Virtual Reality & 3600 Video Art
My sabbatical project focused on the use of virtual reality technologies for the creation of contemporary art. I learned 3D modeling in Blender and virtual reality game design/programming in Unity. I also explored camera and editing technologies for the creation of 360° videos. Though working at the intersection of technologies used for the creation of popular entertainment media like 3D animation and video games, I bent these tools toward the more “avant-garde” motivations of experimental film and video art.
My research is leading to two works created using virtual reality technologies. The first, as yet Untitled, is a 360° video that uses abstraction, animated geometric patterning, and photographic images to call to mind the colors, patterns, and visions seen as light filters through closed eyelids. This work was inspired by the vision-oriented cinema of Stan Brakhage and the cosmic abstraction in the films of Jordan Belson, aiming to bring the spirit of some of those filmmakers’ ideas to spherical, immersive, “frameless” 360° video. The second work, Antennae is an interactive virtual reality experience set in a greenhouse that presents a dreamlike narrative about our vulnerability to the pervasiveness of broadcast media. I will demonstrate both works-in-progress using the HTC Vive virtual reality headset and share what I learned about creating content for this new medium.
Friday, December 7
3:50-4:30 PM
CA 2032
