Official Course Page
Medici University
School of Public Art
Virtual Public Art 199 – Field Research
VPA-199 is an activity course designed to immerse the learner in the practice of public art actions in virtual space. This course features a number of activities. All learners are welcome to enroll and participate in as many, or as few, of these activities as their time and interest permits.
MU Certificate in VPA
Students seeking the Medici University Certificate in Virtual Public Art should participate in 4 Virtual Public Art Activities and publish 4 journal articles (blog posts) analyzing the virtual public artworks and their individual experience of them. The course will offer 3 activities, Dance Anywhere, Jane’s Walk, and Manifesto for Virtual Maintenance Art. Certificate students 4th Virtual Public Art Activity should be a work of their own design. The work may take place on the Medici University campus, or at any other location(s) in cyberspace, virtual worlds, or mixed-reality space.
[box type=”note” style=”rounded” border=”full”] Virtual Public Art 199 is a semester-long activity course where MU Learners participate in, create, and document a series of Virtual Public Art Activities. [/box]
It seems that we have moved decisively beyond the idea of public art as a large steel sculpture in a public plaza. Nothing against Mark di Suvero, but the emphasis has shifted from what Critical Art Ensemble call the “sedentary model” of public art toward practices that involve participation, performance, and other processes that unfold over time.
— Mark Tribe
[box type=”info” style=”rounded” border=”full”]VIRTUAL PUBLIC ART 199
Facilitator: Vanessa Blaylock
Format: Hybrid: F2F, online, and as many media options as possible
Length: semester-long
Meeting Times: TBA
Location: MU-Maria-7
Enrollment: to enroll, just add your name in the comments BELOW. — When you enroll, please include Your Studio#, and optionally, a URL to see your work.
Discuss: you may also use the comments on this post for any questions about the course or activities, any discussion of ideas, or any other related information.
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Syllabus
Organizational Meeting
Friday, 20 March ’15. Meetings at MU-Maria-7 at Noon SLT (19:00 GMT) and 8pm SLT (03:00 Saturday, GMT) Learners may attend either one. If both times are bad, please leave a comment below to discuss the class.
Dance Anywhere
Our 1st virtual public art activity is Dance Anywhere, Beth Fein’s 11th annual simultaneous, worldwide, public dance performance work. Dance Anywhere is at Noon SLT on Friday 27 March 2015.
Every year we synchronize our calendars and watches and simultaneously spread dancing images into every corner of our community landscapes across the globe. Dancers, students, seniors, artists, business men and dreamers alike put aside their daily grind and unleash their moving creativity in museums, parks, sidewalks, office buildings, bedrooms, anywhere their dancing bodies will fit. Every year thousands of people from Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Estonia, and around the world participate!
VPA-199 learners who are available should join our MU Campus participation in the event. Those who are unavailable at that time are encouraged to take a moment of dance wherever they may be at Noon SLT, and then to view the documentation of both the MU Dance Anywhere and the Global Participants, as inspiration for their article.
• Dance Anywhere / Virtual Public Art
• Dance Anywhere / VBCO Page on DA Website
Jane’s Walk
2015 marks the 9th annual Jane’s Walk, and the 1st time Jane’s Walk will include a virtual city! During Friday-Saturday-Sunday, 1, 2, 3 May ’15, Learners enrolled in Medici University’s course Virtual Public Art 199 – Field Research will lead tours of the Medici University campus. You can sign-up to lead a tour of Medici University or other areas for any hour of any of the 3 days of Jane’s Walk. Bonus points for leading more than 1 walk over the Jane Jacobs birthday weekend!
• Jane’s Walk / Virtual Public Art
• Jane’s Walk / Signup Page for “Second Life City”
Manifesto for Virtual Maintenance Art
All good things must come to an end, and on 1 July the Medici University campus at LEA23 will become a memory. Many of us believe it will have a lasting impact beyond its physical (virtual) presence, and time will tell.
WAIT, BUT, NOT SO FAST!
That’s all great, but who’s gonna clean up this mess? For the past 6 months we will have partied, created art, danced, and generally done everything possible to spread 15,000 primitive objects across 6.5 hectares of virtual land! But come 1 July, while some are waxing about beautiful memories, a new art installation will need to move in to LEA23! Medici University counts sustainability among its core values, and leaving a campus littered with old objects and textures is hardly living up to those values.
For the last week of June, the 23rd – 30th, Learners enrolled in VPA-199 will lead the MU Campus Community in reclaiming the LEA23 region. We’ll strip each and every prim and return it to it’s natural plywood texture. Then we’ll stack all 15,000 prims neatly, ready for the next artists’ use.
• Manifesto for Virtual Maintenance Art / Virtual Public Art (2015)
• Vanessa Blaylock Company / VB50 – Farewell (2013)
• Mierle Laderman Ukeles / Manifesto for Maintenance Art (1969)
VPA-199 Project 4: Learner’s Own VPA Activity
In addition to the 3 Class activities, most importantly, Learners seeking the MU Certificate in Virtual Public Art will design, implement, and document a Virtual Public Art Activity of their own creation. Learners may work individually or in groups. The possibilities are as wide as cyberspace itself! VPA-199 Project 4 may be completed any time between 20 March and 30 June 2015. Be sure to plan sufficient time for unexpected delays and for documentation.
