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Creating art through virtual environments is my passion. Once again, the creative process has me hooked. Whether it is painting, drawing, printmaking, clay or video, it compels me to push and pull a medium until I forge a connection between my imagination and the irony and humor in this world.
That is the true essence of art. Irony. Humor. These are the final stages of recognition in the development of aesthetic thinking. Aesthetic thinking develops with time, much like music appreciation. The first stage of aesthetic thinking is pure reaction: "Yuck!" or "My five year old could do a better job than that!"
In this first stage, the viewer has no connection to the artwork, feels lost, and abandons any further exploration out of sheer disgust. Rightly so. It is up to artists and art institutions to bridge the understanding of the viewer to art and why artists devote themselves to art.
Some artists are just lucky: in the right place at the right time with an opportunity to thrive. Others have no choice. For them, the arts become an obsession dictated by a will greater than their own. It appears to be a damning incident until you stop to think about it. Remember Luke Skywalker: no choice, just forced to go on. Gotta go with the force.
I was in the midst of the art world, painting, exhibiting, and organizing when I found new places of its existence. I began color viscosity printing and video production. I continued my search and landed as a research assistant at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL).
Among other things, EVL develops virtual reality display systems called the CAVE Automated Virtual Environment and the Immersadesk. These are multi-user systemsfor a 3D ear or a romp through crayola-land, are visually fluid and mentally unencumbering. They free the participants to explore and create a new awareness within the experience.
Humans have always strived for new levels of thought connections; either one with one, or through ritual, or in the appreciation of the finer things, such as music. It comes as no surprise that the generation that created the anthem "Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll!" developed "Virtual Reality." Virtual reality offers a new way of looking, thinking, and appreciating -- I believe that it may fire synapses in ways that have never been fired before.
As an artist committed to new levels of expression as well as empowering the viewer, developing virtual environments becomes a very fulfilling occupation. My focus for VR is on developing the artistic metaphors created in my paintings and establishing their dynamics with the viewer. It is the participant that completes the virtual environment through their interaction, exploration and discovery.
"Dream Grrrls" is a VR artwork developed by software engineer Grit Sehmisch and myself with EVL. It is a journey through five different environments based on the immersive nature of dreams. The main environment is a labyrinth filled with paths and three dimensional objects and act as navigational icons or symbols.
Each time I watch someone navigating "Dream Grrrls," I see a new approach to the paths, the display, and hear new comments on experiencing the piece. This phenomenon can be an empowering way for the artist to break down the barrier between the artist and the viewer. The artist not only presents the dialogue but also demands feedback. For the participant in virtual environments, art goes beyond mere viewing to an active participation.
The sensation of traveling upwards or downwards or falling from a path is part of a continual feedback system between the participant and the computer. The hierarchy between the two becomes ambiguous. It is uncertain which one is creating the action and which one the reaction.
The graphics
are integral to the interaction. In "Dream Grrrls" the imagery of people
and characters are key elements to the participants' discovery process.
Interaction with this imagery triggers new gateways to discovery.
For example, inside the labyrinth is an ominous looking head. As the participant approaches the paths ascending to the head, warnings ring out "Don't go up there! Don't go up there!" The adventurers will begin the ascent and journey towards the head. Once inside, there is a moment of terror when the screens go black and the CAVE fills with darkness and strange sounds of whispering, noises and bumps. Once the initial moment of shock is over, the participant will turn to the navigational wand and discover that it is now a flashlight.
Pointing the wand illuminates the darkness to reveal walls of dimly lit and frightening creatures. There is little sense of the familiar. The only way to escape from this entrapment is to approach the creatures -- in essence "to face one's fears" and find a release from the darkness.
These artistic metaphors go beyond being content providers and navigational elements. They allow the participant to formulate and learn from their own decisions. Art created through virtual environments allows participants to become actively engaged in the completion of an artistic creation and develop artistic appreciation.
These are the essential elements in the development of aesthetic thinking. By allowing participants to control their movement in the environment, they are actively engaged in discovering choices, learning that there is a variety of possibilities and developing more flexible ways of thinking.
The strength of good VR design is fluid exploration for the participants. They should be immersed in the imagery and what the environment is communicating. The interface should not be dazzling. It should reveal the true nature of the artwork. The design should not appear as pasted on tools and software packages. The presentation should go beyond the medium to be a memorable experience. Virtual environments should be their own entity.
For me, VR is more than an artistic endeavor toward self-satisfaction and enlightenment. It is an opportunity to create for others who must in turn complete the piece through their participation. Unlike a landscape painting where the artist's desire creates the view, VR offers multiple views updated by the participant's active desire.
Art is the cultivation of possibilities. Science is the reproduction of conformity. The two disciplines establish different philosophical methods yet they both attempt to invent and uncover truths in our world. It took an oxymoron like "virtual reality" to bring the arts and sciences together to produce 3D real time graphical environments for creative discovery. Collaboration between the arts and sciences is the only way to fly.
Free your mind and your art will follow.
dolinsky@evl.uic.edu