Interactive Arts Commons^™

Role Playing Games As Interactive Fiction, John Miller

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This chapter compares the experience of gaming and the experience of reading, and explores what that comparison might tell us about each. More specifically, it applies methods of literary analysis to the study of two narrative activities situated near the border of reading and gaming: Electronic hyperfictions and role-playing games. Miller first reviews literary theories of reader response and interactivity and notes how these have informed recent critical discussions of literary hyperfiction. He then critiques these discussions and the claims made for hyperfiction's liberating or empowering effect on readers: Contrary to the claims of some critics, such narratives generally fail …

Ars Virtua, James Morgan

SWITCH

Ars Virtua is a virtual gallery and new media center that exists within Second Life, a 3D online world. It was created to support forms of art that can only exist in a digital space.

The Switch Curatorial: Carne, Ethan Miller

SWITCH

CARNE is an interactive visualization that turns live network traffic into a navigable 3D space.

The Switch Curatorial: Internet In The Box, Arlen Thurber

SWITCH

Internet In The Box visualizes live internet traffic as a 3D universe, where IP addresses and data packets move through a contained space.

The Switch Curatorial: Chaoma, Charlene Chao, Crystal Ma

SWITCH

ChaoMa is a network visualization that represents online activity as a galaxy-like space. The project helps users see how individual activity connects to the network as a whole.

On Earth, Kristina Foley

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My thesis project is structured around a friendship that grew into an artistic collaboration. Laura Williams and myself, Kristina Foley, pulled our resources and concepts together from two seemingly disparate fields of art, Fiber Structure and Interlocking and the Media Art Program, to explore our personal identification with Feminism, magic, and the role of art in illustrating history through revealing perspectives often kept hidden. Using fibers and textile pieces we explore a women’s history that has been kept private and held close to the body, while simultaneously using video and photography to re-imagine how the female is projected into the …

Macromedia Director Audio Project Research - Written Report, Peter Dee

Articles

A written report about the Director Audio Project: Underground Sound to include the four headings of control of audio, thematic coherence, management of assets and originality of approach / design rationale. The Underground Sound Director Audio Project is about contemporary black music in an urban setting. Images of old and young captured in the environment in which they live.

Enterprise Ireland: Stimulating Creativity Through Design Strategies, Peter Dee

Other resources

Stimulating Creativity through Design Strategies: A seminar organised by Enterprise Ireland for business organisations to explore a holistic approach to the design / marketing interface.

Peter Dee - Strategic Design and Marketing Consultant, specialises in the creation of brand development strategies for Enterprise Ireland’s Design Unit. Peter was responsible for the design and development of the brand identity for the Enterprise Ireland Stimulating Creativity through Design Strategies Seminar in Dublin.

Design is an excellent expression of innovation. It can provide product differentiation, gain and hold onto competitive market advantage and assist in the building of strong brands through creative packaging …

T. Cassidy Printing Company Limited Brand Identity Project, Peter Dee

Other resources

T. Cassidy Printing - Dublin's finest lithographic and digital printing company. T. Cassidy Printing required a clean, bold and tasteful logotype using strong colours and imagery.

Peter Dee - Strategic Design and Marketing Consultant, was responsible for the design and development of the brand identity for the T. Cassidy Printing Company which was used on business cards, letterhead, promotional material and business website.

T. Cassidy Printing provides a complete design and printing service for all printed materials - from graphic design through to printing, finishing and delivery. All types of corporate printed materials from newsletters and marketing brochures to corporate …

Editorial Notes For Switch Art And Games Issue, Anne-Marie Schleiner

SWITCH

The article begins with a survey of public intersection between computer games and art; The Doors of Perception Conference in Amsterdam (1998), Synworld conference and exhibit at Public Netbase in Vienna (1999), Interactive Frictions conference and exhibit met at USC in Los Angeles (1999), Game Over exhibit presented at the Institute of Design in Zurich (1999), and Re: play Panel organized by Eyebeam Atelier and TechBC (1999). The article then mentions various important computer artists of that time within issue 12 of Switch, including Erkki Huhtamo and Laura Trippi. It also examines how these game patches recontextualize the original game …

The Dirt On Muds, Monica Vasilescu

SWITCH

This issue covers that MUDs are a real time synchronous text-based environment used by multiple users on the internet. MUDs were originally used for Role-Playing based games such as Dungeons & Dragons. MUDs have evolved since its origin and other versions have branched off from the original MUDs. They have been developed not only to be used in the gaming community, but further into online communication. It lets users remain anonymous while taking onto an online persona.

Metamorphoses Digital Photography In The Electronic Age And Perfectm Digital Photography In The Bay Area, Jan Ekenberg

SWITCH

Two exhibitions at the San Jose Museum of Modern Art, “Metamorphoses: Digital Photography in the Electronic Age” and “Pixel Perfect: Digital Photography in the Bay Area,” both debate whether digital photography is a kind of art based on how people interpret photography. With the advent of powerful computer software such as Adobe’s Photoshop, artists can easily manage their work regardless of whether they want to create collages, adjust the color, add additional layers of images or text, experiment with scale, or transform dreamlike ideas into surreal artworks for public display. The two shows challenge the principles of photography - to …

Calendar Of Events, Loretta L. Lange

SWITCH

This page showcases a timeline of events and exhibitions that took place at San José State University that were hosted by CADRE from May 96’ May 97’. The reason for the events was to explore technologies within art at colleges and to expand on the topic of interactive, electronic performance concerts, and digital media. Furthermore, these installations were meant to introduce newer digital media forms into the program. The artist wanted viewers to experience a new advanced interactive experience. During the concert what was showcased was electroacoustic music as well as other live performers and “autonomous agents” which are robots …

Editor's Notes: Sound, Loretta L. Lange

SWITCH

This switch article goes over the use of sound and how some people consider it to be a language, an art, or a form of technology. Lange refers to Agostino Di Scipio’s arguments on how technology was created by humans and therefore should be an art. More specifically, how sound can be an electronic art, especially since it can change or be manipulated just as musical artists create music. Next, she refers to Larry Wendt’s article and how sound composition or poetry is structured. He goes on to explain that sound-text doesn’t have a solid order and is flexible enough …

Useless Web Pages: Conceptual Folk Art Or Post Modern Web Dada?, Benjamin Eakins

SWITCH

When discussing “useless” web pages in regards to their existence as works of art, particularly regarding their place within an art paradigm, there are many factors to take into consideration. In this article, Benjamin Eakins states that web pages which fall under the “useless” category may do so for numerous reasons such as providing meaningless data, presenting specific personal details, or offering irrelevant and insufficient information. Eakins discusses how these pages invite the viewer through the entertainment of confrontation and absurdity with the use of interactivity, randomness, and social purposes. In addition, the nature of these “useless” web pages are …

Answers?, Switch Staffs

SWITCH

Web art consisted of burning questions of how they are viewed as an art medium because the internet was starting to become innovative with its creative texts and imagery. Many of these concerns revolved around the viewer’s interaction and the possibility of taking over traditional art. Because of web art becoming an innovative cultural reset, there has been speculations whether web art should be consider a better art medium against traditional art or temporarily phase that attracts artistic experimentation.

Currents: Art Review, Jason Challas

SWITCH

A review of the exhibition "Currents", on view at Holmes Fine Arts Gallery Feb. 11th- April 28th 1995. Works reviewed include two by Bruce Cannon, “Comfort Zone” and “Donation Box,” as well as Tim Ryan's relief paintings and sculptures. It is noted that the exhibition also incorporates work by Joan Heemskerk, Dirk Paesmans, Joel Slayton, Jack Fulton, Gary Quinonez, Guy Marsden, Christine Tamblyn, Geri Wittig, and Joe Delappe.

The Emergence Of Alife, P.D. Quick

SWITCH

Interview with Kenneth E. Rinaldo, an artist who is on the Board of Directors of YLEM. Within this interview, many topics are covered, including artificial life, simulations, the meaning of art, spirituality, and television. The interview also goes into the personal work and life of Rinaldo, whose focus includes many of these subjects. Some of the more specific subjects include intelligence without consciousness, the combination of science and art, and Ken Rinaldo’s The Flock, an interactive A-Life sculpture.

Editor's Spot, Switch Staffs

SWITCH

In this article the Switch staff goes in to detail on the redesign of the journal's website for an issue on on artificial life . The new design xperiments with the way Switch looks and how a user can navigate throughout the articles. Lorretta Lange is introduced as the new editor. The authors answer questions about the differences between artificial life and artificial intelligence, highlighting how artificial life can consist of small modulating algorithms. For more on this topic, the article links to Rudy Rucker's related article.

Gnarled Defined, Rudy Rucker

SWITCH

The article is a reflection of the author’s conception of the term ‘gnarly’, extending the term’s meaning from its origins in California surfer slang. 'Gnarly' is often used in a colloquial context, however, the author believes that the term is able to be used in an academic field as it pertains to outcomes and results of equations. Discussions towards the application of the term 'gnarly' showcase how it can be used in a scientific, mathematical, and artistic context through seemingly random patterns. In order to be gnarly, things must lie and exist between the realm of orderly and chaotic often …

Virtual Celluoid, Switch Staffs

SWITCH

The article is an analysis of the author’s research pertaining to films relating to or containing the concept of virtual reality. The author lists several films such as Johnny Mnemnonic, Virtuosity, The Net, and Disclosure and provides a brief synopsis and review of each movie. Each film explains the concept of virtual reality through differing plots and methods such as cyberspace, progressive software, and artificial intelligence. The author also gives their own insight into and ratings of the films, explaining what they think is the most relatable in terms of overall storyline as well as how realisticly the movie portrays …

Vr Dirt And Other Stuff, P.D. Quick

SWITCH

A look at the effects virtual reality has on users. These effects can manifest physiologically or psychologically, through the use of the interfaces and feedback of virtual tech. Several sources are discussed, including a study from the University of Virginia’s Department of Computer Science and a panel presentation attended by the author titled "A National Research Agenda for Virtual Reality: Report by the National Research Council Committee on VR R&D" (NRCC). Some of the side effects of virtual reality tech use are eye strain, motion sickness, and sopite syndrome. Altering the mental model held by the user's own body as …

Vr Products, P.D. Quick

SWITCH

The article is an analysis of the author’s experience testing several virtual reality items at Siggraph, an annual convention displaying computer machinery and interactive technology products. The author explains each device and how they work, the company behind the invention, as well as how it can help with future technological advancements. Several products are explained in more depth; the i-Glasses by Virtual I/O, Red Planet by Virtual World Entertainment Inc., Venturer S-2 by Thomson Entertainment Systems, and several more. Each item explores virtual reality in differing ways such as interactive video games, more user-friendly 3D modeling, and virtual movie theater …

Switch On Virtual Reality, Switch Staffs

SWITCH

A general introduction to virtual reality and the technology associated with it. The article wants to explore a simulated fantasyland and desires to escape the limits of the everyday world. Two interviews with Brenda Laurel and Linda Jacobson about the issue of identity in VR, theorizing whether one can escape entirely into another existence. The authors also talk about the full potential of VR, where people can "become" someone of the opposite sex, of an altered gender, or another race.

Vr Projects, P.D. Quick

SWITCH

A description of three three projects having to do with virtual reality. The first is the Nanomanipulator, developed at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Department of Computer Science in conjunction with the UCLA Department of Chemistry in 1991. It is a machine that allows the user to interact with microscopic particles previously only visible in 2D from an electron microscope. The second project, The Augmented Reality Project, also developed at the Chapel Hill Department of Computer Science. This device used ultrasound images to be placed over a body allowing the user to see inside of it. The final …

Vrware Beware: Vr At Siggraph, P.D. Quick

SWITCH

The article uses the author’s experiences from the event of Siggraph ‘95 to comment on upcoming products using virtual or augmented reality. The article includes further discussion on the products’ effects on the psychology and physiology of consumers. Some examples include the “i-Glasses” from Virtual I/O, the “Smart Model” from Multigen, as well as the nanomanipulator created by University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Department of Computer Science, and the Phobia Project developed by the Georgia Tech Graphics Visualization and Usability Center. The article also covers not only the products of this event, but also the courses, panels, papers, and …

Interview: Joel Slayton, Christine Laffer

SWITCH

Interview with Joel Slayton, Professor of Computers in Fine Art at San José State University, and Director of the CADRE Institute. Slayton discusses the history of the Cadre Institute and details his views on the relationship between art and new technology. Slayton describes the role of artists in exploring the possibilities and ethical implications of emerging technologies such as genetic engineering, nano-techology, robotics, and artificial life. He describes installations and in-progress work focused on ubiquitous video surveillance. The interview concludes with a discussion of Slayton’s use of the DoWhatDo model for artistic collaboration and of his piece "Conduits," presented in …

An Introduction To Virtual Reality, Leda Kanellakos

SWITCH

A general introduction to the concept of virtual reality, the technology associated with it, and the theoretical applications of virtual reality. Virtual reality is compared to the introduction of the television and how both revolutionize communication. Examples of applications for virtual reality include high school reunions and computerized fantasies. The author also discusses the future applications of virtual reality as it becomes more widely spread. The concept of virtual reality is discussed within the context of quotes from Vary T. Coates in their 1992 book The Future of Information Technology, and Myron W. Krueger in their article Artificial Reality …

[Introduction To] Writing The Woman Artist: Essays On Poetics, Politics, And Portraiture, Suzanne W. Jones

Bookshelf

The essays in this collection explore the many ways in which women writers have seen and dreamed the woman artist as a character in their works. In describing this character, her struggles and her visions, we as feminist critics run the risk of prescribing her, and yet failing to name her means failing to know her. We confront this difficulty not by defining the woman artist figure but by identifying many. Recognizing as Teresa De Lauretis has suggested that the social construction of gender is "a common denominator" among women, we examine the different representations of the woman artist figure …

Experience As Art Form, Karen Karabasz

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.