Future Vision

“To fully experience any fictional world, consumers must assume the role of hunters and gatherers, chasing down bits of the story across media channels, comparing notes with each other via online discussion groups, and collaborating to ensure that everyone who invests time and effort will come away with a richer entertainment experience. “  Henry Jenkins (2006, pg 21)

As I walk into my (at home) “classroom,” coffee in hand, the walls slowly begin to glow and the hum of distant chatter begins to feel the room. Eager students are already engaging in conversation about today’s topic, “Gender in Art in the 19^th Century.” This topic is part of a course entitled Rediscovering Female Artists: the oppressed, the ignored, the lost, and the forgotten. The course is designed to discuss the discrepancies in female artist representation in the arts across time, space, and culture, while exposing and addressing how gender is presented and represented within these contexts. This virtual classroom experience “provides situations, processes, and environments to conceptualize one’s self in relation to the world, and to connect artmaking to issues that matter” (Keifer-Boyd, Envisioning a Future Techno-Infused Eco-Pedagogy). In this case, the issue is gender. The subject matter supports art education’s role to “shed assumptions of normalcy by investigating beyond the surface signifiers and contextualizing the meaning of the signifiers deep within cultural narratives” (Keifer-Boyd & Smith-Shank, 2006, p 144). The narratives explored within this context wrestle with issues such as gender discrimination, gender disparity, and gender oppression. Students are encouraged to make connections between past, present and future perspectives and explore instances of and opportunities for change. As well as seek to pinpoint and dispel the paradigms in thinking that cultivate and proliferate such ideologies.

As the class “begins,” I see images by Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beaux, Berthe Morisot, Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau, and Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale (just to name a few) begin to collage the walls. Students are displaying the results of this week’s research and discussion assignment. Throughout the week, students have been holding asynchronous and synchronous video, text, and voice chats. Each student has selected excerpts from these conversations to display along side their projected images. These prompts highlight key points from the previous discussions and serve to stimulate and further a lively interaction as the class begins. Students “warm up” with an exercise to “get their juices flowing”: a rotating discussion forum in which students have to sum up their week’s experience in one sentence and respond to one another’s statement with a simple, critical thought. The caveat: you only have 30 seconds before you move along to another student. This exercise allows for participants to engage with every member in the course at some point during the semester. Both students are challenged to develop critical and spontaneous thought about the material they encounter and share. Students may revisit these encounters throughout the course through video technology. While this course does not focus on the student’s artmaking, it does “create new insights, invite participation, and can evoke transformative learning [as] individuals discuss their perspectives with each other…” (Keifer-Boyd, Envisioning a Future….).

Our classroom is an organic, informal, and very personal space for all participating in the course. Students can join from anywhere, a museum, a coffee shop, home, or a floating classroom space. Once “in the classroom,” students utilize technology that allows them to participate via video, image, text, avatar or hologram (many choose to juggle several of these modes throughout the class). Their personal “classroom” can consist of display walls alive with activity or (depending upon their chosen space for the day) can be contained within their personal device. This week one student is “projecting” from the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. She will be guiding a discussion through several of these female artists grouped in a special exhibition. As preliminary discussions taper, this student extends the conversation into her space as she guides us through the exhibition. This “peer-to-peer information sharing” (Anderson & Balsamo, 2008, p. 248) of  her week’s experience with the collection offers insight and perspective while encouraging a “participatory culture” (248) on which the course in founded. Class ends here today.

Together we are a community of learners sharing with one another ways in which our lives intersect, support, or challenge the histories, ideals, stereotypes that we are addressing in the classroom. Students are strongly encouraged to “take the class” on field trips throughout their community to view a local mural, engage with local artisans, visit a local museum or traveling exhibition. By “decenter[ing] the authority of the instructor [myself] in favor of learning and activity that takes place along multiple axes” (Anderson & Balsamo, 2008, p 250), the classroom shifts ownership to the collective rather than the instructor. This is OUR classroom, not MY classroom. While the structure at first glance may appear a bit amorphous, the character of the class is shaped by its participants and the information that they bring to the discussions.

“Art is not a distinct part of what and who we are, but rather, it is inseparable from our values, beliefs, and sensitivities of how we know the world and ourselves.” (Keifer-Boyd & Smith-Shank, 2006, p. 143)

A new day awakens. One week (or two or three) has passed. Time for “class” to reconvene.  The topic of discussion today takes us around the world to a group of predominantly female artisans in West Africa. A collaborative classroom has been established between our class and a class in West Africa. This collaborative effort allows for students on both ends to examine, address, and discuss current issues in valuation of female artists and artisans in cultures throughout the world. Today, students will witness, explore and discuss the techniques, materials, traditions and history of basket weavers. Together the classes discuss the implications and valuation of this art form in their respective cultures seeking to gain insight and understanding into how each culture views, treats, and values the female artists working within it. Additionally, students seek to find parallels within the cultures that exist to support or oppress such groups or individuals. Such explorations aid students in understanding “not only their creative potential as cultural prosumers, but also their role as cultural mediators of the futures we will inhabit” (Anderson & Balsamo, 2008, p 257).

Art is an avenue for exploration, experimentation and engaging with the world(s) in which we occupy. There is no “wrong” answer when exploring who we are through the arts, only new and different ways of viewing ourselves through the lenses of art. However, we are part of a larger community, thus a broader conversation. Students “must learn how to engage in conversations with those who do not hold the same cultural values or intellectual commitments” (Anderson & Balsamo 2008, p 245). We must see ourselves as part of this larger community.

Acting as a facilitator rather than “teacher,” my responsibility is to weave together the threads of thought posed by the students and interject critical unexamined information when needed. However, given a framework for the course that includes relevant reading, webquests and collaborative projects with classrooms across the globe, prompts and personal experience, students utilize a multitude of resources at their disposal to drive the discussion. I am not the center of the class, but rather a peer. Assessments are steered by participation. For these students, “occupying more than one physical or mental space at a time” (p. 249) has become second nature just as the devices that serve as vehicles for interaction, collaboration, information dissemination, and connectivity have become extensions of themselves. My role has become that of “educational designer, whose expertise may include deep disciplinary knowledge, but whose practice involves mobilizing the efforts of communities and individuals in relation to institutional resources” (Anderson & Balsamo, 2008, p. 248). By facilitating and nurturing the roles of hunter and gatherer within each student and the collective group, I support students in becoming producers of information as well as consumers. Interest is ignited and within the collective, no stone goes unturned in the search for knowledge.

One final thought: while my students are not necessarily “art makers,” my hope for any course I teach would be to foster creative thinking as students critically assess the information presented and unearthed throughout the class for “when creativity is absent so is hope” (Keifer-Boyd & Smith-Shank, 2006, p. 148).  And “creativity is a generative activity that results from gathering multiple perspectives, finding connections, and critically evaluating diverse information” (p. 148).  It is this process that will teach students “the power of art in their lives and the lives of others” (Keifer-Boyd, Envisioning a Future…). 

The hum of voices ceases and the lights dim....

Key components of my future vision.
In its original size, the words in this image are crystal clear. However, in that size, it is barely legible.
I have intentionally enlarged and left this image blurry (sorry, Eyes) to illustrate that as my vision for myself, my students and my classroom grows and expands it will go through moments or periods of such "blurriness." I will not always be able to see exactly how things are or how they will be. But time, persistence, openness, interaction, collaboration, and imagination will eventually bring everything into focus...for a moment... then blurriness may appear just in time for another growth spurt.

Resources: 

Anderson, S., & Balsamo, A. (2008). A pedagogy for original synners. In T. McPherson (Ed.), Digital youth, innovation, and the unexpected (pp. 241-259). The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.

Keifer-Boyd, K., & Smith-Shank, D. (2006). Speculative fiction’s contribution to contemporary understanding: The handmaid art tale.Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research in Art Education, 47(2), 139-154.

Keifer-Boyd, K. Envisioning a Future Techno-Infused eco-Pedagogy. Advocacy White Papers for Art Education. 

Webquest

As an art history teacher, I feel that it is my responsibility to provide (at least part of) the scaffolding students need in order to think critically, speak intelligently, and find personal and relevant meaning with, about and through art. Not just the art that I teach, but the art that is all around them. While I use my own course as a spring board for discussions and analysis, I hope that students will synthesize the information and tools gained and developed in these introductory art history courses across their entire art (life) experience. It is my hope that this webquest will aid in that process.  

http://thecommunicativepowerofart.weebly.com/

Cyber Games Pedagogy

The "home screen" of the Tate Gallery's Art History Game, Race Against Time app for the smartphone.

“It should be noted that children at play are not playing about…their games should be seen as their most serious-minded activity.”

Montaigne (as quoted in Wasik’s Grand Theft Education)

Over the last two semesters, I have been brainstorming new and engaging technologies and avenues for learning into my virtual classroom. My students are already developing their own technological fluency and establishing a digital citizenship simply by their chose of an exclusively online course. However, quite often the course structure is “limited” by the bounds of Blackboard.  Few instructors and students (in my experience) venture outside of that sphere. When they do, they almost always bring the relevant information and experience back to the original forum instead of allowing it to remain in the public domain for others to critic, challenge, or support. In fact, last semester was my first experience using the blog platform as a means of interaction for an online course.

As an art history, rather than art, educator, my course assignments do not include art creation per se. My students are not creating art pieces as part of their curriculum. However, they are creating interpretations of the art through broadened perspectives and a greater understanding of the historical, personal, economical, political, and social context in which art is created. These understandings are grown and deepened through information dissemination and dialogue between students and myself. What other ways can I serve to challenge my students’ thinking? It seems that creating and participating in cyber-games serve this purpose quite well. Boyd suggests that I as an “art educator can quide students in facilitating [the] creation of computer games to critique cultural myths of gender role expectations, as well as other cultural narratives that confine individual and community diversity” (Boyd, 2005, p. 3). In addition to exploring the conflicts that exist in present and past culture, I would like to suggest that such creations could allow students a safe place to explore a wide variety of views both supporting and opposing their own. This space would offer opportunities to engage in “dialogue” with controversial topics in an effort for participants to be exposed to multiple perspectives of a certain topic.

When asked to reflect on the discussion post portion of the course, one of my students commented “I like to imagine myself sitting in a room with other people having a nice glass of wine and discussing something in a way that may not have been thought of before. This keeps the brain working and keeps us from only looking at things in a single perspective” (Student Interview).  Visualizing how this particular scenario could play out in the virtual sphere (my classroom), I see the great potential of cyber games to function as reimagines or reinventions of the artists, histories, and cultures we encounter throughout the art history curriculum. For my student, the act of discussing conflicting viewpoints is an engaging, somewhat playful, and challenging conversation that takes place in a familiar environment (to establish stability for the participant) with individuals who also like to discuss, test, and push the limits of one another’s opinions, theories, and practices. The idea of “playing” with the content of the course evokes the attitude of early 20^th century art groups/movements such as Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus and Situationism (Patton, 2011, p. 20). Video, computer, and other online games, “teach us how to play them” (Wasik, 2006, p. 32). As students create spaces in which they feel comfortable interacting with confrontation as well as exploring spaces in which they do not, students “play” with the material, “learn by doing” and develop a “unique and personal set of insights into the ways and means for creating something in the world “ (Thomas and Brown, 2011, p. 94). By becoming “creators” themselves and offering up their work for public scrutiny, they also deepen their understanding of the emotions of the artist in which they are studying. Thomas and Brown, paraphrasing author Johan Huizinga, go on to state that “play is not merely central to the human experience, it is part of all that is meaningful inhuman culture. Culture…does not create play; play creates culture” (p 97). 

The Lesson

Overview: Marcel Duchamp “believed that a work of art is completed only when the viewer is involved” (Duchamp as quoted by Patton, 2011, p. 20). In this lesson, the student will research, explore, and critique computer, video or ios games whose central theme is art historically based. The student will select an artist, an artwork, or an art period or movement for which he/she has great interest (negative or positive) and explore this subject and the possibilities for engaging this material through a personally created game platform.

Objectives:

- Explore a variety of art or art history based online games.

- Select a single artist, artwork, or art period or movement. Build upon your current understanding of the subject through various methods of research and dialogue.

- Develop a setting, narrative, and concept for a potential game utilizing and challenging art histories and theories.

- Explore options for bringing your game “to life” by researching and manipulating free downloadable authoring programs that could bring your game “to life.”

Activities:

See what’s out there. “How does the learning process work in games? Games, fundamentally, are models. They’re little toy simulations of some aspect of reality” (Wasik, 2006, 32). Online games are being utilized as educational tools throughout all disciplines. Research and explore existing games that function to articulate some aspect of art and/or art history. The platform for these games is not limited to your computer. Explore apps designed for a variety of smart devices. You should find a minimum of five different games.

Play them! Have fun. Play. Note how successfully or unsuccessfully the game articulates the subject matter. Was it challenging? Was it fun? Did it draw you in and create a desire to play again and again? Were you bored? What benefits do you see in playing this game? What did you like best? What would you change if you were the designer?  (These are questions to prompt your thinking about the effectiveness of the game. Feel free to elaborate and/or discuss questions outside of this scope).

Create your own. Here is where the fun begins. Select a painting, an artist, or an art period or movement in which you are interested (negative or positive). Research the chosen subject noting key facts, figures, theories, points of controversy, etc. Use a variety of sources to broaden your understanding and knowledge of the subject (documentaries, dialogue/conversations, articles, journals, personal commentary by the artist, etc). Using text or image “sketch” out a space in which you would feel most comfortable discussing the chosen subject. This could be in front of the fire over a glass of wine with friends or an art gallery in front of your favorite sculpture or a city park in the middle of the summer wildflowers (These are just ideas. Be creative and honest and let your spaces reflect you). Think about how would you interact with this subject in this space.  Imagine yourself in dialogue – have a real life conversation – with someone about the topic you have selected. (record it). Record possible conversation trends. Where do you differ? Where do you agree? How can you expand upon the discussion? How can you challenge one another to explore a different perspective? This exercise will get you thinking and deepen your knowledge of the subject you have chosen. Furthermore, it will aid you in creating a narrative for your game.

Using the previous exercise and your experience with existing games as a starting point, answer the following questions: how might I take this information and develop it into an interactive game? What would my narrative/story be? Would the game be narrative based? What concept/theory/idea would it aim to articulate? What would be the goal of the game: to win, to accumulate points, etc? You can record and explore your thoughts as sketches, journals, scrapbooking, digital imagery, photography, text, etc. What will be the backdrop for your game? Place? Time period? Who will the key figures be? As you begin to develop the narrative that will guide your game, consider this idea articulated by artist and game aficionado Marcel Duchamp: “art is a game between all people of all periods” (Cited in Patton, (2011), p 20).

Explore options for bringing your game to life. Once you have a rough draft of your game, research free downloadable authoring programs that could help make your game a reality. If you have no experience with programming (like myself), look for platforms that require no programming experience. Here are a few sites to get you started: GameEditor, GameDevelop, GameSalad, and MyDoodleGame. Record your experience through screen shots of your explorations. Select one program that you feel most familiar with or that seems to be easiest for you to manipulate. Explore the following questions as you interact with the authoring programs: based on my current level of programming experience (or lack of) is the program the right one for me? Will I be able to successfully execute my idea through this program? If so, how? If not, what alterations should/can I make in order to create using this software. Try to create your game (however, the completion of your game is not a requirement of this assignment…so enjoy! Have fun.)

Your finished project is a “write-up” of your game concept. You can present your findings and experiences through journals, storyboards, text, video, etc. Be creative and have fun. Be sure to include all of the information listed above. If you see that something seems irrelevant to your topic, please give an explanation of why you left out the information. You will graded on how well you present the following information:

1) the games you initially explored with critiques

2.) the subject you selected to research and explore as a basis for your own game (include notes, sources, key facts, dialogue, etc)

3.) your game’s basic concept complete with setting, narrative, and map of how the game would ideally function.

4.) the goal of your game

5.) ideas for bringing your  game to life

Resources: 

Keifer-Boyd, K. (2005). Children teaching children with their computer game creations. Visual Arts Research, 60(1), 117-128.

Patton, R. (2011). A Brief Art History of Games. (4 pages from his dissertation).

Thomas, D. and Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a

world of constant change. Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown.

Wasik, B. (2006). Grand Theft Education: Literacy in the age of video games. Harper's Magazine, September, 31-39. 

Here are a few websites that offer a variety of art history online gaming options. The only one in the "video game" format was the Tate's Race Against Time for iOS and must be downloaded (for free) for the appropriate device. 

http://www.eduweb.com/insideart/

http://www.sporcle.com/games/tags/arthistory

https://www.artsology.com/arts-games.php

http://www.matthewclarksmith.com/artgame.htm

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/01/10/tate-gallerys-ios-art-history-game-is-a-race-against-time-to-defeat-dr-greyscale/#!A474L

Net Artist: Yung Jake

“When you rap ur saying 'I’m a rapper and this is a rap and I’m gonna tell you something to a beat in the form of a rap. And I’m good at rapping and these are other things I’m doing with my life.'”

Yung Jake in a “text” interview with Paddy Johnson

Figure 1. Meet Yung Jake

When the idea of “net.art” was first introduced or labeled in 1994 by artist Vuk Cosic (Greene 2000, pg. 162), participants could not have imagined how net art could or would evolve. At the time of its “accidental” labeling, the idea of something going “viral” was non-existent. Artists from across the globe worked simultaneously to create images, build community and explore the possibilities of the internet as a means of creation and dissemination of ideas across time and space. Rachel Greene compares the community and its purpose to Andy Warhol’s Factory in that “the people as well as the methods of production and distribution were all part of the project’s meaning” (Greene 2000, p 163).

Fast forward to 2014, artists working in all mediums and genres are more connected to one another, their audience, and quite possibly themselves than ever before. Creating net art is still a very fluid political process in which creators and consumers “exploit the inherent capabilities of the Internet, making both more participatory, connective, or dynamic” (Ippolito 2002, 485). Net art is multi-dimensional, evolving and devolving as old technologies fade away underneath the light of new more innovative ones. Social networking is a major component of net art. With photo, video, and audio-sharing apps accessible through smart phones, artists create, edit, and upload net art from anywhere at anytime. The process and dissemination is a part of daily life in a very tangible way.

Figure 2. Datamoshed Yung Jake

Meet Yung Jake, “internet incarnate, rapper, memester, artiste of the online world” (Hive 2013). Jake’s medium is video (see figure 1).  Utilizing the self-reflective style of rap music and clichés in current digital culture, Yung Jake has seemingly infiltrated our computers, taken over and produced a work of “art” so multi-dimensional that we as the viewer find it hard to distinguish what is part of the art and what is a potential computer malfunction. The viral video Datamosh explores the process of datamoshing while forcing the viewer to engage with video imagery that is intentionally distorted. The pixilated images throughout the entire video ask the viewer to reimagine these “video glitches” as art as Jake repeatedly states that this is “not a video glitch” or “bad internet” but his own doing (see figure 2). Through the lyrics and imagery, Jake addresses stereotypes found within the rap music culture (references to sexual pursuits and the objectification of women common in hip hop) as well as the tech community (“it’s cool cause it’s nerdy”). Additional references to pop culture, such as Justin Beiber, David O’Reilly, Vimeo, Photobooth, reinforce the meaning and purpose behind the project.

Disclaimer: the video you are about to watch contain adult language and sexual content. 

The virality of this Datamosh is satirized in Yung Jake’s follow-up video E.m-bed.de/d (see figure 3). Using the audience’s computer screen as canvas, Yung Jake documents the life of a video gone viral. This journey begins at the video’s release and connects it to every relevant social networking space (see figure 4 and 5). The multi-dimensionality of the video is illustrated in the layering of pop-up windows, the use of double-entendres, and the repetition of the artist has he is moving simultaneously and independently through the multiple windows (see figure 6). Each video invites the viewer to participate in the experience but offers only the illusion of participation. While the references, the images, the blogs, the social networking sites are just as much a part of our own daily lives and interaction, we cannot “like” the video or “click” the link to follow a thread.

Figure 3. Screen Shot of the "Opening scene" of E.m-bed.de/d

Figure 4. Flickr 

Figure 5. tumblr

Figure 6.

Disclaimer: the video you are about to watch contain adult language and sexual content. With that said, prepare to be blown away!!  

Throughout our daily routines, we find ourselves moving seamlessly through multiple spaces IRL and IVL simultaneously. We may be texting a co-worker, updating Instagram, and sharing a video while sitting at a coffee shop chatting with a friend. Frankly, we appear quite comfortable navigating that many spaces at once. This interconnectivity of our real life and virtual spheres is illustrated in the video as the “Banner Bitch” walks out of the advertisement and into Yung Jake’s bedroom (see figure 7). 

Figure 7. Crossing Spaces

The narcissistic imagery and text found within E.m-bed.de/d (see figure 8) offers validation to the artist whose name and praises are littered throughout the piece. The self-reflective nature of Yung Jakes language alludes to an audience that is equally self-involved. “Haters thumbing down” and “bitches liking” are sources of validation for the rapper in what appears to be a forum where he has no control. However, the video is completely controlled by the artist despite his lackadaisical attitude and demeanor toward his sudden popularity.  

Figure 8. omg

While these videos are visual buffets of digital capabilities, they are also a visual commentary on popular trends in technology use. By acknowledging the key players in the social media phenomenon, Yung Jake harnesses their power as a useful tool for disseminating art. Art that calls attention to the amount of Internet consumption fused into our daily existence. Art that speaks to a need for validation found within these spaces. Art that offers a way to navigate the process of identifying and defining ourselves in the interconnected, always connected space of the virtual world.

Resources:

Greene , R. (n.d.). Web work: A history of internet art. Art forum, Retrieved from https://elearning.psu.edu/courses/aed811/sites/edu.courses.aed811/files/content/history_of_net_art.pdf

Hive, M. T. V. (n.d.). Art + Rap + The Internet = Yung Jake. MTV Hive. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.mtvhive.com/2013/03/04/yung-jake/

Ippolito, J. (2002). Ten myths of internet art. Leonardo,35(5), 485-498.

Jake, V. 10/17/2013 Y. (n.d.). Portraits: Yung Jake.ILLROOTS. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.illroots.com/watch/portraits-yung-jake

Johnson, P. (2013 11–14). Yung Jake, Video Prankster and Meta-Rapper, Turns the Hustle into Art. SPIN. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.spin.com/articles/yung-jake-internet-rap-embedded-datamosh/

Mishka Bloglin » Blog Archive » Checking Up With Yung Jake. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://mishkanyc.com/bloglin/2014/02/12/checking-up-with-yung-jake/

Sinclair, K., Manager, S., & Frontier, N. (n.d.). Yung Jake: Leading a Net-Native Generation of Storytellers | Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.sundance.org/festival/blog-entry/yung-jake-leading-a-net-native-generation-of-storytellers/

theybf’s image. (n.d.).Photobucket. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://s368.photobucket.com/user/theybf/media/June%2009/fdeb9ba4.jpg.html?src=pb

Yung Jake - E.m-bed.de/d. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/yung-jake-gets-embedded-with-an-anthem-to-virality

Exploration 2: Avatars & Subjectivity

"the creation of an avatar becomes like the creation of a piece of artwork--it is not just a visual presentation, but also the meaning behind the visual image. Therefore, the process of creating avatars can contribute to future art education by becoming a pedagogical force and art practice." 

(Liao, 2008, p. 38)

What is an avatar? A virtual representation of oneself. A visual statement from its creator. An exploration of one's self. A reinvention of identity. A context in which a person can explore life in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Liberation. Confinement. An exercise in communication. It is organic, evolving, growing, maturing, regressing, reflecting. It is who we want to be right now. Or who we want to be tomorrow.

Meet GemHollogram. Newest resident of Second Life. She is my empowered persona. Named after a my childhood idol (of sorts) another avatar, Jem (1985-88), and her musical group the Holograms (mispelling was intentional as to make her my own). Jem was an alter-ego brought to life by the character Jerrica Benton through a fictional computer system known as Synergy. GemHollogram is modeled after Kate Beckinsale's character, Selene, in the Underworld Trilogy. She represents power, control, intelligence, and a subtle fierceness that, upon first impression, radiates as cold or aloof.

"The autoethnographic subject blurs the distinction between ethnographer and Other by traveling, becoming a stranger in a strange land, even if that land is a fictional space existing only in representation."

(Russell, 1999, p. 280 as quoted in Liao, 2008, p. 32)

Exploring Second Life for the first time was extremely intimidating. An error in my internet connection led me to enter the world for the first time as a Panda. Great! I could feel the anxiety building up as I had absolutely NO idea how to change the suit to something normal. There I was a visitor in a land where I did not know the language, had no control, and was a complete alien -- dressed in a panda suit. Reflecting on this experience helps me to address the question: is our body as political as it is physical? Why did I even care what I looked like? No one in SL knew me. I was a stranger to all of them. However, I was keenly aware that visual stereotypes were present. By viewing other avatars around me and rejected attempts to "chat" with others, I could immediately see that I did not fit in this particular venue. After moving through the space and interacting with the software, I since realized that several of the avatars in that first encounter were in fact editing their own appearances at that moment. So, maybe, I wasn't that strange. However, my sense of self and identity were tied to the first impression that I felt I was making in Second Life. While my character was gender neutral, it still strayed from the traditional patriarchal roles that (at first glance) appeared to dominant.

The form we choose for our avatar dictates how others will interact with us. In an article discussing body, self, and identity in the works of Claude Cahun and Cindy Shermann, Lucy Lippard states that "the body remains inherently vulnerable as the most private and intimate 'thing' we 'have.' It is also the most public. The body, face included, is that part of us that is physically projected into the world. It precedes the self. It precedes us, as women, into every social and political situation. It is what everyone sees and thinks they know" (Lippard, 1999, p. 27). While this statement was referring to the body politics of the female form, I believe it is applicable to the avatar body as well. In real life, as well as in a virtual realm like Second Life, the hegemonic ideals for body image are reinforced. Most of the men and women I encountered through SL were hyper sexualized. In this particular space it seems that standard for avatar beauty mirrors real life.

"The most basic questions about being human involve and sometimes confuse body, soul, self, and identity--a progression from protection to projection that is not necessarily an evolution." 

- Lucy Lippard, Scattering Selves

Mouselook is a view that I rarely find myself using unless I want a closer look at something (i.e. a piece of art). I am actually more comfortable and feel more in control when I can see my avatar. Looking through her eyes takes away my control. Without the ability to "sense" when people are around me, I am unable to know when people move into and out of my space. I also prefer the "rear-view" of my avatar. This view enables me to experience the interactions with other residents "as my avatar." Seeing what she sees. Seeing how other react and interact with her. In this view, I can be her and watch her simultaneously. As a teacher, the ability to both view and interpret the classroom setting from a bird's eye view (the teacher's view) as well as the "mouselook" view of my students is critical in creating an environment that is stimulating and effective. What are the landmarks that I use to locate myself as a teacher? My students. How they interact with me. Just as my experience with my avatar is shaped by my interactions with the space and other avatars around me, my experience as an effective teacher is shaped by my interactions with the classroom and the students within it. 

Advertisement connecting SL to RL

One of my favorite spaces to hang out in SL is the Timamoon Arts Gallery and Community. This space features (and links) to real life and Second Life artists. The space is comfortable, beautiful, inviting, and scarcely occupied. I am able to roam through the halls and view the art without interruption. Occasionally, another avatar will be there to engage in conversation. However, it is for me a place of escape from having to interact with others in SL.

One of my favorite galleries. The artist is Mathilde Vhargon. See advertisement above. 

After exploring this world of virtual representation, I recognize two places for integration into arts education: avatar creation and environment creation.  Students could create the personas that interact within this space, as well as have an integral part in constructing the environment. For this to be successful as a "lesson" that encourages and ensures virtual diversity, multivocality, diverse and multiple perspectives, access to the space would need to be controlled. Although there are closed groups with limited access in Second Life, this environment would not be the best forum for students of certain ages to interact. (For this exercise, I did not explore View. I imagine it may be a safer place for students to conduct this type of experimentation.)

Before beginning, students could collaboratively address stereotypes they wish to avoid in their environment and brainstorm alternatives. Participants could also set a basic guideline or code of ethics for the environment and how avatars will interact within the space. By allowing students to explore themselves in a safe, non-judgemental environment free from the power politics that often surface in any social sphere, they will be able to face and reject stereotypes of gender, race, and socioeconomic status. However, there will still be students who succumb to the hegemonic views of body and create images based on or as extensions of the stereotypes they view as desirable or necessary for success. To address this, students could be required to offer a rationale for various elements of their creations. 

View from my favorite gallery.

By interacting with another inhabitant of Second Life, I began to learn the lingo and understand how to use the space. Her response to "what is there to do in SL?" was "anything you can do in rl [real life] and more." Avatars are extensions of the real life self. For some people, it is the preferred self because with the avatar the possibilities are endless. I am only limited by my own knowledge, time and ability to move and interact within space. While these limitations are intimidating and frustrating, the experience of learning something completely novel to me is exhilarating. Here's to a happy Second Life!

Liao, C. (2008). My metamorphic avatar journey. Visual Culture & Gender, 3, 30-39.

Lippard, L. (1999). Scattering selves. In S. Rice (Ed.), Inverted Odysseys: Claude Cahun, Maya Deren, Cindy Sherman Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Avatar Creation & Subjectivity

Being a very social and interactive person, I find speaking from "behind" a virtual image a very strange concept. The idea of creating a "likeness" or "persona" of myself that does not have to actually look like me is something to which I am resistant. As a kinesthetic learner, I am very attached to my physical form. While it may not always be my ideal, it is tangible and "real" to me. However, not everyone connects to their bodies in the same way. Avatars offer an opportunity to reinvent yourself while experimenting with and exploring identity through visual representation.

Creating an "avatar" in the Voki application feels as if I am creating an animated version of myself. I can be human, animal or something altogether unreal (a monster). Pretty quickly during creation the limitations of the application become apparent. I am offered a fairly large selection of customizable characters from which to choose. However, many are reserved for "Voki Classroom," the paid section of the Voki site. While the selection seems to cover a wide range of "bodies," I cannot help but notice that many of the characters are gender specific stereotypes of what popular cultures dictate as "attractive." Limited adjustments can be made to the nose, eyes, mouth, hair, and coloring of the "voki". Adding a speaking voice offers several options including 1) calling and creating a message over the phone, 2) entering text and choosing a prerecorded voice to speak for you, 3) using your own voice to record a message through the site, and lastly, 4) upload a voice file. These messages are limited to 60 second sound bites. Backgrounds are also customizable with many options to choose from.

In Voki, I created four different forms. As I explored, I realized that I was unintentionally prescribing parts of my own physical identity to each character. Each has blond hair and green eyes and bares a striking resemblance to me. I explored myself as a male character with long hair, then a female with no hair. It was hard for me to identify with a character that did not look like me in some way. That is why I eventually chose the Siamese cat. By forcing myself to move to an animal representation I was able to focus on internal characteristics of personality and interests rather than the physical. Afterward, I revisited the site and played with a variety of physical traits that could represent various parts of my personality. 

Break free, break free

From the desire to conform. 

Break free, break free

From an antiquated form. 

Embrace, embrace

What exists beyond your mind

Embrace, embrace

Whatever you may find.

Let go, let go

Of the space you cling too

Let go, let go

And discover something new.

Explore, explore

Find a new face

Explore, explore

Within a new space.

Teaching Philosophy: 2020 Vision

The year is 2020. I am 42 years old. My occupation is “facilitator of art and art education” in a hybrid virtual art classroom/museum (preferably the Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA in conjunction with the University of Alabama, or perhaps, PSU:). My classroom is a studio media room located in the center of the museum. The walls of the gallery are filled with a rotating collection of art pieces (the topic of today’s interaction) as well as multiple touch-activated surfaces. My students are a mix of virtual and in-class attendees. The touch activated projection screens “beam” in those joining us remotely, while those who are on physical location, settle in and make themselves comfortable in the midst of the art.  We work is a variety of tangible and non-tangible mediums exploring the past, present, and future through art created, art creation, and art to be created. What do I want my students to learn from me as a teacher in this setting?

  

1. Interaction and collaboration are key components in learning. Whether we share a physical space or not, connectivity is vital to the exchange, expansion and challenging of ideas. The virtual classroom is not conducive to all styles of learning or personality types. My 2020 classroom offers the option for virtual or physical participation. This allows students to be present, feel the connectivity through being and engage physically with the course and material. Virtual students interact with the material in a similar but different way. They connect through interactive high-resolution images of the art, create through a virtual sphere and project their creations into our physical classroom. At any time, participants can fluctuate between these two worlds.

2. Instructors are peers. Peers are instructors. Both are valuable members of this learning community with much to contribute and to gain. By allowing students to move fluidly through the roles of peer and instructor, they are able to bring their personal interests and knowledge to one another, solidifying ideas, understanding, and troubleshooting problem areas. Already, students do not look to their instructors as experts. By allowing students the freedom to become an “expert,” they are able to value and respect the knowledge, opinions, and contributions of their peers and instructors.

3. Learning is Global. Art is an avenue for exploration, experimentation and engaging with the world(s) in which we occupy. There is no “wrong” answer when exploring who we are through the arts, only new and different ways of viewing ourselves through the lenses of art. However, we are part of a larger community, thus a broader conversation. Students “must learn how to engage in conversations with those who do not hold the same cultural values or intellectual commitments” (Anderson & Balsamo 2008, p 245). We must see ourselves as part of this larger community.

4. Art is interdisciplinary. Historically, art is a text that needs to be situated within the political, economic and social context of its creation. However, artists do not create their work within a vacuum, but rather from personal interests and concerns. By understanding art’s ability to cross the boundaries of a wide range of disciplines, students can confidently navigate and explore their interests and passions through the medium of their choice.

5. Never stop imagining. “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw

Each of these aims seeks to support a key idea in my 2020 teaching philosophy:

 “different students learn best when allowed to process information and experience though various forms of engagement, at differing paces, and via a multitude of technologies” and a classroom that seeks to accommodate such learners is one in which “flexibility, hybridity, and multiplicity are of crucial importance” (Anderson & Balsamo, 251).