From: joseph nechvatal Subject: APPS: VR Art Research Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 20:29:12 +0100 Message-ID: <31E94A88.9B3@imaginet.fr> Organization: ImagiNET Please allow me to introduce myself. I have embarked on an on-line Ph.D. candidacy at the Center for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive Arts at the University of Wales College, Newport http://caiiamind.nsad.newport.ac.uk which entails on-line research and I am starting the first of two distinct periods in my candidacy. The first year consists in my identifying my topic and in demonstrating my mastery of the background research needed to evaluate its significance and its potential for leading me to the creation of new knowledge. Some research students enroll only for one year. They submit a 30000 word thesis for the award of Master of Philosophy (MPhil). My program however involves me "transferring" from MPhil to Ph.D. at the end of the first year with the satisfactory presentation of a Transfer Document. This is such as to ensure the University that I have an in-depth understanding of my field, a grasp of the arguments and issues which are relevant to my research focus, the ability to marshal complex data and the skill to present my findings with clarity. From the start I am building a comprehensive database and bibliography. The balance of practice to theory, the ratio of visual to textual material, the kinds of media to be employed, and the criteria appropriate to the subsequent evaluation of my research for the Ph.D. are set out in this document. My research topic is: Immersive Ideals / Critical Distances : a study of the affinity between art based in Virtual Reality (VR) and previous artistic expressions of the immersive ideal AIM OF THE RESEARCH To identify, define and evaluate the immersive ideal as it is found in artworks utilizing VR technology and in previous artistic movements and periods in the history of art. The primary objective is to create a cross analysis of the immersive aspects of art employing VR, recent postmodern and modern avant-garde art movements, and classical Japanese Noh Theater, which will lead to the identification of immersive visionary ideals in art as they have emerged throughout art history. An examination will be made of the capability of high technology computing systems to realise these earlier artistic immersive ideals within a contemporary framework. BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH It can be shown that there have long been ideas of virtual immersion, whether grounded in mysticism (Bataille,1985), abstract analytical thought (Baudrillard,1983), or magical romantic fantasy (Gibson,1984). All of these historical approaches have sought to shape and manipulate invisible worlds accessible only through the imagination, and in some cases have led to models which have achieved ontological privilege (Hartshorne,1970). My earlier research as an artist and writer led me to the desire to understand how contemporary theories of the virtual relate to older systems of thought, and how such ideas, emerging from the human imagination, have manifested themselves in new technological systems. Rheingold has shown how theories of 'virtuality' and 'immersionability' lead to an understanding of the west's preparation for computer simulated Virtual Reality (Rheingold,1991). Four examples of what I shall refer to as 'immersive nodes' may be sufficient to mark out the domain of inquiry which my subsequent research will set out to illuminate: - immersive modernism as represented by the late paintings of Jackson Pollock (O'Connor & Thaw,1978) and the expanded arts of Fluxus (Olivia,1990) and Happenings (Goldberg,1988) which they have been shown to have influenced (Kaprow,1958) - immersive postmodernist media art exemplified by the early work of Andy Warhol (Smith,1986) and his Exploding Plastic Inevitables (Bourdon,1989) and more recently by the work of Barbara Kruger (Foster,1982) - the immersive ideals of Classical Japanese Noh Drama (Komparu,1983) - the most recent forms of hypermedia VR art works as represented primarily by Knowbotic Research (Zielinski,1996) Sensory immersion is the principal feature of VR systems (Heim,1993). Although phenomenologically different from the idealised virtual immersion found in earlier aesthetics, it is shaped by visionary traditions whose narratives have entered into our collective memory and culture. These visionary ideals of sensory immersion have shaped our expectations for the technical virtuosity of VR. VR immersion may be the key to an understanding not only of cyberculture but of significant aspects of earlier cultures. The image is resurgent if not triumphant in the west (Baudrillard,1983) and VR is the apogee of illusionistic image production (Rheingold,1991) . However, art based in VR has thus far ignored its rich art historical context. It can be argued that an understanding of that context could usefully inform our critical evaluation of the emerging field of interactive art and telematic connectivity In my own experience, I first became aware of ideas of immersion in art when I worked as La Monte Young's archivist for the Dia Art Foundation. In researching the history of Fluxus and the early 1960s, I became familiar with the immersive strategies implied in the conflation of art and life which motivated much avant-garde art of the era (Clark,1990). Speaking of Pollock's legacy in this regard, Kaprow stated "...what I believe is clearly discernible is that the entire painting comes out at the participant (I shall call him that, rather than observer) right into the room..... In the present case the 'picture' has moved so far out that the canvas is no longer a reference point. Hence, although up on the wall, these marks surround us as they did the painter at work....." (Kaprow,1958) . At the same time, the influence on Pollock of the visually enveloping panoramas of Diego Rivera (Frank,1983) are relevant to this thesis. Concurrent with my archival activities I began developing artistic methods of graphically depicting implied spatial immersive space (an impression of deeply projected, constructed, visualized, and imagined space) in my two dimensional art works. This immersive sense is metaphorical but analogous to that provided in VR. As the technology of synthesized presence, VR simulates our connection with the palpable world, augmenting reality, and providing the illusionistic experience of alternate realities. But artistically, VR immersion can offer much more than this by challenging the limits of ordinary perception and representation. Laurel's ideas of aesthetic immersion (Laurel,1990) have expanded artistic imagination as fed by an understanding of technology (Virilio,1989). This has influenced my own art practice involving computer-robotic assisted paintings. It may be instructive to examine VR in relation to the imaginary universes of the classical Japanese Noh theater.While Noh is based on an ancient esoteric technique, VR has its foundation in Cartesian rationalism. The phantasmal hegemony of VR's simulated imagery is based entirely on a binary computer code. In Noh, the structure too is classical and clearly defined. But Noh's techniques of imagining phantoms and fantasy, engages the human psyche in a rich immersive experience that denies the reductivist realm of rationalism. Like many VR environments, the Noh stage is stark and uncluttered nevertheless it utilizes exquisite masks and lavish costumes. The acting style is stately, subtle and symbolic, striving to express the elusive ideal of 'yugen', sometimes translated as 'mysterious depth'. Whether hyperlinked or simply woven into the imagination, there are many strands of ideas, as much from past and distant cultures as from the most recent state-of-the-art VR practices, that contribute to notions of artistic immersion and may lead to new values and a new aesthetic. METHODOLOGY Research into the broader background of this study will call for a comparative study of the four "immersive nodes" outlined above. The comparative method adopted will be mindful of postmodern developments in critical theory (Lyotard,1984). In this context I shall undertake: - a survey of appropriate texts - internet searches - recorded interviews - the examination of specific art works - analysis of video taped material At an early stage in the research I shall construct a database to relate data from their diverse sources. I shall design and construct a 'conversational interface' to the Web which will enable me to juxtapose and hyperlink data relating to the various historical manifestations in art of immersive visionary ideals with state of the art processes and possibilities inherent in advanced computing systems and, in particular, in virtual reality research. I shall develop a form of inquiry employing the full instrumentality of the Web, maximizing its capacity to search for cultural matches, lineages, ruptures, concordances and disparities within the overarching context of this research. I shall seek to exploit the Web's interactive features, such that ongoing outcomes of my research will be communicated to others on the Net, developing and encountering further critical dialogue, in principle with the entire community of competent readers. My final production will be a written thesis accompanied by a multimedia document in CD ROM format, supplemented by my hyperlinked research site on the World Wide Web. My primary reason for telling you all this is that I wonder if you might have any texts concerning VR or other aspects of my research which I could read on the Web or might you be able to email such material you would find relevant to my studies. Also any email addresses of people I should contact would be very valuable. Electronic resources are my primary method of research. If you need to snail mail any material to me it should be addressed to: Joseph Nechvatal 31, rue du Petit-Musc 75004 Paris Thank you. Best Regards, [Please take a look at VR Artistic Representations in Virtual Reality http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/VRArt/ On the Net: Art and Virtual Reality http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/artapps.html -T.E.]