A reminder to all digital arts and computer graphics aficionados out there! This year’s SIGGRAPH SpaceTime Exhibition is currently being hosted in Second Life on the BGSU Virtual Campus. It can now be accessed via the Showcase tab (pictured below).

For more information about the SIGGRAPH Exhibition itself, see our older blog post.

Also, the Exhibition Catalog can be downloaded here, the third link down (the Catalog without the Annual Report). It also includes a short introduction by our own Dena Elisabeth Eber (Associate Professor and Chair, Digital Arts).

http://slurl.com/secondlife/BGSU%20Collaboration/56/36/35

This exhibition includes two floors of artwork. The first floor hosts work created by Art 101 students influenced by works from history. The full assignment sheet can be seen here. Each work is presented next to the work that inspired it. You can read more about what inspired the students by clicking on each of the works in Second Life.

The exhibition also includes a show of artwork by practicing artists curated by Art 101 students. The assignment sheet for this show can be seen here. Each student interviewed the artist about their work. The interview can be read by clicking on each work in Second Life.

Images from throughout the semester, including the exhibition opening can be seen here:

Below are a few of the “Extra Credit” postcards and posters made for the exhibition.

]]> http://blogs.bgsu.edu/secondlife/2009/08/04/art-101-final-exhibition-in-second-life/feed/ 9 http://blogs.bgsu.edu/secondlife/2009/08/04/siggraph-spacetime-exhibition/ http://blogs.bgsu.edu/secondlife/2009/08/04/siggraph-spacetime-exhibition/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:15:49 +0000 afontan http://blogs.bgsu.edu/secondlife/?p=193 The SpaceTime competition is an international juried exhibition for students currently enrolled in school and studying computer graphics and digital arts disciplines. The exhibition captures the state of creative computer-based student work and acts as an annual slice of the computer graphics continuum. The exhibition encompasses three general areas: Print, Animation, and Interactive works.

This year’s SpaceTime exhibition is hosted in Second Life on the BGSU Virtual Campus. The exhibition is now open and features over 80 artworks.

To visit the exhibition in Second Life follow this SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/BGSU%20Creation/164/180/28

Our dynamic media player in Second Life allow visitors to watch all the animations on demand.

SIGGRAPH (short for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques) is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics (CG) convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization.

SIGGRAPH on Wikipedia

Official SIGGRAPH Website

It is time again to apply for a wonderful Learning Community at The Center for Teaching and Learning!

Here are the links to the:

• 2009-10 Second Life Learning Community (SLLC) Proposal/Info sheet
• Applications for this year’s CTL LC. Please complete, print, sign and return a copy of your application to:
  • Kris Sautter, CTL, 201 University Hall by Friday, August 7, 2009

Information about other LC’s can be found at http://bgsu.edu/ctl/page30860.html

CTL Learning Community Members receive $250 in Professional Development funds each semester.

About the SLLC:
The BGSU Second Life Learning Community provides an opportunity for faculty, graduate students, and staff to develop effective strategies for pedagogy and scholarship using virtual worlds. Through collaboration, discussion, and shared discovery, the learning community will focus on ways in which teaching and learning can be enhanced through the use of avatars, immersion, interactive learning objects, and social interaction in the virtual world.

Members will:
•    Collaborate, interact, and support other faculty members interested in exploring ways of integrating Second Life in to their pedagogical and scholarship goals.
•    Engage in discussions with interdisciplinary learning community members.
•    Discover and share successful pedagogical strategies.
•    Investigate possible research methodologies and topics related to virtual worlds.

http://secondlife.bgsu.wikispaces.net/

During the second week, students took a field trip to the Sistine Chapel re-creation on Vasar Island. Check out the pictures below! Each student was to find a composition that was an good example of the vocabulary the students were introduced to in class. Each student then communicated to the rest of the class how  they saw the term used in the image. The students are keeping blogs to document their explorations of art on the web and in Second Life using the BGSU blogging system (blogs.bgsu.edu).

art101 sl pics

Click this link to see more pics.

14 students are taking the course this summer and are currently working on personal work spaces (seen above) and departmental office spaces for BGSU Departmental use (below).

The platform in the image below is a proposed ‘classroom’ built by a student for the ATE program (Advanced Technological Education).

More info:

PRESS RELEASE: April 27th, 2009

A FACEBOOK APPLICATION MAKES STAYING ON TOP OF BGSU NEWS EASIER!

BGSU Creates a Facebook Application for University News, Blogs, and More…

There is now an application available for all Facebook users to keep track of what’s going on at BGSU. This application collects information from the top blogs at blogs.bgsu.edu, The BG News, and Campus Update straight to your Facebook so that you don’t have to go hunting for the latest news. Simply add the application found at http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=41501853292 and click on the arrows to see the top headlines from The BG News, business, sports, technology, and education related feeds at BGSU.

The development of the application was supported the Office of the CIO and Information Technology Services and is intended for better communication across campus. Anthony Fontana, Learning Technologies Consultant for the Office of the CIO and designer of the Facebook application views Facebook as a very versatile platform for the exchange information. Fontana sees this application as a way to aggregate the best of the BGSU campus blogs and RSS feeds onto Facebook, so that information is accessible where the students and faculty spend their time online.

The application was written by ITS programmer Chris Wammes. The Office of the CIO and ITS have agreed to make the code available to other members of the BGSU and Facebook community. Community members interested in creating a similar RSS Reader for Twitter feeds or classroom blogs can use this code. ITS hopes what they’ve started can benefit other BGSU community members who would like to create their own Facebook applications.

The RSS feeds currently on the application were chosen due to the quality and regularity of their content. To submit your official University campus blog please send the URL to afontan@bgsu.edu. Future improvements to the application may include the RSS feed from the University Academic Calendar.

The Birthday/Earthday celebration will begin with a tour of the BGSU virtual campus and afterwards there will be an InWorld Fashion show where avatars will model a sampling of the amazing attire available in Second Life. At 12:30 there will be an Open Mic poetry reading at the BGSU Writing Center in Second Life.  Students, faculty and staff are invited to “step up to the mic” at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union, where their words will be broadcast into the virtual campus.

At 1:00, there will be a special EarthDay scavenger hunt on the BGSU virtual campus.  Avatars will compete in a quest to find information on how to help combat global climate change.  The first avatar in Second Life to find all the clues will be awarded prizes in Linden dollars.  Participants will face simulated climate change and environmental disasters that will prove to be both challenging and thought provoking.

After the Scavenger hunt ends, there will be live music by BGSU student DJs, What the Bleep and DJ PsysiX in the lobby of the BTSU Student Union. The DJ’s music will be streamed into the Performance Center in Second Life and avatars are invited to socialize and dance to the sounds of Jungle and Psytrance music.

Throughout the event, people are encouraged to attend the opening of the Digital Arts student art exhibition and visit the bargin/barter flea market. The artwork will be displayed in the Vertical Gallery and avatars are invited to “fly” through the gallery to view the work.  At the flea market, avatars will give away and barter virtual objects such as clothing, furniture, buildings, etc.

To find out more about how to get a free Second Life avatar, visit www.secondlife.com.

To visit the BGSU Virtual Campus, go to www.bgsu.edu/secondlife

This exhibit features student work by FATE members, including artwork by students of BGSU faculty members: Michael Arrigo, Joe Mesier, Joel O’dorisio, and Anthony Fontana. Each artwork, when clicked, leads to the FATE assignment wiki, a wiki that enables art educators to share assignments for 2d, 3d, Drawing and other college Freshman art courses.

Come meet FATE members, see the artwork, and experience an gallery opening on BGSU’s Virtual Campus in Second Life!

On March 6, 2009, a team of BGSU students created a new simulated island for the BGSU Virtual Campus. The new island, dubbed BGSU Exploration, was created using the open source software called Open Simulator (http://opensimulator.org/), the same software that runs Second Life. 

The first resident of this island was named BGSU Sif and was used to test access to this new virtual property. The BGSU Virtual Campus team, along with Dr. Hassan Rajaei from the Department of Computer Science, are looking into the potential of OpenSim. Currently, BGSU Exploration is reserved for testing and experimentation. It is hosted on a University server supported by the Office of the CIO and dedicated to the BGSU Virtual Campus.