Mime Thru Time!
by SketchSHE
by SketchSHE
See you in-world for Anthea Sharp at noon SLT today!
If you can’t make it, watch the live stream!
http://www.twitch.tv/vaneeesab
That’s so awesome you set that up, Vanessa. Really smart thing to do.
😀
Try a Free Vitruvian Shape from the master of proportion in SL, Penny Patton!!!
Wonderful! I will check this out soon. Thanks.
I like me some free shapes!
Awesome Neeva. You’ve kind of mastered the art of the prim. Perhaps avatar shape is the undiscovered country? What would an Avatar Shape Public Art Activity look like? Modify your sliders by winning lottery numbers? Pass your shape to the next person? Collaboratively create/share a clone shape with someone?
Here’s a couple of shape based performance works:
Medici University is now offering a Certificate Track in Virtual Public Art!
What a wonderful opportunity for focus and accomplishment at MU! Thank you!
Thanks Newton! When I realized that Dance Anywhere, Jane’s Walk, and Manifesto for Virtual Maintenance Art were all having a “planetary alignment” during the coming 3 months of MU, it was too irresistible an opportunity not to put together a programme.
Needless to say, I was also significantly influenced by your own Cafe Sophistry project!
It was crossing my mind whilst reading your curriculum that doing a CS section could maybe qualify as one of your “tracks.”
(posted on behalf of my dear brother)
Interesting… tell me more…
Well, since the CVPA is all about working toward a compendium of virtual experiences created, perhaps outcomes of the work people do in a CS section could also be applied toward the certificate. So far I know two people will be sharing work at the final Gender and Virtuality gathering on March 29 so they will have “completed” that. It would be neat to give a sense that they are one step closer to a larger MU-related goal. See what you think, or if that even makes sense!
Talk by Domenico Quaranta
“The more we experience mediation, the more we realize the importance of primary experiences. If you don’t believe me, try virtual sex.”
The above line – despite the snicker factor – illustrates the difference between primary and mediated in context really nicely. There’s often a need to juxtapose the virtual against RL, or to place it in context with RL – to have RL frame the meaning of the virtual.
What are some examples of virtual art that is 100% primary even though it’s virtual? Is that possible?
I don’t think you have to talk about or have done cybersex to answer that question either ! I just thought it was an interesting analogy.
Hey MU Writing Students! Looking for a free class to take? Check out Storytelling for Change from NovoEd:
Acumen and The Ariel Group have created this hands-on course to help you develop your practical skills as a storyteller. Whether you work in an office making presentations in the boardroom, as a teacher with 30 to 300 students, interacting with customers, or one-on-one with individuals, using the elements of story bring you closer to your audience. Using stories makes your messages memorable, gives your audience something to relate to, and above all captures their attention, motivating and inspiring them in new ways. A story taps into more than one element of communicating. Great storytellers are great communicators and effective leaders.
I love storytellers. Particularly space storytellers. I have a series of non-fiction stories
Hey MU Writing Students! Looking for a free class to take? Check out Adventures in Writing from Stanford OpenEdX
Did we get any Fashion Design students??
We could really use some MU Sweatshirts to give to the new arrivals!
ooh.. i want one..
hm maybe for the.. ehm.. wait is there some sort of sport team?
of course!
MU MOTOCROSS!!
Saturday 31 January ’15
Medici University Motocross
• Competition: 7pm SLT – Torch Bridge
• Dance Afterparty: 8pm SLT – The Black Sun (Katy Perry’s Face)
I’d like to suggest a name change for The Black Sun. I do appreciate that there is no more iconic name for avatardom than The Black Sun, still, I have to ask if we’ve created a The Black Sun?
Whatever a Black Sun looks like, it probably isn’t this. And the fact that we have to acknowledge that no one will know what we’re talking about with “(Katy Perry’s Face)” suggests that we accept the obvious and rename the MU Danceteria to KatyPerryopolis!
As you are no doubt aware, Miss Perry is the most popular human being on the face of the earth. And whether one loves, loathes, or has (somehow) never even heard her music, that can’t be a bad association to have. Does Neal Stephenson even have a twitter?
KatyPerryopolis!
Does Pop Music have a dark side?
Let’s see:
1. I’m dead.
2. Jim Morrison.
3. Kurt Cobain.
4. Continue…
Marilyn Manson ?
Aces!!!
OMG, Katrina’s turning 29 tomorrow! Happy Birthday Katrina! Have a wonderful year!
24 livestreamed virtual hours in the (boring) life of an avatar.
Sat-Sun 15-16 November 2014
Noon – Noon PST / 20:00 – 20:00 GMT
Dear Blueberries & Mixed Berries,
The MOOC that launched our 3 websites: .Re/act, .Re/search, and .Re/cipes plus our Slack chat space, Practice Based Research in the Arts, from Leslie Hill & Helen Paris at Stanford / NovoEd, ran from 9 Oct – 11 Dec 2013. At it’s end the Blueberry group decided to continue with once-a-month Google Hangouts. A few of us drifted off, others joined in, and Ciara rechristened our group Mixed Berry Shake.
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Hi Vanessa, Thanks for getting the conversation started. I’m thinking about it, mulling it over while I eat my lunch here in Houston, and I will post more shortly. However, I heard that you have a performance this weekend in Virtual London, and I’m wondering where I can read more about THAT! LMK. (I couldn’t find info easily about it on your blog). TTYL. xta
I think that continuing the monthly meetups is a good idea, even though the attendence is sporatic, and people understandably come and go.
In time, I hope that more on-going collaboratibve teams are formed from within the group, and that a number of single project collaborations are tried as well.
It’s been a great learning experience for me to meet you all, and the few things that we’ve done together, like ONE Night and the LACMA proposal have shown me the way to even better such collaborations in the future.
But I also understand how precious time is fro everyone, and that some may not see the same benefits I’ve seen. So perhaps a number of options, allowing to some to keep meeting regulatly, others to come and go as thier time and interests dictate and others to simply float away is a way to go.
For 2015, my New Year’s resolution will be to go back and writing regular short essays for PBR and to look to find more ways for us to collaboarte from our differnt regions. I think there is something important going on here, even if it is still after one years, in its infancy. I hope that together we can find a way to make it grow.
And I do think another LACMA proposal is a good idea.
SHOW ME THE MONEY
I know artists who believe that teaching is an unwise distraction from their work. That artists should focus on production, make, show, and sell work, and earn enough to support yourself.
I know artists who believe that sales are corrupting and that your career is better served by having an income from an activity like teaching, and they your art work isn’t beholden to some revenue stream.
For sure both choices have legitimacy. Personally, I favor Choice #2.
HOWEVER…
In thinking about all the great work, ideas and charisma in Mixed Berries, to say nothing of our many amazing PB-RITA classmates
http://blog.virtualpublicart.com/tagged/classmates
I wonder if seeking funding for our work might not be the Magic Dust, the Glue, the Catalyst, we need. Christa has written about the power of deadlines, and getting someone somewhere to believe in your creativity enough to fund it can also be challenging and valuable.
In a busy world we’re all challenged with focus and priorities. Collaborating on funded projects might give both internal and external legitimacy to our work. It might give us a chance to bring more of our PB-RITA classmates in on projects.
Michael has the LACMA Art+Technology grant proposal, and Christa’s threatening to look some up in the next week. What if we tried to identify a slate of 6 grants to apply for in 2015? And let that work, applying and hopefully executing these projects, be the focus of our Hangouts?
Michael’s multi-city interaction projects seem idea in some ways. And Rebecca’s City project seems like it or aspects of it could fit with some of Michael’s ideas.
Funding might be the cohesive core around which our hangouts could develop more focus around specific projects. Michael and Andrea have talked about the bias of Art History. Getting institutional validation would help to move our ideas and work a little closer to official narratives.
What do you think?
Do you know about any funding opportunities we might apply for?
I agree that meeting monthly and continuing to pursue ways to collaborate is a valuable practice in and of itself. I was thinking that perhaps a group of us could commit to individually writing something for a future issue of MOOC magazine, and we could give ourselves a specific deadline (I love deadlines, as you all know) to make this happen.
Van do you have any content on your mind that you’d like written for a current or future issue? If not, then perhaps we could brainstorm for a theme that we could all write toward.
I also want to continue to add content to our websites and keep in touch and share resources through slack chat. Furthermore, in addition to LACMA, we might be able to search for some other RFPs and work with deadlines to try and come together around an idea for (potentially) funded projects.
Over thanksgiving break, I’ll do a bit of research for some other RFPs so that I have something to share at our holiday party on the 8th.
Thanks a million to Vanessa for keeping us going and organized and motivated. I suspect she’s got lots of other projects that are driving her harder than this one, and I really do appreciate the energy she continues to share with us. Furthermore, I really want to hear more about her Avatar Field Guide — what IS the difference between the avatar classifications — af̱toportréta and fo̱tográfos móda and fo̱tográfos koultoúra? I looked at a couple of the different examples, and I am too uneducated to discern the differences at this point. I want to learn more. Is the performance in Virtual London related to this project? How can we attend?
xoxoxoxo xta
Thanks Xta! Actually “Vaneeesacam!” is a different project from “Avatar Field Guide”. You can attend “in person” by having Ysidora login to SL and hangout… or you can watch live at
http://twitch.tv/vaneeesab
The scoop is here:
http://virtualpublicart.com/events/activities/11
BTW Michael, this broadcast formula I finally came up with using XSplit Gamecaster to feed 1080p HD video to the Twitch.tv streaming service looks pretty good. If we ever did something like ONE Night again, it might be a nice way for you to project HD video without having to have a “cameraperson” (logged in, in-world user) on site.
I’m torn — I definitely would like to keep our chats and our contact going. It often seems that the chats are a little too short, so longer hangouts less often might be nice… on the other hand, I know that the fact that they’re monthly has made it easier for me to join when I can.
Perhaps it would help to keep the one-hour every-month schedule, but to hold ourselves to a schedule within the hour. For example, we could spend 10 minutes per topic, or give each participant the floor for a set time to let us know what they’re up to, and for others to ask questions. One of those timeslots could be free-form conversation; and those who are available can always stay past the hour mark to chat further. It might sound very formal, but a time pressure also might help us each think of what we most want to impart to the group, and ask questions of each other.
In other news, I’ve started a dedicated site for my project, City Creature:
http://www.citycreature.wordpress.com. And I’m looking at word-cloud software to help display/interpret the answers to my questionnaire. Let me know if you have suggestions! Fun times.
Best
Rebecca
I’ve really enjoyed the dialogue and interactions .re/act has supported over the past year and, while the Hangouts do present a challenge in terms of scheduling, I believe they also add value to our exchanges. I quite like Rebecca’s suggestion that we occupy 10 minute slots during a hangout and think that structuring the format in this way is worth experimenting with in 2015.
Vanessa, thank you for all the work you’ve put into creating this space and for your generosity toward the group. I mentioned to Michael that I affectionately refer to the Berries as my “semi-imaginary” friends:-) – thank you all for keeping the energy flowing this year – being involved has meant a lot to me. I also think that Michael and Kate have been instrumental in bringing others to the conversation and in orchestrating (directly and indirectly) meetings in Real Life. For this I am hugely grateful.
I’m looking forward to the December 8th party!! Have been practising my disco moves;-) Or maybe it’ll be more Mardi Gras…where’s that feather boa I started off with????
now have their very own Flickr group!
Full house for today’s Hangout!
Rebecca Narum
Rebecca Longworth
Molly Ross
Michael Masucci
Kate Johnson
Ciara Finnegan
Oscar Devent
Christa Forster
Hugh Mcelveen
Vanessa Blaylock
More images from today in our Flickr photo group
Hello friends! How lovely it was to see you last Monday and hearing your news! I have a couple of links to share…
And Hugh, I’m hoping you’ll share some of your links on Arabic vs Middle Eastern art.
Speaking of the Middle East and collaborating across borders, you all might be interested in this project from Golden Thread here in SF: http://www.goldenthread.org/alo/
I am about to embark on a long-term exploration about personal relationships to cities. Working title: City Creature. I’m fascinated by the ways in which we imagine the places we live as living beings, and the relationships we have with them. One of the first “ways in” that I’m exploring is to collect some imagined creatures of others. I love worksheets and filling out forms, so here’s a City Creature worksheet:
http://goo.gl/forms/Z1lv3qZrqS
I’d be delighted if you all could share a bit about your city there.
Until soon!
Rebecca L
Just filled out your cool survey Rebecca! Sorry it took me so long, but definitely had a nice time on it.
Will you be attending the Nov Berry Hangout on Mon? If so, would you like to talk about City Creature?
I made a Flickr group where we can share:
1. pix of our hangouts
2. pix of our collaborative projects
3. pix to discuss in the next hangout
4. pix of projects any of us are working on
https://www.flickr.com/groups/pbrita
Please join the group and add any pix you like!
Even if we’re not quite as cool as Hatsune Miku hanging out with her pals like Pharrell Williams & Lady Gaga, a Mixed Berry Shake is still a pretty great way to spend the 2nd Monday of the month. Please join us for another inspiring global conversation!
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Nice piece from Kate Krontiris on Listening. And a reminder that letting peeps add agenda items to the meeting agenda on the refrigerator is good. So, THIS POST is the refrigerator! Add any items you may have!
http://katekrontiris.com/post/99484191557/what-i-have-learned-about-the-art-of-listening
I know that this may be too late to make it up to the agenda for today, but I’m excited about Aaron Landsman’s latest work, Empathy School, a performance which takes place on a moviing bus and was inspired by the artst’s late-night bus commutes home from New York to Indiana. Here’s a link about the performance. http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2014/fall/empathy-school
Interesting twist for Site Dance II MOOC: Certificates ONLY for Signature Track. Regular Track: no virtual paper for you!
As Christa can testify, I’ve been thinking about the wonder and compelling nature of things like Cornell Boxes. And the amazing, immersive bookfulness of books. And records, amazing records like Camille’s Le Fil or The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper.
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I think this is an interesting and worthy goal. One thing to note, is that in a way what I’m trying to create is “preciousness” in a time of Abundance. Abundance is a good problem to have, at least compared to the alternative, Scarcity. But in a time of Scarcity, almost anything can be precious. In a time of Abundance, there’s just so much competition for Attention. Entities like Art Galleries and Churches all try to create the experience of Preciousness, and in our time of Abundance, they’ve really got their work cut out for them!
Van, I’ve been wanting to comment for several days, but finally I have the time.
Perhaps one of powers possessed by a Cornell box or any precious object in the non-internet world lies in its ability to arrest, to STOP us in time. The object captures us in a way that allows us to experience it in time, but the object itself has a kind of permanence to it, a stasis: the object itself does not change. Because we can return to the object (artwork, album, poem) over and over, we both are relieved by its constancy (not everything changes; what a relief), AND, also, we have time to notice how WE have changed in relationship to the object (artwork, album, poem), and this may be the REAL draw of the physical thing: we are more curious about ourselves and our own lives than we are about the lives of others, and these static objects help make ourselves clear to ourselves.
Who hasn’t felt the “whoosh” effect of FB, or Twitter, or the internet in general — move along, move along, move along — there’s more, always more — to see, to learn, to do, to watch, to read? It’s exhausting! But these static objects — the Cornell, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s, the epic poem (currently, I’m reading The Odyssey again for the 10th time in 20 years) — do not “whoosh” us along; WE may whoosh, but they restore us; they give us back to ourselves, despite the way the world takes us away from ourselves over and over and over (so like the internet — life). The object’s stasis is the very thing that provides this restoration: it offers us the time and space (constant, reliable) to be moved emotionally — at our own pace, in the directions we choose (or that our unconscious minds choose).
The internet moves similarly to the way the unconscious mind moves, but I think we feel that we’re being moved from without rather than from within, and this makes all the difference.
Although I am a Documentation nut, I am not a Object maker. My work is in Ephemeral Experiences. Hopefully these are engaged and immersive experiences. Participants at these experiences may have some of the “Box” like experiences I’ve described. I do wonder if my yearning for this “Box” like experience isn’t a sort of desire to turn the ephemeral experience of performance art, or cyberspace, into a sort of virtual object?
I’ve decided to give the Introduction to Haptics course from Allison Okamura (Instructor) & Melisa Orta (Teaching Assistant) at Stanford / Stanford Open EdX a try. A core element of this self-paced MOOC is assembling Stanford’s low-cost “Hapkit.” It’s a 1-degree of freedom controller / force-feedback device.
Anybody in a Virtual World want to join in? It’d be cool to have 2 of us (or 3 or a bunch) make these and integrate them into in-world experience in some way. Perhaps actually using in-world data pipelines, or using a parallel connection that’s not in-world but can live-sync to avatar activities. I have no idea how to do any of this or what the possibilities or limitations might be, but it sure seems like a fun thing to poke around with.
That’s a sharp way of thinking about it.
It’s everybody’s sweetheart Strawberry Singh’s birthday today! Here’s the Twitter stream of peeps around the globe wishing her happy returns with the hashtag #HappyFuckingBirthdayBerry
From 1996 to 2003, first from her dorm room at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, then from Washington, D.C., and finally from Sacramento, California, Jennifer Ringley, aka “Jennicam” “lifecast” her every activity to the nascent World Wide Web. She might be more famous for the few minutes of nudity and sex, but perhaps it was really the banality of everyday life that so fascinated her legions of viewers.
I’m not tempted to lifecast for 7-1/2 years, but the idea of Avatar Lifecasting seems interesting, at least interesting enough for a 24 hour live stream.
• Saturday 15 November ’14
• San Francisco time: Noon Saturday – Noon Sunday
• London time: 8pm Saturday – 8pm Sunday
• Sydney time: 6am Sunday – 6am Monday
Dancing, Shopping, Artgoing, Slumming and whatever else comes to mind.
I’ve given every SL “Friend” I’ve got permission to map me, so if you’re in-world, you can come join the experience anytime you want to drop in. For anyone around the globe with an Internet connection my oh-so-exciting 24 hours will be streamed live on the Vanessacam Channel on Ustream.
Need more “Venus” motivation for today’s Avatar Hangout? Here it is!
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Vanessa Blaylock, Oh My Geisha, & Scarlett Luv hanging out and waiting for the New York Governor & Lt. Governor election results. Go Teachout-Wu!
Hello all! So sorry I missed Monday’s Hangout! Had a bit of a power outage here! 🙁
Hope it went well. Did Andrea make it in ok this time? Did Oscar receive a warm reception?
Oona 00:53 on 03/04/2015 Permalink |
This is so good I think I may need to watch it twice. Merci beaucoup Vanessa!