tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944516208447810948.post1041948628222381115..comments2024-01-16T06:14:42.330-05:00Comments on Bryn Oh: Imogen and the pigeons - some musings on virtual artBryn Ohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10649767662883786382noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944516208447810948.post-70892735598568555142013-03-22T14:12:39.476-04:002013-03-22T14:12:39.476-04:00This post strikes a bit of a chord with me. Just l...This post strikes a bit of a chord with me. Just last weekend, I was at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, where they are exhibiting some of the terra-cotta warriors found at the tomb of the first emperor of China. One of the things I noticed is that, while we spent several hours at the museum looking at many different, interesting things, I really only spent an hour and a half or so in the room with the terra-cotta warriors and much of that time was spent looking at other things in the room (posters, secondary objects and what-not). I was thinking afterwards how little time I spent with these roughly 2,200 year old objects that I had gone to San Francisco to see. On the one hand, it felt like they required more respect and contemplation. On the other, how much time can you really spend with an object, especially one that was made for a specific, functional purpose (and not just to be gawked at by Americans 2,000+ years later)?<br /><br />The rest of the visit to the museum consisted of wandering the other exhibits pretty much at random. We would rush through one room, leaving me breathless and wondering about all the work and care that went into the objects in that room but would then land in another room and be entranced by something and spend a while there. It got me to thinking about how a work of art can arrest us or not and how we decide what we want to spend time with and what not.<br /><br />One of the things I often think about with Second Life art installations (yours in particular) is this feeling that I can walk into the art and become, temporarily, a part of it. I can stand on or in something, look at it through an unexpected angle, sit on a chair, or interact with some active component. In a museum, there is so often the velvet rope or glass case. The art is here; you are there. Don't touch! I so wanted to touch those terra-cotta warriors—one of them had these remarkably detailed soles on his shoes that I wanted to rub my hands along—but of course that would have been inappropriate. By contrast, in a virtual world, there need be no such boundary and the art can more readily incorporate the viewer into it (and I suppose vice versa).<br /><br />One of the saddest moments I had in an art museum was when I went to see an exhibit of some of Alexander Calder's works. They had several mobiles and even some of his little wire toys. The sad part was that the mobiles were up high, out of reach of hand and breath, so they weren't moving… and the toys were locked away in display cases, with few exceptions not even motorized. So here was all this art that was meant to be interactive and alive, sitting there static and dead. I understand the reasons for that, but it made for a sad memory… like seeing what had been a beautiful, living bird stuffed and mounted in a display case.<br /><br />I guess in the end what I'm saying is that virtual world art can live and breathe. Art in a museum setting ends up just sitting there, nothing more than a precious object that must be protected from oils, and breath, and flash photography.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944516208447810948.post-42577457969344252542013-03-17T15:00:56.076-04:002013-03-17T15:00:56.076-04:00you narrative speaks to the power of exploring art...you narrative speaks to the power of exploring art in a new medium ... i think what the painters of old must have felt when they could cover ceilings.. or show their works to millions instead of a select few... <br />you (the artist) and us (the fans) actually combine to become the art... sitting in front of a collection of pixels.. walking away to cook dinner.. play with the kids.. come back.. and still have that part of ourselves immersed in your creation.. speaks to the new medium.. great article Bryn.. love what you doUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03707660021864215021noreply@blogger.com