Welcome

The art challenges technology and the technology inspires the art.

 – John Lasseter (1957-) (Lasseter)

So they have arrived. They are not mine mind you, they are the property of the Capilano University but they are in my house ready and waiting to be discovered. When I get expensive new technology I always seem to keep it in the box for a while. Just sitting in my work space, patiently waiting to be opened. I am not one of those youtuber-box-opener-people that shred the cardboard as soon as it arrives eager to see the prize inside. I like to contemplate the presence of this new tool. Meditate over it and what it can do for me. Which is really another way of saying stalling the process of learning how to use it and taking the time to do so.

The last time I did that was when I got an iPad Pro and Procreate. It took a while to warm up but now the age-old cliche of  ‘can’t live without’ rings true. Its a slow process however, when I was younger and my brain had more collagen I would dive in. Now with the wisdom of age I pause before embracing new tech. I need to feel like it is a tool worth learning.  How will it work for me, not the other way around. The key being the word ‘tool’.  VR and AR technology is one of those tools. My first experience with VR was when I attended a VR exhibition at the Phi Centre in Montreal and experienced the VR music video by ‘Chorus’ by Justice (Abes 2018)

It had a profound impact on me. It was the same feeling I had when I went to see  the first Toy Story with two other animators. We all left the theatre stunned. In that moment we all knew we were witness to a seismic shift in the art of animation. My experience at the Phi Centre was a similar feeling. Experiencing media in a fully immersive 360 space is going to have a profound effect on how we digest information as well as images.

Like all ground breaking new media there is a tidal wave of interest in VR. John Lasseter knew that CG was the wave of the future. As a student at Cal Arts he tried to persuade the then heads of Disney to embrace the new tools but his advice fell on deaf ears. (Vanity Fair 2014) They eventually bought Lasseter’s company Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion. (Wikipedia)

The debate over the use of tools to aid the process of image creation has been a long standing one. Many thought that the invention of photography would kill painting. When I tell people that I am an animator a consistent response is – ‘Don’t computers do that now?’ There is a persistent belief that some how these tools replace the role of the artist. Or god for bid make it easier for them – a form of cheating and in the eyes of the critics rendering the process less pure. David Hockney’s theory that artists like Vemeer and Ingres use optical tools like the camera lucida and obscura to improve their ability to paint their subjects caused ripples in the art community (Hockney 2001). Masters like Vemeer have always been lauded by art historians for their technical skills. The idea that he may have been ‘copying’ seemed like a blaspheme. But Hockney provides a plethora of evidence in support of his theory. He compares the shift in representation from the flat representations of the 15th century to the hyper-realistic detail and accuracy of the next century. According to Hockney the historical perceived wisdom of artists ‘just getting better’ seemed ridiculous.

“The lens can’t draw a line, only the hand can do that, the artist’s hand and eye coordination with his heart…This whole insight about optical aids doesn’t diminish anything; it merely suggests a different story, a more accurate one, perhaps – certainly a more interesting one.” (Hockney 2001)

This is how I feel about image creation. To me being an artist is the training your eye to see, your hand to respond and keeping your mind and heart curious. The media is just a tool.  The art of Yoriko Ito exemplifies this (Ito). Ito is an illustrator, animator, art educator and a VR artist. Apart from her 20 years of work in film and game production she has also illustrated 4 children’s books. Yoriko Ito is a good subject for my MA project study as she has commercial animation experience and storytelling is at the basis of her work. Recently Yoriko has begun to explore emerging technologies with her work on Under Sea 360 as part of Tilt Brush’s Artist in Residency program. (TiltBrush 2017)

So as I embark on the next phase of my studies and look to the new tools in my kit I know that my art will inspire the use of the Oculus and the Oculus will inspire new paths for my art.

SOURCES:

Hockney, D. (2001) Secret Knowledge: Retracing Six Centuries of Western Art. New York: Viking Studios

Lasseter, J., Brainy Quote [Online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_lasseter_413108 (Accessed 6, January 2019)

Kashner, S.,(2014) Vanity Fair The Class That Roared [Online] Available at: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/03/calarts-animation-1970s-tim-burton (Accessed 6, January 2019)

Wikipedia Pixar [Online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar(Accessed 6, January 2019)

Abes, Z.,(2018) VR Scout  [Online] Available at: https://vrscout.com/news/chorus-proves-future-vr-shared-experiences/(Accessed 6, January 2019)

ITO, Y.,The Art of Yoriko Ito [Online]Available at: http://www.yorikoito.com/(Accessed 6, January 2019)

Tilt Brush (2017) Tilt Brush Artist in Residence [Online] Available at: https://www.tiltbrush.com/air/artists/yoriko-ito/(Accessed 6, January 2019)