Medien Wiki - User contributions [en]

GMU:Colloquium

2023-05-10T07:40:27Z

Jca: /* Attendance Timetable */

Here are the thesis projects from Bachelor, Master, and PhD students in summer semester 23

*[[/Isabella Lee Aturo/]]
* [[Dasa Geiger]]
*[[/Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt/]]
*[[Rico Graupner/]]
*[[/Jörg Brinkmann/]]
*[[/Daniel Wolter/]]
*[[/Gabriel Moses/]]
*[[/Christina Schinzel/]]
*[[/Vaclav Harsa/]]
*[[/Quan Zhou/]]
*[[Zihxuan Zhou]]
*[[Valeria Shakhova]]
*[[Belcim Yavuz]]
*[[Ruo Jin Yen]]
*[[ Bo Liu]]
*[[Fei Xie]]
*[[Ruo-Jin Yen]]
*[[Mint_Chanitnanth]]
*[[Viviane]]
*[[Eirini]]
*[[Ulas Yener]]

== Attendance Timetable ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Week'''
| '''Date'''
| '''Presenter'''
|-
| 1
| 24. April 2023
| N.N.
|-
| 2
|3. Mai 2023
| Valeriia Shakhova
|-
| 3
| 10. Mai 2023
| Isabella Lee Arturo
|-
| 4
| 17. Mai 2023
| Quan Zhou, Juan Camillo
|-
| 5
|24 Mai 2023
| Bo Liu, Mint, Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt
|-
|7
|31. Mai 2023
| Zhixuan Zhou, Fei Xie
|-
|8
|14. June 2023
| Dasa Geiger
|-
| 9
|21. June 2023
| N.N.
|-
|10
| 28. June 2023
| N.N.
|-
|11
| 05 July 2023
| N.N.
|-
| 12
|12. July 2023
| N.N.
|}

[[Category:SS23]]

GMU:Colloquium

2022-04-19T13:08:23Z

Jca:

Here are the thesis projects from Bachelor, Master, and PhD students in winter semester 21/22

*[[/Isabella Lee Aturo/]]
*[[/Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt/]]
*[[/Ksenia Tajsic/]]
*[[/Joel Schäfer/]]
*[[/Yasemin Yagci/]]
*[[Rico Graupner/]]
*[[/Jörg Brinkmann/]]
*[[/Daniel Wolter/]]
*[[/Gabriel Moses/]]
*[[/Christina Schinzel/]]
*[[/Sandra Anhalt/]]
*[[/Vaclav Harsa/]]
*[[/Sarah Alvim/]]
*[[/Benazir Basauri/]]
*[[/Lennart Oberlies/]]
*[[/Quan Zhou/]]
*[[Timo Bechert]]
*[[Fabian Krzich]]
*[[Clemens Hornemann]]
*[[Mudassir]]
*[[Funda Zeynep]]
*[[Zihxuan Zhou]]
*[[Kristin Jakubek]]

== Attendance Timetable ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Week'''
| '''Date'''
| '''Presenter'''
|-
| 1
| 19. April 2022
| Yasemin Yagci, Sarah Alvim
|-
| 2
|26. April 2022
| Gabriel S. Moses
|-
| 3
| 03. May 2022
| Isabella Lee Aturo
|-
| 4
| 10. May 2022
| Quan Zhou
|-
| 5
|17. May 2022
| Kristin Jakubek
|-
|7
|24. May 2022
| Zhixuan Zhou
|-
|8
|31. May 2022
| Clemens Hornemann, Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt
|-
| 9
|07. June 2022
| N.N.
|-
|10
| 14. June 2022
| N.N.
|-
|11
| 21 June 2022
| N.N.
|-
| 12
|28. June 2022
| N.N.
|-
| 13
|05. July 2022
| Joel Schäfer, Funda Ayguler
|-
|14
| 12. July 2022
| N.N.
|}

[[Category:WS21]]

GMU:Colloquium

2022-04-19T13:07:44Z

Jca:

Here are the thesis projects from Bachelor, Master, and PhD students in winter semester 21/22

*[[/Isabella Lee Aturo/]]
*[[/Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt/]]
*[[/Ksenia Tajsic/]]
*[[/Joel Schäfer/]]
*[[/Yasemin Yagci/]]
*[[Rico Graupner/]]
*[[/Jörg Brinkmann/]]
*[[/Daniel Wolter/]]
*[[/Gabriel Moses/]]
*[[/Christina Schinzel/]]
*[[/Sandra Anhalt/]]
*[[/Vaclav Harsa/]]
*[[/Sarah Alvim/]]
*[[/Benazir Basauri/]]
*[[/Lennart Oberlies/]]
*[[/Quan Zhou/]]
*[[Timo Bechert]]
*[[Fabian Krzich]]
*[[Clemens Hornemann]]
*[[Mudassir]]
*[[Funda Zeynep]]
*[[Zihxuan Zhou]]
*[[Kristin Jakubek]]

== Attendance Timetable ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Week'''
| '''Date'''
| '''Presenter'''
|-
| 1
| 19. April 2022
| Yasemin Yagci, Sarah Alvim
|-
| 2
|26. April 2022
| Gabriel S. Moses
|-
| 3
| 03. May 2022
| Isabella Lee Aturo
|-
| 4
| 10. May 2022
| Quan Zhou
|-
| 5
|17. May 2022
| Kristin Jakubek
|-
|7
|24. May 2022
| Zhixuan Zhou
|-
|8
|31. May 2022
| Clemens Hornemann
| Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt
| 9
|07. June 2022
| N.N.
|-
|10
| 14. June 2022
| N.N.
|-
|11
| 21 June 2022
| N.N.
|-
| 12
|28. June 2022
| N.N.
|-
| 13
|05. July 2022
| Joel Schäfer, Funda Ayguler
|-
|14
| 12. July 2022
| N.N.
|}

[[Category:WS21]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T18:34:58Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. This is a completely personal opinion and based on personal encounters. In this whole thematic one should bear in mind that art-journalism and art-criticism is focused on verbalising artistic positions, and these very people have the most impact on art-evaluation and thus art-reception, sometimes even leaving the creator surprised. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike the trend in arts of content being reducible to an explicit message, - knowingly that this is also only half the story.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, ignes fatui, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on the grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm. Yet it should still be a balance between natural and dreamlike.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation of the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from Unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic scale would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of ignes fatui or firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile revisiting the idea of an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into a habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T18:34:12Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. This is a completely personal opinion and based on personal encounters. In this whole thematic one should bear in mind that art-journalism and art-criticism is focused on verbalising artistic positions, and these very people have the most impact on art-evaluation and thus art-reception, sometimes even leaving the creator surprised. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike the trend in arts of content being reducible to an explicit message, - knowingly that this is also only half the story.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, ignes fatui, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm. Yet it should still be a balance between natural and dreamlike.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation of the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from Unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic scale would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of ignes fatui or firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile revisiting the idea of an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into a habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T17:04:09Z

Jca: /* Approach: */

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. This is a completely personal opinion and based on personal encounters. In this whole thematic one should bear in mind that art-journalism and art-critism is focused on verbalising artistic positions, and these very people have the most impact on art-evaluation and thus art-reception, sometimes even leaving the creator surprised. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike the trend in arts of content being reducible to an explicit message, knowing that this is also only half the story.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, ignes fatui, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm. Yet it should still be a balance between natural and dreamlike.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation of the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from Unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic scale would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of ignes fatui or firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile revisiting the idea of an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into a habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T16:51:40Z

Jca: /* Context: */

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. This is a completely personal opinion and based on personal encounters. In this whole thematic one should bear in mind that art-journalism and art-critism is focused on verbalising artistic positions, and these very people have the most impact on art-evaluation and thus art-reception, sometimes even leaving the creator surprised. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike the trend in arts of content being reducible to an explicit message, knowing that this is also only half the story.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, ignes fatui, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm. Yet it should still be a balance between natural and dreamlike.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from Unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic scale would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of ignes fatui or firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile revisiting the idea of an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into a habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T16:50:57Z

Jca: /* Context: */

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. This is a completely personal opinion and based on personal encounters. In this whole thematic one should bear in mind that art-journalism and art-critism is focused on verbalising artistic positions, and these very people have the most impact on art-evaluation and thus art-reception, sometimes even leaving the creator surprised. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike the trend in arts of content being reducible to an explicit message, knowing that this is half the story.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, ignes fatui, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm. Yet it should still be a balance between natural and dreamlike.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from Unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic scale would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of ignes fatui or firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile revisiting the idea of an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into a habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T16:50:14Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. This is a completely personal opinion and based on personal encounters. In this whole thematic one should bear in mind that art-journalism and art-critism is focused on verbalising artistic positions, and these very people have the most impact on art-evaluation and thus art-reception, sometimes even leaving the creator surprised. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike the trend in arts of content being reducible to an explicit message, knowingly that this is half the story.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, ignes fatui, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm. Yet it should still be a balance between natural and dreamlike.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from Unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic scale would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of ignes fatui or firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile revisiting the idea of an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into a habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T13:29:57Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving around each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T12:23:30Z

Jca: /* Build: */

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

note: quit program by pressing CMD->Q

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T12:21:14Z

Jca: /* Build: */

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==
[https://cloud.bau-ha.us/s/r8csmoG7RgQ2zCX Build for Mac (.app)]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:56:44Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:53:17Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the depth-calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further fog on top of the closer grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:48:59Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colourisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:42:45Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres; places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:38:47Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.
While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless, open, light, bright and slighlty warm.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player a task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:26:47Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.
----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.
While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]
----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

{{#ev:youtube|jEBsNy5VLIA|735}}

==Build:==

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:13:43Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.

----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.
While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]

----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.
On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.
Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

==Build:==

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:12:27Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.

----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.

The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.
While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

'''Phase I - Memories and Inspiration'''

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:

“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

'''Phase II - Decisions and Setting'''

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)

I wanted the environment to be rather un-distracting and endless.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

'''Phase III - First Tryout'''

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase IV - Revision'''

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

'''Phase V - Sound and Interactivity'''

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]

----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.
On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.
Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

==Build:==

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T11:03:08Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg|none|1000px]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.

----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.
On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.
I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.
The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.
While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

----

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.
I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

Phase I - Memories and Inspiration

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 Xavier Corberó] talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his interview/portrait were:
“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

Phase II - Decisions and Setting

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.
Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)
I wanted the environment rather un-distracting and endless.
I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

Phase III - First Tryout

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.
A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.
[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

Phase IV - Revision

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

Phase V - Sound and Interactivity

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.gif|none|1000px]]

----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.
On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.
Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

==Build:==

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

re-recorded with unity recorder: [[File:jca_unity_recorder.mp4]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T10:58:22Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.jpg]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.

----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.
The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

---

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

Phase I - Memories and Inspiration

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

Xavier Corberó talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 interview/portrait] were:
“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

Phase II - Decisions and Setting

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)
I wanted the environment rather un-distracting and endless.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

Phase III - First Tryout

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01.jpg|none|1000px]]
[[File:CVR1_jca_02.jpg|none|1000px]]
[[File:CVR1_jca_10.jpg|none|1000px]]

Phase IV - Revision

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_11.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03.jpg|none|1000px]]

Phase V - Sound and Interactivity

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07.jpg|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13.jpg|none|1000px]]

----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

==Video:==

==Build:==

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

re-recorded with unity recorder: [[File:jca_unity_recorder.mp4]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-03-28T10:55:57Z

Jca:

[[File:CVR1_jca_00.png]]
==Context:==
In our times art became something that in order to be valued has be filled with a ‘meaningful’ message, a political proposition. Personally it feels like decontextualising art from any environmental influence through white cube galleries in an elitist culture while demanding a re-contextualisation through ‘exterior’ information makes modern art rather inaccessible. Additionally though, it feels like that artworks are often blatant and 1-dimensional, only asking rather ‘simple’ questions or being a mere latching comment to a controversial thematic. While it is hard to pinpoint, what I don’t appreciate about many modern artworks, I dislike content being reducible to an explicit message.

----

==Concept/Description:==
The player is in on a hilly plain above an ocean of clouds. The wind slowly sweeps through the grass. The player is able to slightly interact with undefined firefly-like beings, which emerge out of the grass and cluster on different spots. A large white structure consisting of arches stands off-centre on a grassy circle.

On this quiet and serene place, the player is neither harshly confronted nor avoided. To put it simple. The player is -there-, in this moment, no specific questions are asked, no questions have to be answered. It is no counter concept to ‘screaming’, ‘straining’ political art. It is no escapist alternative.

I value atmospheres. Places which are there, but don’t need any further explanation to exist. Atmospheres which are saturated with many very light emotions of different natures, creating an ambiguous and vague experience but not being overly questioning.
The viewer is free to look around, remember something, reflect or contemplate a little or to zone out.

While the structure is enormous it doesn’t look massive or overwhelming. The arches are arranged in an intertwining non-perfect-symmetrical order. There are no walls, only columns. The only purpose of this construction is itself, no use as a container. The idealised, minimised and aestheticised look of a (neo-)classical ruin may trigger curiosity, questions or memories or a sense of serenity.

---

==Approach:==
My personal experience with virtual reality projects is that many artworks use this medium as there are more angles of perspectives to give a kind of sensual overload and bombardment of the viewer. While this kind of approach arguably suits this medium I find it hard to breath.

I think that immersion is often misunderstood. It is not about overflowing the viewer but about letting the player enter the world. One sentence of [you] Jörg Brinkmann sticked to me. Immersion results from projection ( - of oneself onto/into the world). Additionally, interactability doesn’t necessarily make a work immersive.

Phase I - Memories and Inspiration

In the beginning there was a feeling. Vagueness. Faded memories. A childhood memory of the beginning sequences of the music video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hji4gBuOvIQ “El Mañana” by Gorillaz]. The smell of cold morning dew on grass burned by the summer sun. The bright white colour of greek rock walls. The sound of Provençal Cicadas. Paintings by [https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2008/NYR/2008_NYR_01994_0016_000(035423).jpg Camille Pissarro] and [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Paul_Baum_-_Dichtbebaute_Dorfstrasse_in_Holland%2C_bei_Nachmittagssonne.jpg Paul Baum].

Xavier Corberó talks about his life-time sculpture and house in Esplugues de Llobregat with Albert Moya on Nowness. Resonating quotes in his [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8pY8Om840 interview/portrait] were:
“It possesses utility in itself, not a defining function”, “A place in which the mental space - not the real one - is what matters”.

Phase II - Decisions and Setting

I wanted decidedly not to approach photo-realism. While trying to perfectly mimic the world we live in it still feels off. Photo-realism doesn’t promise immersion. But how do I represent something I can’t fully grasp myself, the distant image? What I like about “flat” 2D-colorisation is, that we don’t ask ourselves if it is true. We accept it as it is.

Deeply inspired by Corberó’s house complex I already was working with these clean, white, half-circle arches. They gave me a feeling of being an abstraction of a concept rather than a common practice or comment on an architectural epoch. While consisting of symmetrical idealistic beauty proportions it also consists of rather natural organic attributes. With the absence of harsh mirror axes, ornaments and practical use it vanishes the lines of architecture, sculpture or even manmade object. While probably playing with associations of ancient classical buildings and labyrinths for me the final structure evokes a feeling of simple existence as life itself. (final structure in Phase IV)
I wanted the environment rather un-distracting and endless.

I played with the idea of making a 3d-sound-scape, a musical piece, voice over or implement text.

Phase III - First Tryout

I quickly had to resign from the idea of having an endless plain of grass. Not only for technical or performance reasons but I didn’t want the player to get a feeling of being lost.

A mesh combiner made the grass performative. The shader changes the blades of the grass to additionally fake sweeping wind and visually remind of clouds casting shadows onto the plains, even-though technically there aren’t any clouds nor a sun in the sky, it helps to diminish the alienation from the otherwise very stiff ‘nature’.

[[File:CVR1_jca_01|none|1000px]]
[[File:CVR1_jca_02|none|1000px]]
[[File:CVR1_jca_10|none|1000px]]

Phase IV - Revision

I decided I don’t want the structures to reemerge in different forms. Although I liked the visual appearance of such the structures would create too much dialogue revolving about each other. I had to simplify.

At first I created reusable segments for the arches, to have a more modular and rather intuitive ability to rearrange. While for this task it worked great, the edges of the stacked objects would create undesired double edges, marks, flickering, wrong shadows etc. I had to take the model from unity and retouch it in Blender.

I created a cloud-like plain bending towards the horizon to fake additional distance. The shader was created in the node based HDRP-ShaderGraph.

Sadly I couldn’t use the volumetric fog feature of the HDRP because the grass-blade custom shader-material would just be ignored for the calculation resulting in an overlay effect of further shadow on top of the grass.

[[File:CVR1_jca_11|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_09|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_06|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_08|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_04|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_03|none|1000px]]

Phase V - Sound and Interactivity

I created and tried out different musical themes, some more melodic and harmonic others less western influenced. I had to leave it out since the chord or pentatonic structure would interpret and ‘stain’ the atmosphere, affecting and biasing the viewer too much emotionally.

I questioned myself if I should implement a second layer. Either through text or a voice over. Both are too dogmatic and specifically thought-provoking. While the latter being even more intrusive.

To make the player movement less monotonous I created 8 different walking sounds and 8 different running sounds which then are randomly chosen.

Even if the soundscape is very natural it is quite personal. My brother and I took field recordings of our childhood-region and I layered them with field-recordings we took on different holidays. Personally, these are very familiar, intimate and soothing sounds.
My first idea of being able to auditorily explore a 3D-soundscape was also dropped but recycled into little clusters of firefly-like-beings emitting some sound and providing a micro-interactive experience. This gives one the feeling of existence whilst not giving the player task.

[[File:CVR1_jca_07|none|1000px]]

[[File:CVR1_jca_13|none|1000px]]

----

==Reflection:==

On a technical standpoint I could rewrite the grass-shader to enable the volumetric fog possibility. I grew quite fond of the island in the sky / eternal platform / plain above the clouds look, but it might still be worthwhile having a look at an endless plain.

On a conceptual standpoint I ask myself if the player feels (completely unintentionally) isolated or trapped. On the other hand, I question myself (contrary to my statement in the beginning) if distancing myself from graspable political propositions or of other kind renders my work meaningless.

Personally, I am I happy I was able to simplify and simplify and don’t fall into the habit of adding, adding and adding.

=Video:==

==Build:==

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

re-recorded with unity recorder: [[File:jca_unity_recorder.mp4]]

File:CVR1 jca 13.gif

2021-03-28T10:54:29Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 11.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:18Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 10.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:18Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 09.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:17Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 08.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:17Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 07.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:17Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 06.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:16Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 05.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:16Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 04.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:16Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 03.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:15Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 02.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:15Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 01.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:15Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:CVR1 jca 00.jpg

2021-03-28T10:54:14Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-01-07T14:40:59Z

Jca:

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

re-recorded with unity recorder: [[File:jca_unity_recorder.mp4]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-01-07T14:34:47Z

Jca:

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

re-recorded with unity recorder: [[File:jca_unity_recorder_001.mp4]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2021-01-07T14:27:07Z

Jca:

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]
re-recorded with unity recorder:

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/JCA

2020-12-22T02:19:16Z

Jca: Created page with "homework: File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov"

homework: [[File:jca_vid_sound_test3.mov]]

File:Jca vid sound test3.mov

2020-12-22T02:19:01Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction

2020-11-26T11:24:27Z

Jca:

Lecturer: [[Jörg Brinkmann]] 
Credits: 6 [[ECTS]], 4 [[SWS]] 
Date: Thursdays, 15:30 – 18:30 
Venue: Online Seminar 
First Date: Thursday, 05.11.2020, 15:30

==Description==
'''Critical VR Lab I – Unity Introduction''' is a beginner module that offers an Introduction to the Unity game engine. The whole course will be taught online. Participants will be introduced to Unity through video tutorials, accompanied by PDFs and it will be possible to communicate through online meetings and individual consultations.

'''The course will be taught in two phases:''' 
In phase one participants will be introduced to an overview of the Unity interface and different techniques (Lights, Skyboxes, Prefabs, Timeline, Animation). The learning phase will be accompanied by lectures and discussions that are focused on finding strategies for dealing with the possibilities and challenges of working artistically with Game Engines and VR technologies. At the end of phase one, students will have created an experience with Unity and documented it on our GMU Wiki-Page. In phase two students are challenged to reflect, discuss, rethink and rework their Unity experience, based on individual research and experienced insights.

The course emphasises on artistic and opposing ways of working with Virtual Reality concepts. It’s aim is to establish individual approaches to VR, a challenging medium which offers artists new possibilities for expression and intercultural communication, especially at times of the Corona Crisis which creates new challenges to the way we interact with each other. Please watch the video for more information.

==Recommended Requirements==
No previous knowledge of Unity or other 3D software is needed, but applicants should have access to the Internet, a Computer and Headphones.

==Criteria for passing==
In order to successfully participate you will have to develop and document your own project on the GMU Wiki. Also, complete the exercises and comply with the submission deadlines

==Communication throughout the semester==

'''The GMU-Wiki''' 
Here you can find all the info about our class and also present your work linked under your name 
Please create your account under this link with your University email adress: 
'''https://www.uni-weimar.de/kunst-und-gestaltung/wiki/Special:CreateAccount'''

'''Email''' 
For individual communication. I might send you download links to material

'''Telegram''' 
CriticalVR1 will be our collective chatroom 
Please download Telegram and join for group discussions: 
'''https://t.me/joinchat/HZlOrxuHLynKhLE44cts_Q'''

''' BigBlueButton''' 
This video conference utility will be used for our meetings and consultations 
To start the conversation click on the link

==Student works (after login, please add your name and create a page)==
*[[Mudassir Sheikh]]
* [[/Ruo-Xuan Wu (Russian)/]]
*[[/Dominik_Kämmer/]]
* [[/Ulrike Sophie Katzschmann/]]
*[[/Laura Toledo/]]
* [[/Jin Wang/]]
* [[/Christian Dähne/]]
* [[/JCA/]]
* [[/Elia Zeißig/]]
* [[/Victoria Joelle Hesselbach/]]
* [[/Quan Zhou/]]
* [[/Deborah Meyer/]]
*[[/Beatrice Perlato/]]
*[[/Alena Isai/]]
*[[/Alexander Leschinez/]]
*[[/Sebastian Richter/]]

==Tutorials (Video + PDF)==

===1.) Getting to know the Unity Editor===

===2.) Lights, Skyboxes, Prefabs, Timeline===

===3.) Animation in Mixamo and Unity===

==Syllabus==

===05.11.2020===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

please watch the video to get some information about the course 
'''https://youtu.be/sbhbC5y-jpI''' 

if you have any questions, feel free to ask me anything at the online meeting 

===12.11.2020===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===19.11.2020===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===26.11.2020===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
Choose your timeslot for an individual consultation. To start the conversation open the link which will start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Ruo-Xuan Wu) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – Elia Zeissig 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (Juro Carl Anton Reinhardt) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (Jin Wang)

===03.12.2020===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – Beatrice Perlato 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – Victoria Joelle Hesselbach 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – Laura Toledo 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (Mudassir Sheikh)

===10.12.2020===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – Elia Zeissig 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – Dominik Kämmer 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (Deborah Meyer) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (Jin Wang)

===17.12.2020===
'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 

'''Online meeting via BBB from 17:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===21.12.2020===
'''Deadline:''' 
'''1.) Please create an Experience in Unity. Record a video of your Experience with OBS (https://obsproject.com) and post it in our Wiki (GMU:Critical VR Lab I) under your name'''

===Christmas and New Year Holidays===

===07.01.2021===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===14.01.2021===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Eric Schlossberg 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – Sebastian 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – Christian Dähne 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===21.01.2021===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Jin Wang) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===28.01.2021===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===04.02.2021===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (Jin Wang)

===31.03.2021===
'''Final Deadline:''' 
'''Please document your final project on our Wiki (GMU:Critical VR Lab I) under your name'''

{{Template:VR Toolbox}}

[[Category:SS20]]
[[Category:Werkmodul]]
[[Category:Fachmodul]]
[[Category:Jörg Brinkmann]]

GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction

2020-11-05T17:16:08Z

Jca: /* Student works (after login, please add your name and create a page) */

Lecturer: [[Jörg Brinkmann]] 
Credits: 6 [[ECTS]], 4 [[SWS]] 
Date: Thursdays, 15:30 – 18:30 
Venue: Online Seminar 
First Date: Thursday, 05.11.2020, 15:30

==Description==
'''Critical VR Lab I – Unity Introduction''' is a beginner module that offers an Introduction to the Unity game engine. The whole course will be taught online. Participants will be introduced to Unity through video tutorials, accompanied by PDFs and it will be possible to communicate through online meetings and individual consultations.

'''The course will be taught in two phases:''' 
In phase one participants will be introduced to an overview of the Unity interface and different techniques (Lights, Skyboxes, Prefabs, Timeline, Animation). The learning phase will be accompanied by lectures and discussions that are focused on finding strategies for dealing with the possibilities and challenges of working artistically with Game Engines and VR technologies. At the end of phase one, students will have created an experience with Unity and documented it on our GMU Wiki-Page. In phase two students are challenged to reflect, discuss, rethink and rework their Unity experience, based on individual research and experienced insights.

The course emphasises on artistic and opposing ways of working with Virtual Reality concepts. It’s aim is to establish individual approaches to VR, a challenging medium which offers artists new possibilities for expression and intercultural communication, especially at times of the Corona Crisis which creates new challenges to the way we interact with each other. Please watch the video for more information.

==Recommended Requirements==
No previous knowledge of Unity or other 3D software is needed, but applicants should have access to the Internet, a Computer and Headphones.

==Criteria for passing==
In order to successfully participate you will have to develop and document your own project on the GMU Wiki. Also, complete the exercises and comply with the submission deadlines

==Communication throughout the semester==

'''The GMU-Wiki''' 
Here you can find all the info about our class and also present your work linked under your name 
Please create your account under this link with your University email adress: 
'''https://www.uni-weimar.de/kunst-und-gestaltung/wiki/Special:CreateAccount'''

'''Email''' 
For individual communication. I might send you download links to material

'''Telegram''' 
CriticalVR1 will be our collective chatroom 
Please download Telegram and join for group discussions: 
'''https://t.me/joinchat/HZlOrxuHLynKhLE44cts_Q'''

''' BigBlueButton''' 
This video conference utility will be used for our meetings and consultations 
To start the conversation click on the link

==Student works (after login, please add your name and create a page)==
* [[/Jörg Brinkmann/]]
* [[/Ruo-Xuan Wu (Russian)/]]
*[[/Dominik_Kämmer/]]
* [[/Ulrike Sophie Katzschmann/]]
*[[/Laura Toledo/]]
* [[/Jin Wang/]]
* [[/Christian Dähne/]]
* [[/JCA/]]
* [[/your name/]]

==Tutorials (Video + PDF)==

===1.) Getting to know the Unity Editor===

===2.) Lights, Skyboxes, Prefabs, Timeline===

===3.) Animation in Mixamo and Unity===

==Syllabus==

===05.11.2020===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

please watch the video to get some information about the course 
'''https://youtu.be/sbhbC5y-jpI''' 

if you have any questions, feel free to ask me anything at the online meeting 

===12.11.2020===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===19.11.2020===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===26.11.2020===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
Choose your timeslot for an individual consultation. To start the conversation open the link which will start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===03.12.2020===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===10.12.2020===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===17.12.2020===
'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 

'''Online meeting via BBB from 17:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===21.12.2020===
'''Deadline:''' 
'''1.) Please create an Experience in Unity. Record a video of your Experience with OBS (https://obsproject.com) and post it in our Wiki (GMU:Critical VR Lab I) under your name'''

===Christmas and New Year Holidays===

===07.01.2021===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===14.01.2021===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Eric Schlossberg 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – Sebastian 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===21.01.2021===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===28.01.2021===

'''Online meeting via BBB from 15:30 - 18:30 CET''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

===04.02.2021===

'''Consultations via BBB''' 
open the link, to start the video chat in your browser and click 'join' 
'''https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-4gu-qjz'''

15:30 - 16:00 CEST – (Quan Zhou) 
16:00 - 16:30 CEST – Sebastian 
16:30 - 17:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:00 - 17:30 CEST – (put your name here) 
17:30 - 18:00 CEST – (put your name here) 
18:00 - 18:30 CEST – (put your name here)

===31.03.2021===
'''Final Deadline:''' 
'''Please document your final project on our Wiki (GMU:Critical VR Lab I) under your name'''

{{Template:VR Toolbox}}

[[Category:SS20]]
[[Category:Werkmodul]]
[[Category:Fachmodul]]
[[Category:Jörg Brinkmann]]

User talk:Max

2019-06-08T17:03:51Z

Jca:

Ich habe einen Zip-Ordner als Download auf die Seite gestellt. Die Subpatches sollten alle dabei sein. --[[User:Jca|jca]] ([[User talk:jca|jca]]) 17:02, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

User talk:Max

2019-06-08T17:02:24Z

Jca: /* Patch */ added zip file

Ich habe einen Zip-Ordner als Download auf die Seite gestellt. Die Subpatches sollten alle dabei sein. --[[User:jca|jca]] ([[User talk:jca|jca]]) 17:02, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

User talk:Max

2019-06-08T16:56:33Z

Jca: /* Patch */ added zip file

Ich habe einen Zip-Ordner als Download auf die Seite gestellt. Die Subpatches sollten alle dabei sein.

GMU:Bits, Beats & Pieces/jca/jca project synesthesia Synästhesie

2019-06-08T16:41:37Z

Jca: /* Patch */ added zip file

==SYNÄSTHESIE | SYNESTHESIA  ==

===Synästhesie===
Etwa vier Prozent der Menschen haben eine Form der Synästhesie. Als eine der bekanntesten Formen gilt das Sehen von Farben bei ertönenden Klängen. Anhaltspunkt dieser Arbeit ist das entfernte Nachempfinden einer solchen Wahrnehmung. Zweiten Anhaltspunkt bildet die (pseudo-)wissenschaftliche Darstellung von Frequenzen als Farben. Da Obertöne stets als ganzzahlige Vielfache eines Grundtons entstehen, ist es möglich die bei einer 40fach oktavierten Obertonschwingung des Grundtons (beipsielsweise F mit 349,2 Hz beim Kammerton A mit 440 Hz) eine Frequenz der elektromagnetischen Wellen zu errechnen ( -> 384 THz (~ 780nm)).
Dennoch erweist sich die Darstellung als schwierig, da das Wellenlängenspektrum von 380 nm bis 780 nm vom menschlichen Auge zu den Rändern hin abflacht und in sich kein kontinuierliches Farbspektrum bildet. Außerdem, da das Licht monochromatisch ist, existieren keine Magenta-Töne.

Ist die benutzende Person ein Synästhetiker oder einfach neugierig, so kann sie die Töne anspielen lassen, die Farbe einstellen und schauen, ob das Bild dem im Kopf ähnelt. Es lässt sich ermitteln, ob die eigene bildliche Wahrnehmung eher aus den Frequenzen sich errechnet oder insgesamt der Klang mit seinem umfassenden Obertonspektrum die Farbe bildet.

===Funktionsweise===
Mittels Fourier-Analyse des vom-Mikrofon-aufgenommen Klanges werden die 8 lautesten Frequenzen errechnet, sowie deren Lautstärke ermittelt. Der Pitch wird über verschiedene Wege den Farben "zugemappt". Die Tonhöhe bildet die repräsentative Farbe und die insgesamte Tonhöhe regelt den Anteil von Weiß in der Farbe. Je höher der Ton, desto heller die Farbe.

===Patch===
[[:File:pd_project_synesthesia.zip]]

[[File:jca syn (1).jpg|400px]]

Hier ist die Steuerkonsole zu sehen, welche die 8 lautesten Frequenzen zeigt. Neben des Switches und der Einstellung der Farbskala kann man einstellen, wie schnell die Farben sich ändern sollen, sowie eine Sägezahnwelle bei verschiedenen Frequenzen abspielen, um zu sehen, wie sich bei klaren lauten Klängen die Obertöne arrangieren. In einem separaten Fenster sind 8 Kreise in einem Ring angeordnet. Der Radius und die Farbe wird von Lautstärke und Frequenz gesteuert. Die Rechnungen sind in einem Subpatch versteckt.

[[File:jca syn (2).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca syn (3).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca syn (4).jpg|400px]]

''Andere Farbskalen (Hue / Scriabin / selbsterstellte Farbskala)''

[[File:jca syn (5).jpg|400px]]

''Bei der Sägezahnwelle erklingen alle ganzzahligen Vielfache der Grundschwingung (Obertöne). Hier ist leicht zu sehen, dass 1, 2, 4 und 8 die selbe Farbe haben. Das heißt, dass 2,4,8 die jeweilige Oktave der Grundschwingung sind. Auch sieht man, dass die Quinte als dritter Teilton sich ebenfalls als sechster oktaviert.''

[[File:jca syn (7).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca syn (8).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca syn (9).jpg|400px]]

''Die Kreisfelder''

[[File:jca syn (10).jpg|400px]]

''Der Hauptpatch mit seiner Fouriertransformation, GEM, saw wave, Sinuswellen-Stimmung und seinen vielen Abstraktionen''

[[File:jca syn (11).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myfrequencycalc" errechnet aus den Frequenzen über Logarithmierung die Töne, welche die Farbe bestimmen. Die Hue- und Saturation- Werte werden weitergeleitet, die anderen Werte gemappt und dann als RGB verschickt.''

[[File:jca syn (12).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myhsv2rgb" rechnet die frequenzgesteuerten Hue- / Saturation- / Value-Werte in RGB-Werte um, welche die Farbe bestimmen für die Kreise. Auf der anderen Seite müssen sie weitergerechnet werden, um PD-Color-Werte zu bekommen, die die Farbe der Farbfelder ändern.''

[[File:jca syn (13).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myhsv2rgb_extra" funktioniert wie die vorherige, ist aber zuständig für die Farbfelder der Klaviatur.''

[[File:jca syn (14).jpg|400px]]

''Der Subpatch "smoothening" ist über das line-Objekt zuständig für die Auslöschung von sehr schnell schwankenden Werten und somit Reduzierung eines extremen Flackerns durch das Rauschen.''

==Ergebnisse==
In den meisten Fällen wird bei der Synästhesie nicht klar die Tonhöhe mit einer Farbe wahrgenommen, wenn..., dann höchstwahrscheinlich nur der Grundton. Vielmehr ausschlaggebend sind insgesamter Klang.
Höchstwahrscheinlich wird '''Scriabin''' mit seiner niedergeschriebenen Farbklaviatur die Töne in anderen Oktaven farblich anders wahrgenommen haben, sowie Töne bei anderen Instrumenten. '''Kandinsky'''s Farbe-Klang-Analogien sprechen sehr grob von Klängen und deren Tonhöhen, beispielsweise vergleicht er den scharfen Klang einer Trompete mit einem hellem Gelb, das Horn habe einen lila Klang, das absolute Grün den ruhigen mitteltiefen Klang einer Geige oder Fanfaren den Klang von warmem Rot.

Wie bereits erwähnt:

Ist die benutzende Person ein Synästhet oder einfach neugierig, so kann sie die Töne anspielen lassen, die Farbe einstellen und schauen, ob das Bild dem im Kopf ähnelt. Es lässt sich ermitteln ob die eigene bildliche Wahrnehmung eher aus den Frequenzen sich errechnet oder insgesamt der Klang mit seinem umfassenden Obertonspektrum die Farbe bildet oder aber auch ob überhaupt keine Synästhesie vorherrscht.

Es ist möglich mit dem Singen in das Mikrofon mögliche Formanten oder durch anatomische-Bedingungen-veränderte Obertöne in der Stimme zu finden, umso ein Bild zu ermitteln, das die Besonderheit des Klanges der eigenen Stimme darstellt.

Vorm Ändern im "smoothening" zum line-Objekt, habe ich das mean-Objekt (Cyclone) verwendet, welches aus allen Werten eine Liste erstellt und daraus einen Mittelwert errechnet. Dies hat zur Folge, dass ein wirkliches Mittel gebildet wird. Lässt man dieses so laufen, so werden analog zu '''Alvin Lucier'''s "I Am Sitting In a Room" langsam die vorherrschendsten Frequenzen, welche sich aus den Resonanzen des Raumes und des Mikrofons ableiten lassen, farblich ersichtlich.

==Probleme==
Es kommt durch einen GEM-Fehler ständig zu einer "GL: invalid_value"-Meldung.

[[File:jca syn (6).jpg|400px]]

Das color-Objekt hat Probleme die korrekten RGB-Werte dem Kreis zuzuordnen.

File:Pd project synesthesia.zip

2019-06-08T16:37:56Z

Jca: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

GMU:Bits, Beats & Pieces/jca/jca project synesthesia Synästhesie

2019-03-21T01:07:14Z

Jca:

==SYNÄSTHESIE | SYNESTHESIA  ==

'''Synästhesie'''

Etwa vier Prozent der Menschen haben eine Form der Synästhesie. Als eine der bekanntesten Formen gilt das Sehen von Farben bei ertönenden Klängen. Anhaltspunkt dieser Arbeit ist das entfernte Nachempfinden einer solchen Wahrnehmung. Zweiten Anhaltspunkt bildet die (pseudo-)wissenschaftliche Darstellung von Frequenzen als Farben. Da Obertöne stets als ganzzahlige Vielfache eines Grundtons entstehen, ist es möglich die bei einer 40fach oktavierten Obertonschwingung des Grundtons (beipsielsweise F mit 349,2 Hz beim Kammerton A mit 440 Hz) eine Frequenz der elektromagnetischen Wellen zu errechnen ( -> 384 THz (~ 780nm)).
Dennoch erweist sich die Darstellung als schwierig, da das Wellenlängenspektrum von 380 nm bis 780 nm vom menschlichen Auge zu den Rändern hin abflacht und in sich kein kontinuierliches Farbspektrum bildet. Außerdem, da das Licht monochromatisch ist, existieren keine Magenta-Töne.

Ist die benutzende Person ein Synästhet oder einfach neugierig, so kann sie die Töne anspielen lassen, die Farbe einstellen und schauen, ob das Bild dem im Kopf ähnelt. Es lässt sich ermitteln, ob die eigene bildliche Wahrnehmung eher aus den Frequenzen sich errechnet oder insgesamt der Klang mit seinem umfassenden Obertonspektrum die Farbe bildet.

'''Funktionsweise'''

Mittels Fourier-Analyse des vom-Mikrofon-aufgenommen Klanges werden die 8 lautesten Frequenzen errechnet, sowie deren Lautstärke ermittelt. Der Pitch wird über verschiedene Wege den Farben "zugemappt". Die Tonhöhe bildet die repräsentative Farbe und die insgesamte Tonhöhe regelt den Anteil von Weiß in der Farbe. Je höher der Ton, desto heller die Farbe.

'''Der Patch'''

[[File:jca_syn (1).jpg|400px]]

Hier ist die Steuerkonsole zu sehen, welche die 8 lautesten Frequenzen zeigt. Neben des Switches und der Einstellung der Farbskala kann man einstellen, wie schnell die Farben sich ändern sollen, sowie eine Sägezahnwelle bei verschiedenen Frequenzen abspielen, um zu sehen, wie sich bei klaren lauten Klängen die Obertöne arrangieren. In einem separaten Fenster sind 8 Kreise in einem Ring angeordnet. Der Radius und die Farbe wird von Lautstärke und Frequenz gesteuert. Die Rechnungen sind in einem Subpatch versteckt.

[[File:jca_syn (2).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (3).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (4).jpg|400px]]

''Andere Farbskalen (Hue / Scriabin / selbsterstellte Farbskala)''

[[File:jca_syn (5).jpg|400px]]

''Bei der Sägezahnwelle erklingen alle ganzzahligen Vielfache der Grundschwingung (Obertöne). Hier ist leicht zu sehen, dass 1, 2, 4 und 8 die selbe Farbe haben. Das heißt, dass 2,4,8 die jeweilige Oktave der Grundschwingung sind. Auch sieht man, dass die Quinte als dritter Teilton sich ebenfalls als sechster oktaviert.

[[File:jca_syn (7).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (8).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (9).jpg|400px]]

''Die Kreisfelder''

[[File:jca_syn (10).jpg|400px]]

''Der Hauptpatch mit seiner Fouriertransformation, GEM, saw wave, Sinuswellen-Stimmung und seinen vielen Abstraktionen''

[[File:jca_syn (11).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myfrequencycalc" errechnet aus den Frequenzen über Logarithmierung die Töne, welche die Farbe bestimmen. Die Hue- und Saturation- Werte werden weitergeleitet, die anderen Werte gemappt und dann als RGB verschickt.''

[[File:jca_syn (12).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myhsv2rgb" rechnet die frequenzgesteuerten Hue- / Saturation- / Value-Werte in RGB-Werte um, welche die Farbe bestimmen für die Kreise. Auf der anderen Seite müssen sie weitergerechnet werden, um PD-Color-Werte zu bekommen, die die Farbe der Farbfelder ändern.''

[[File:jca_syn (13).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myhsv2rgb_extra" funktioniert wie die vorherige, ist aber zuständig für die Farbfelder der Klaviatur.''

[[File:jca_syn (14).jpg|400px]]

''Der Subpatch "smoothening" ist über das line-Objekt zuständig für die Auslöschung von sehr schnell schwankenden Werten und somit Reduzierung eines extremen Flackerns durch das Rauschen.''

'''Ergebnisse'''

In den meisten Fällen wird bei der Synästhesie nicht klar die Tonhöhe mit einer Farbe wahrgenommen, wenn..., dann höchstwahrscheinlich nur der Grundton. Vielmehr ausschlaggebend sind insgesamter Klang.
Höchstwahrscheinlich wird '''Scriabin''' mit seiner niedergeschriebenen Farbklaviatur die Töne in anderen Oktaven farblich anders wahrgenommen haben, sowie Töne bei anderen Instrumenten. '''Kandinsky'''s Farbe-Klang-Analogien sprechen sehr grob von Klängen und deren Tonhöhen, beispielsweise vergleicht er den scharfen Klang einer Trompete mit einem hellem Gelb, das Horn habe einen lila Klang, das absolute Grün den ruhigen mitteltiefen Klang einer Geige oder Fanfaren den Klang von warmem Rot.

Wie bereits erwähnt:

Ist die benutzende Person ein Synästhet oder einfach neugierig, so kann sie die Töne anspielen lassen, die Farbe einstellen und schauen, ob das Bild dem im Kopf ähnelt. Es lässt sich ermitteln ob die eigene bildliche Wahrnehmung eher aus den Frequenzen sich errechnet oder insgesamt der Klang mit seinem umfassenden Obertonspektrum die Farbe bildet oder aber auch ob überhaupt keine Synästhesie vorherrscht.

Es ist möglich mit dem Singen in das Mikrofon mögliche Formanten oder durch anatomische-Bedingungen-veränderte Obertöne in der Stimme zu finden, umso ein Bild zu ermitteln, das die Besonderheit des Klanges der eigenen Stimme darstellt.

Vorm Ändern im "smoothening" zum line-Objekt, habe ich das mean-Objekt (Cyclone) verwendet, welches aus allen Werten eine Liste erstellt und daraus einen Mittelwert errechnet. Dies hat zur Folge, dass ein wirkliches Mittel gebildet wird. Lässt man dieses so laufen, so werden analog zu '''Alvin Lucier'''s "I Am Sitting In a Room" langsam die vorherrschendsten Frequenzen, welche sich aus den Resonanzen des Raumes und des Mikrofons ableiten lassen, farblich ersichtlich.

'''Probleme'''

Es kommt durch einen GEM-Fehler ständig zu einer "GL: invalid_value"-Meldung.

[[File:jca_syn (6).jpg|400px]]

Das color-Objekt hat Probleme die korrekten RGB-Werte dem Kreis zuzuordnen.

GMU:Bits, Beats & Pieces/jca/jca project synesthesia Synästhesie

2019-03-21T00:51:12Z

Jca:

==SYNÄSTHESIE | SYNESTHESIA  ==

'''Synästhesie'''

Etwa vier Prozent der Menschen haben eine Form der Synästhesie. Als eine der bekanntesten Formen gilt das Sehen von Farben bei ertönenden Klängen. Anhaltspunkt dieser Arbeit ist das entfernte Nachempfinden einer solchen Wahrnehmung. Zweiten Anhaltspunkt bildet die (pseudo-)wissenschaftliche Darstellung von Frequenzen als Farben. Da Obertöne stets als ganzzahlige Vielfache eines Grundtons entstehen, ist es möglich die bei einer 40fach oktavierten Obertonschwingung des Grundtons (beipsielsweise F mit 349,2 Hz beim Kammerton A mit 440 Hz) eine Frequenz der elektromagnetischen Wellen zu errechnen ( -> 384 THz (~ 780nm)).
Dennoch erweist sich die Darstellung als schwierig, da das Wellenlängenspektrum von 380 nm bis 780 nm vom menschlichen Auge zu den Rändern hin abflacht und in sich kein kontinuierliches Farbspektrum bildet. Außerdem, da das Licht monochromatisch ist, existieren keine Magenta-Töne.

Ist die benutzende Person ein Synästhet oder einfach neugierig, so kann sie die Töne anspielen lassen, die Farbe einstellen und schauen, ob das Bild dem im Kopf ähnelt. Es lässt sich ermitteln, ob die eigene bildliche Wahrnehmung eher aus den Frequenzen sich errechnet oder insgesamt der Klang mit seinem umfassenden Obertonspektrum die Farbe bildet.

'''Funktionsweise'''

Mittels Fourier-Analyse des vom-Mikrofon-aufgenommen Klanges werden die 8 lautesten Frequenzen errechnet, sowie deren Lautstärke ermittelt. Der Pitch wird über verschiedene Wege den Farben "zugemappt". Die Tonhöhe bildet die repräsentative Farbe und die insgesamte Tonhöhe regelt den Anteil von Weiß in der Farbe. Je höher der Ton, desto heller die Farbe.

'''Der Patch'''

[[File:jca_syn (1).jpg|400px]]

Hier ist die Steuerkonsole zu sehen, welche die 8 lautesten Frequenzen zeigt. Neben des Switches und der Einstellung der Farbskala kann man einstellen, wie schnell die Farben sich ändern sollen, sowie eine Sägezahnwelle bei verschiedenen Frequenzen abspielen, um zu sehen, wie sich bei klaren lauten Klängen die Obertöne arrangieren. In einem separaten Fenster sind 8 Kreise in einem Ring angeordnet. Der Radius und die Farbe wird von Lautstärke und Frequenz gesteuert. Die Rechnungen sind in einem Subpatch versteckt.

[[File:jca_syn (2).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (3).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (4).jpg|400px]]

''Andere Farbskalen (Hue / Scriabin / selbsterstellte Farbskala)''

[[File:jca_syn (5).jpg|400px]]

''Bei der Sägezahnwelle erklingen alle ganzzahligen Vielfache der Grundschwingung (Obertöne). Hier ist leicht zu sehen, dass 1, 2, 4 und 8 die selbe Farbe haben. Das heißt, dass 2,4,8 die jeweilige Oktave der Grundschwingung sind. Auch sieht man, dass die Quinte als dritter Teilton sich ebenfalls als sechster oktaviert.

[[File:jca_syn (7).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (8).jpg|400px]] [[File:jca_syn (9).jpg|400px]]

''Die Kreisfelder''

[[File:jca_syn (10).jpg|400px]]

''Der Hauptpatch mit seiner Fouriertransformation, GEM und seinen vielen Abstraktionen''

[[File:jca_syn (11).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myfrequencycalc" errechnet aus den Frequenzen über Logarithmierung die Töne, welche die Farbe bestimmen. Die Hue- und Saturation- Werte werden weitergeleitet, die anderen Werte gemappt und dann als RGB verschickt.''

[[File:jca_syn (12).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myhsv2rgb" rechnet die frequenzgesteuerten Hue- / Saturation- / Value-Werte in RGB-Werte um, welche die Farbe bestimmen für die Kreise. Auf der anderen Seite müssen sie weitergerechnet werden, um PD-Color-Werte zu bekommen, die die Farbe der Farbfelder ändern.''

[[File:jca_syn (13).jpg|400px]]

''Die Abstraktion "myhsv2rgb_extra" funktioniert wie die vorherige, ist aber zuständig für die Farbfelder der Klaviatur.''

[[File:jca_syn (14).jpg|400px]]

''Der Subpatch "smoothening" ist über das line-Objekt zuständig für die Auslöschung von sehr schnell schwankenden Werten und somit Reduzierung eines extremen Flackerns durch das Rauschen.''

'''Ergebnisse'''

In den meisten Fällen wird bei der Synästhesie nicht klar die Tonhöhe mit einer Farbe wahrgenommen, wenn..., dann höchstwahrscheinlich nur der Grundton. Vielmehr ausschlaggebend sind insgesamter Klang.
Höchstwahrscheinlich wird '''Scriabin''' mit seiner niedergeschriebenen Farbklaviatur die Töne in anderen Oktaven farblich anders wahrgenommen haben, sowie Töne bei anderen Instrumenten. '''Kandinsky'''s Farbe-Klang-Analogien sprechen sehr grob von Klängen und deren Tonhöhen, beispielsweise vergleicht er den scharfen Klang einer Trompete mit einem hellem Gelb, das Horn habe einen lila Klang, das absolute Grün den ruhigen mitteltiefen Klang einer Geige oder Fanfaren den Klang von warmem Rot.

Wie bereits erwähnt:

Ist die benutzende Person ein Synästhet oder einfach neugierig, so kann sie die Töne anspielen lassen, die Farbe einstellen und schauen, ob das Bild dem im Kopf ähnelt. Es lässt sich ermitteln ob die eigene bildliche Wahrnehmung eher aus den Frequenzen sich errechnet oder insgesamt der Klang mit seinem umfassenden Obertonspektrum die Farbe bildet oder aber auch ob überhaupt keine Synästhesie vorherrscht.

Es ist möglich mit dem Singen in das Mikrofon mögliche Formanten oder durch anatomische-Bedingungen-veränderte Obertöne in der Stimme zu finden, umso ein Bild zu ermitteln, das die Besonderheit des Klanges der eigenen Stimme darstellt.

Vorm Ändern im "smoothening" zum line-Objekt, habe ich das mean-Objekt (Cyclone) verwendet, welches aus allen Werten eine Liste erstellt und daraus einen Mittelwert errechnet. Dies hat zur Folge, dass ein wirkliches Mittel gebildet wird. Lässt man dieses so laufen, so werden analog zu '''Alvin Lucier'''s "I Am Sitting In a Room" langsam die vorherrschendsten Frequenzen, welche sich aus den Resonanzen des Raumes und des Mikrofons ableiten lassen, farblich ersichtlich.

'''Probleme'''

Es kommt durch einen GEM-Fehler ständig zu einer "GL: invalid_value"-Meldung.

[[File:jca_syn (6).jpg|400px]]

Das color-Objekt hat Probleme die korrekten RGB-Werte dem Kreis zuzuordnen.