Nicolas Rivet

Migaa island constitutes a place to share experiences, to gather event’s and works memories from the different schools and students activities. As an ubiquitous place, some sort of bridge, the virtual academy fills the geographic distance between the three schools (EESI, KHM, VDA). It allows at the same time to broadcast local events, to exhibit and stored researches, works and memories from students and projects and also be used as experimental learning place.
By considering Second Life as a platform for experiential learning, we create a radical expansion of the possibilities that students are able to address: problems that are infeasible due to a lack of resources, and problems that are impossible because of the limits of the physical world. For example, in Second Life, art student could construct a room or building to plan exhibition with a nearly trivial expenses, learning about architectural and exhibition display, resource management, communication and public relation in the process. The National Portrait Gallery or the ACVA Australia Council for the Arts are striking example of virtual art places in that way. Furthermore, artist such as Cao Fei with his project RMB city had the ambition to build a whole city with the aim to question the terms and consequence of China Urbanism. Even though the construction remains virtual, Cao fei plan the organization and the structure of one city where real people through avatar were exploring its construction and reliability. Imaginary scenario of complex system can emerge and be experienced by a huge range of public from various cultures and backgrounds.
Unlike video game or plot oriented environment, Second Life do not have a back story. There is no fact or guide to propel one forward in this open environment. Thus, every user must – as all designers of content in SL – build out each environment.
The many possibilities offered by Second Life requires in that sense, even if paradoxical, some sort of guideline – flexible one – to start from.

School framework

The school of Migrating Art Academies was originally defined as a playground. Usually, a classroom that felt like a playground would be viewed as a failure. In Second Life, however, it is the norm. This playground is a construction-set made out of basic geometrical shapes (blocks) as those used by childhood’s game. The geometrical patterns once combined may generate complex structure and are suited for every applications. Such construction have historical input in creative process, such as design (Bouroullec’s brother), childhood’s game (Lego, Duplo…), architecture (Cedric Price, Archigram) or art (Sol Lewitt, Daniel Buren).
Further more, as a computation environment every module can act as programming artifacts, interacting though input such as avatar, time or environment variation, and broadcasting information such as memento, text, artistic works, local events.
These blocks – basic pattern – can be potentially developed in that concern in many ways:

1_Additional geometrical shapes which are compatible with each others: as generative, joints or ending paths.
2_Many behaviors and reactive codes could be program inside each shapes: time input, avatar input, sound input, real-world input…
3_Further appearances and information on the surface of the shapes.

The aim is to create a wide library of blocks to heighten the potentiality of the school. The virtual academy then may work as a collaborative construction.
The starting architecture is divided into several buildings which works as described below:

1_One Main Panel at the center displays news and events from the three schools and the Wiki. Including local events (conferences…) and student exhibitions. This panel is focus on the event happening in the real-world. It interlinked three units : Second Life, the schools and the wiki.

2_Four other panels – Windows Broadcaster – around the structure at the center works as broadcaster for live-events, archived lectures and works of students.
Another feature added is the possibility to record classes from every different schools that students can watch later on Second Life. Thereby it is possible to organise public as well as educational event in the island. Each school are equipped by web camera and use Wowza streaming facilities to broadcast the real time event.

3_The Library is originally designed as a network of reference. A set of link or hypertext which refers to various center of interest over the web. The data are not stored in the Library itself, but the library is pointing out the knowledge and the culture spread out in the very web. Each link are stored in a cube, the display of the cube as well as its content is flexible and can be generated by the students.

4_ The Main Hall is the place where all the textures, shapes and scripts library used in the island are brought together. Some dispenser in the Hall give blocks directly to the personal avatar’s inventory, therefore to generate their own structure. The Main Hall symbolizes the root of the island.

5_The sand box is the place where students try things if not sure of what they want to build.

6_Other building and structure may born depend on the need of the students…

Memory

At first we might say that the virtual world as most of the electronic interface and representation does not create affective relation with things and therefore stories. Nevertheless, as in Farocki’s documentary “Immersion”(2009), in which American soldier rescued from Irak war recall through virtual immersion the circumstances of their trauma – the virtual environment they’re experiencing has limited visual quality but still, soldier are strongly affected by the revival of the event.
We can assert that it is much the memory triggered by the virtual environment which generates affection and then focus of interest – than the realism of the virtual simulation itself. It is the same in Second Life environment, the memory is recalled through various objects display, media broadcast and situation. A new art of memory takes place in Second Life platform, students are invited to find the happy medium between memories and oversight in his own story and also place of Migaa Island itself. Such memory may have various way of being : from the spatial display of personal work to the broadcasting of recorded or live events, from the construction of structure which takes in consideration its immaterial matters – to the experimentation of real events transmitted from the three schools. As a programming framework, the island may evolves and disappears, punctuated by several events and memories gathered by the students, recalling the ephemeral circumstances of its being.

For further information about the construction : Research and Field

As introduction how to use Second Life platform: Online Class

Visit the SL island : Migaa

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 1:57 am and is filed under Migrating Art Academies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.