60-212: Interactivity and Computation for Creative Practice
CMU School of Art / IDeATe, Fall 2020 • Prof. Golan Levin
I completed all the lectures, but after setting up the high definition lighting and particle system my scene was running at a steady 1 frame per second, thus I didn’t bother with rendering and exporting.
Also encountered some problems with animating inside the scene, as it kept on giving me the “dereferencing NULL” error and I can’t spot why it’s going wrong 🙁
This is a VR music video created by artist Jesse Kanda for the Icelandic singer Björk’s 8th album Vulnicura. This unsettling video was created by shooting from inside from a four-foot replica of the singer’s mouth with 12 360 cameras. The artist aimed to create an intimate yet disturbing image goes well with the theme of the music. The artist also explained about the reason behind choosing the human body as the presented image in this interview: “I genuinely think the human body is gorgeous and beautiful and there’s so many mysteries and things you can tie it with emotionally and psychologically”.
To me it’s extremely interesting that for most of the time VR seems to be related to world building or creating external environments, but for this music video the exploration was for looking inwards. The way of presenting the image through 360 video is also intriguing, almost as if you are observing both someone else’s body but also being constantly reminds of yourself’s.
(Another video that’s from the same album collaborating with Autodesk, and some other artworks from the artist’s collaboration with Arca)
This is a VR experience in which viewers can experience what its like to be inside Modigliani’s 1919 studio at the Tate. I was really impressed by the amount of historical accuracy this project tried to achieve. For example they tried to get the exact texture of his actual paintings, so they had someone do forensic analysis to determine the exact type of paint was used and to get the correct topography on the painting based upon the way the canvas was stretched. I also think using the concept of VR to help understand the past or another person’s though process is really interesting. When I watched the video, I felt like I could understand why he made his color choices.
I appreciate the way Phazero uses elements of games such as camera angles and pacing to show the character’s mental state rather than explicitly depicting events.
I got through most of the parts (up until training).
Some of the training processes and outcomes:
My laptop was lagging quite significantly while training
I never thought of game as art that can deliver serious concepts through the interactions in this virtual world. This was a beautiful talk.
The pieces depicted in this video are actually 2D photographs and works by the artist Sarah Meyohas. The photographs are taken from the artist’s Speculations series and depict infinite reflections composed of mirrors and an array of props such as flowers, rope, and the artist’s body.
I thought it was interesting that this piece was in the VR playlist since it doesn’t involve any VR. The appearance of the 2D images does suggest a 3D environment that can be explored by walking through and zooming in. When I imagine these photographs as 3D environments, they have a quiet, thoughtful, surreal quality that I like.
https://wassermanprojects.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Fall2018_Release_FINAL.pdf
I’m really fascinated in Tilt Brush, where users are able to create amazing VR sculptures and spaces that come to life before your eyes. I think this project takes visualizing a project to a whole another level, where one is able to view exactly what the prototype looks like in the VR setting and can assist in a more accurate and refined way of creating VR work. I really enjoy the simulation of sculpting from hand, as I think there are times when the interface of programs such as Unity contain setbacks in having the user fully acknowledge a 3d-modeling experience. With Tilt Brush, many users regardless of background will be able to construct in 3D in a more natural way and simulates enhanced real-life modeling.
I also found this project to be special and interesting in the way an emotional story could be told through VR by rendering 3D characters solely through lines which enhance the effect of memories and flashbacks. I really enjoy the artistic direction and risk-taking element of capturing a narrative with beautiful and delicate people that are abstracted through lines; sometimes more expression can be done with less, and in this case, a face of beautiful lines can be more expressive than a realistically rendered face.
I appreciated the love and care Phazero took to educate and enlighten others through these projects.
In this project, by speaking or singing, you produce objects that fly outward from your mouth. This is entertaining in the context of the pandemic as a visualization of possibly disease-carrying objects flying towards others from your mouth. Otherwise, I think it is a nice investigation into the power of speech, singing, and the voice. It’s kind of like the abracadabra thing—speaking things into existence. It also reminds me of what I was thinking about before with sweetmail: the idea that saying the words “I love you” is vastly different than typing them. Perhaps this is a hyperbole of that act of speaking.