Weekly Reading #1

For the first weekly reading, we had to read chapter 1 of Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion by Oliver Grau and chapter 1 from Understanding Machinima by Paul Marino.

Oliver Grau talks about virtual reality and media artists in an attempt to make a claim that art and media have always have an underappreciated interdependence. He claims that media artists are not just artists, but also scientists. Grau talks about the vague scope of virtual reality, and the relationship between non-digital virtual reality (which existed in the form of panoramas and other artistic methods), and more traditionally recognized digital virtual reality. Virtual reality is not a new phenomenon, but it would be foolish to pretend that it has not emerged in a metamorphosised form since the digital revolution.

Grau also discusses the concept of immersion, and how it differentiates virtual reality from "make-believe". By taking the observer and placing them into the virtual world, they are more willing to let themselves lose touch with reality and accept the virtual world as their new reality. Many different techniques exist for doing this, which is only logical since immersion lies at the heart of establish virtual reality.

In Paul Marino's piece, he discusses "Machinima". He talks about what it is, how it started, and how it has evolved.

Machinima is the utilization of a 3D virtual medium to produce animated film. It is commonly done within the medium of a video game or other virtual engine.

Machinima emerged in the 80s as a way for hackers to brag about software that they cracked. The hackers would use the software to make a short intro video that was their way of tagging their accomplishments. Clans also began doing this in some games for bragging rights.

One person (and eventually others) used early games like DOOM and Quake in a similar fashion, to create videos. But he also opened up the movement to less skilled techies by creating a piece of software to assist in making Quake videos. This led to more and more Quake films being produced.

But the interesting part of Machinima is not just the way it has evolved. Machinima is proof that nontraditional mediums can be used in producing alternative but impressive projects. Sometimes it just helps to think outside the box.