Department of Visualization - Texas A&M University

Viz-a-GoGo 19

Viz — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:57:30 +0000

The 19th annual Viz-a-GoGo was held May 3-5. This student-run event showcased the work of students in the Master of Science in Visualization program. 2012 marked the third year the event took place in Downtown Bryan. The week-long festival began with an art exhibition open to the public in the Old Federal Building. Former students and members of the department’s advisory board donated items (including movie memorabilia) for a silent auction. The purpose of the auction was to raise funds for student scholarships. On Friday and Saturday an animation screening was presented at the historic Palace Theater. Before each show began, Department Head, Tim Mclaughlin announced the residents of the PIXAR, ILM, and DreamWorks’ scholarships. Thanks to the efforts and donations of former students working at the respective studios, scholarships were awarded to current students who produced the best work showcased in the Viz-a-GoGo screening.

Spring 2011 VIST Show

Viz — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:33:37 +0000

On May 2nd, work from undergraduate VIST courses was showcased in the lobby of Geren Auditorium and various locations in the Langford complex. Projects on display ranged from traditional art to interactive computer-based systems. This one-day event concluded with a screening of animation and video work. Prior to the screening, scholarships and awards were presented to students who produced the best design portfolios and exhibited exceptional work during the past academic year.

PIXAR Aggies

Viz — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:43:25 +0000

It’s always a pleasure to have representatives from CG studios meet with (and recruit) our students, especially when those visiting our department happen to be former students. John Halstead, Sets Supervisor, and Chris Chapman, FX Technical Director, discussed all things PIXAR with students and faculty during a recent campus visit. John and Chris conducted reel critiques and interviewed several students for internships and possible participation in PIXAR’s summer undergraduate program. On the first evening of their two-day visit John and Chris gave a presentation on PIXAR’s production-pipeline and business culture. Highlights of the presentation included scene breakdowns and outtakes from PIXAR’s more recent films plus a preview of their upcoming film, Brave.

Artist In Residence – Jack Stenner

Viz — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:09:36 +0000

The final Spring Artist-in-Residence was internationally exhibited artist, Jack Stenner. Among the activities while at the Department of Visualization, Dr. Stenner met with MFA-Visualization students in the VIZA-631 Contemporary Art Studio/Seminar II class, where he gave critique and feedback on their work and the new MFA program.

He also met with the 13 students in the VIST-491 Idea Lab, who were the focus class for this Spring’s Artist-in-Residence program. He reviewed each student’s work for the semester, as they developed critical responses to each of the visiting artists in this final series of the 9-year College of Architecture Artist-in-Residence program.

As conclusion to a full day, Jack delivered a public presentation on his work. He utilizes techniques from ubiquitous and physical computing, game technologies, and experimental software to create conceptual work often taking the form of installation, network practices and experimental video. His work addresses issues related to our socio-culturally constructed reality. With an interest in the forms and means with which ideology is embedded, particularly how meaning is manipulated and transcoded in “place,” his work explores the construction of a “hybrid subject;” a subject neither entirely human nor machinic. Using electronic media he seeks to create experiences that encourage us to reconsider what we think we know about our world and imagine an alternative utopia. His research is an extension of these concerns, using practice-based methods to focus on the impact of mediation in aesthetic experience.

Jack Stenner holds a Ph.D in Architecture with emphasis in Computer Visualization, a Masters of Science in Visualization, and a Bachelors of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University. He has been a registered Architect in Texas. He worked with artists in the context of an alternative art space he founded in Houston, Texas, for almost 10 years. He is an Assistant Professor of Art + Technology at the University of Florida. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

The final year of the Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program was supported by the past Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts, the Department of Visualization, College of Architecture and the Visualization Laboratory. The AiR Committee Chair was Professor Carol LaFayette.

Movement Studies

Viz — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:21:09 +0000

During the first week of April students in the ARTS 308 sculpture class executed their third mini-exhibition – “Movement Studies.” Eleven solo and team projects explored kinesthetic qualities of the body and nature. The exhibition took place in and around Langford Architecture Complex. Non-site-specific pieces were displayed in Studio A. Students were instructed to create kinetic sculptures encompassing body-movement and natural energy, such as wind or gravity. The pieces-including a balloon column, a glass tank which levitated bubbles on heavier than air gas, fabric drapes over the bridge, and a full-body puppet cast of a horse. All work revealed physical forces through the sculpture’s form.

Blue Sky Studios – Procedural Imagery

Viz — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:15:19 +0000

Andrew Schneider, Senior FX Technical Director at Blue Sky Studios, spent a day at the Department of Visualization meeting with students to conduct one-on-one demo reel critiques. Later that evening, Andrew concluded his visit to Aggieland by giving a presentation on some of Blue Sky Studio’s procedurally generated CG work. Andrew discussed how his team produced a large volume of “art-directed” clouds for the film Rio. Doing so required optimal management, composition and ray-tracing techniques. During this visit, Andrew was accompanied by Blue Sky Studio’s senior recruiter, Deb Stone.

Electronic Arts – Videogame Technical Artists

Viz — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:25:41 +0000

André Thomas, a CG Supervisor from Electronic Arts, spoke to students and faculty about the various skill sets that are often required of videogame technical artists, including modeling, rigging, visual effects, motion graphics, interactive design, lighting, shading and tool development. André was accompanied on this visit by Electronic Arts University Relations Manager, Chris David. Together they answered questions from students and addressed the talent and employment expectations of the gaming industry.

André Thomas also serves as a member of the Department of Visualization’s advisor board (Visualization Industry Partners).

Artist In Residence – Thecla Schiphorst

Viz — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:53:17 +0000

As part of the Idea Lab Artist in Residence program, media artist/designer Thecla Schiphorst visited the College of Architecture on March 26th. She presented art research projects by her research group at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology in Simon Fraser University along with her various art projects that explore Somaesthetics, HCI, design and interactive art.

Schiphorst’s background in performance and computing forms the basis for her research which focuses on embodied interaction. She is particularly interested in the poetic forms that cultivate affect, materiality and experience-modeling within human computer interaction.

Her media art installations have been exhibited internationally in Europe, Canada, the United States and Asia in many venues including Ars Electronica, the Dutch Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF), Future Physical, Siggraph, the Wexner Centre for the Arts, the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris, and the London ICA.

The Guardian Project

Viz — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:50:25 +0000

Under the direction of Natalie Pittman and Dick Davison, students from two sections of VIST-106 were tasked with creating “guardian” figures. A scenario was imagined in which a sentient creature guards or protects a location, idea, or object. Each student created a sculpture of their imaginary guardian. These figures were then brought into the third dimension as large scale paper mache sculptures. The only size requirement in the project was that the sculpture had to fit on the student’s desk. Each student was then tasked with transforming the humble paper mache into the illusion of a robust material that their sculpture could have been made from (metal, stone, etc…). The background story become important in defining this surface material, nuances such as faux wear, and little details such as barnacles or rust made the piece come alive.

Principles of Design

Viz — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:41:14 +0000

Paolo Piscitelli’s VIST-106 class explored the principles of three dimensional design with a series of projects using lines. The first exercise was a portrait of a colleague after a contour drawing, using metal wire (referring to the work of Alexander Calder) and then a free standing full round biomorphic or abstract composition. Then students began to shape space using intersecting flat planes, investigating open forms, balance, economy and proportion in design. The diversity of student work covered a wide spectrum of subjects from representational to non-objective compositions. Students used paper, cardboard and foam board combining planar and linear constructions with reference from the sculpture of Naum Gabo to bridges designed by Santiago Calatrava.