Module One

Ethics Statement

In creating this blog, all original material is copyrighted.  I intend to adhere to Creative Commons licensing, copyright licensing and fair use policies when dealing with images posted which I did not create and do not own the copyright for. I also intend on adhering to the plagiarism and academic honesty  policy of Empire State College. As this blog is created as a part of the Digital Media Arts class as a part of the Master of Arts in Learning and Emerging Technology, all images are used solely for research and/or educational purposes.

About me

I am a Master of Arts student in the Learning and Emerging Technologies program at Empire State College. I have a BFA in Sculpture and have worked as a model maker and jewelry designer for 15 years. This is a pendant I designed for a jade carving that I found in an antique store a few years ago. I have not fabricated the actual pendant, however. I may fabricate it in the near future as I am looking into manufacturing several pieces that I created the waxes for. If I do create it, I will first create another rendering, changing everything but the setting for the jade. This is a little time consuming because the rendering would have to be created from the beginning. There is no way to PhotoShop or collage elements from one rendering to another. If I were creating it digitally, then it could be modified with what I have here, but I like renderings on paper.
Stay tuned...

I am taking this class to gain a greater understanding of finding an intersection to traditional art and digital art, virtual reality and games. In this blog post I am going to look at some inspirations for my ideas as well theory about virtual reality which have contributed to my ideas about the project I will be working on.

I enjoy experimenting with using technology to format art such as this video which uses a geometric format to frame sketches I created in 1987-1990 into a video which unites the imaginary landscapes into a larger composition. 

I used these drawings as a preliminary concept for my virtual reality island. I began these drawings as I traveled on public transportation to a job in Chicago in 1987, inspired by trips to Colorado and other states in the West. All but the watercolor were done with a ball point pen without preliminary sketches. When I initially created these drawings, I began with a series of watercolors about an imaginary journey. Although the drawings were created as individual studies, the combination of them creates a work that captures the a sensibility that I had when creating them. The drawings were photographed and are very dark. I am in the process of scanning them and will replace the the images so the overall quality of the images will be better. At the time I was playing the piano so Beethoven's Sonata for Piano No. 14 seemed appropriate. I plan on using it in one of the galleries in the island with images of my ink drawings.

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, oil on oak panels, 220 x 389 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Artists have created artworks about an imaginary land from the beginning of time. In this amazing visionary work by Hieronymus Bosch, he depicts the creation of the world with God, Adam and Eve in the left panel, the world in the center, and Hell and damnation on the right. While I do not ascribe to creating religious themed art works, I love the imaginative elements in the work of Bosch. 

Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life : Childhood, 1842, oil on canvas, 52.9 x 76.9 inches,
Gallery 60, National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. 

Artist Thomas Cole used the landscape in creating metaphors for civilization as well as the life of the individual. In this painting from his series of the Voyage of Life,Childhood an infant is depicted with a guardian angel traveling in a boat down a river.(Wikipedia, 2015)

More recently, artists are using virtual reality as a platform for art projects, exhibitions, and other creative work. The Virtual Art Initiative is an organization of artists, musicians, scholars who are using virtual reality spaces to develop new forms of artistic content. (Virtual Art Initiative, 2009)

A concept for the project I am interested to working on

I am interested in using digital story telling using virtual reality and artwork to create a video or film. Last semester I created several short videos as I was building my virtual reality island, with the very unimaginative name, Sculpture Island. In documenting the process of creating the island, I was inspired to write a letter about my concept to Jean Cocteau, the French poet, artist and film maker. I have taken French from when I was in 4th grade. I took a class in French Film in college and have always loved the work of Jean Cocteau. In designing a virtual reality environment, I was reminded of his films so writing a letter to him about my ideas seemed a place to start.

This is a photo I recently took of the island. 

In this photo, you can see some of the sculptures I have created.

At this point I am trying to decide between creating a fictional scenario with a character in virtual reality or a piece of artwork and a video about what went into the decision to work on the subject matter. I will have to determine what I have time for because a semester is not much time and it will go quickly, especially because there are many other things I have to do this semester such as write papers.

I intend on using the film I create as a part of my virtual reality island by incorporating it into an art exhibit.

References 

Cole, Thomas, Wikipedia web page, 2015, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cole

Virtual Art Initiative, Advancing the Art of Virtual Worlds website, 2009,  retrieved from 

http://www.virtual-art-initiative.org/Virtual_Art_Initiative/index.html