesture functionality is abstracted to applications using a script-based recognition interface. Gesture objects may be instantiated for different interaction contexts at the direction of applications programmed using dynamic scripting languages. Gesture objects can be configured to designate particular touch contacts and/or other inputs to consider for gesture recognition and a target element of content to which corresponding recognized gestures are applicable. After creation, gesture objects manage gesture processing operations on behalf of the applications including creating recognizers with the native gesture system, feeding input data for processing, and transforming raw gesture data into formats appropriate for the application and/or a target element. Accordingly, script-based applications may use the gesture objects to offload processing tasks associated with gesture recognition and take advantage of native gesture functionality.