New decisions taken

I have taken some new decisions concerning my project.  It concerns the core element of my project, the Byzantine Art. In my essay i have proposed to present my whole study in the form of  a video with animation, live scenes and possibly with a printed booklet. The second life chapel design but also the real chapel construction are major parts of my study too. For the second life visual chapel i was thinking the possibility to paint some icons that would adorn the east side of my chapel.

• Templo (iconostasi) in Orthodox churches is what separates the priest preparing the sacraments at the altar from the congregation. Templa (plural of templo) are often the most beautiful feature of Eastern churches, as the priest steps from behind the central curtain to stand in front of the templo, which will be further decorated with icons and votive offerings.

I am now thinking of using programs such as photoshop to create Byzantine icons but not on wood. They can be used as textures inside the virtual chapel in second life.This is another critical turning-point of my project along with second life part. I will also paint one or two icons with the traditional technique on wood and i will visit Stavrovouni a monastery in Cyprus to get guidance on the technique. I will seek guidance from the monk Kallinikos a very talented painter. I have his book on the matter of the Byzantine Art technique mentioned in my essay’s bibliography.One of his icons is the following:

 

The chapel of Saint Raphael in Agioi of Trimithia

I have written how i discovered the chapel of Saint Raphael the other day. My program changed and i had to follow a new road. Here is the photo of this lovely chapel. My construction in second life might have simillar characteristics.

I met the priest of this chapel and gave his blessings to paint a fresco above the door of the chapel. It will be great experiance.

1W20 – Week reflection

I have started experimenting with building inside second life. Using the primitives of the world i created a skeleton of the structure. There are some limitation in creating a structure is second life but there are possibilities to overcome some issues using scripting or importing models from maya. I have to research on this.This first structure is not final  but rather an attempt to discover the modeling possibilities. I might sketch or try to do a more sophisticated architectural planning for the structure. I am still not sure at the moment. I feel that i must

keep the chapel simple.It doesn’t have to be perfect at the exterior.I want to give it a better interior look in the future with the addition of icons. At the moment i created two walls, an apse and the cylindrical dome with simple textures. Imagine a tomb looking clean and shiny outside.Under the earth are bones and worms. The opposite can happen with an orthodox chapel, simple at the exterior and marvelous for the interior.

An extra addition would be a ladder, stairs leading to sky – heaven.That part is the idea that will brake the physical contraints mentioned before. There are many possibilities that i can think of. The world offers the possibility to use scripts using Linden Script Language. I can refresh my knowledge on programming and create some scripts that create events in connection with objects created.

I have also used a cherry tree that i have in my inventory. It was free to copy and use in my land.My second life name is Chrysanthos Ariantho. I choosed the second name among others and i think fits nice to my first name. The snapshot below show my experimentation and practising with modeling inside the world.

1W19 – Week Reflection

I have had my tutorial with my tutor Andrew Stiff. We discussed the Byzantine Art component of my proposal. I have tried to explain that i can’t bypass some “rules”, that follow the Byzantine Art through the ages. My tutor suggested that i can create a chapel in second life game with not the physical usual shape or restrictions.  The same issue had been raised when i had a tutorial with Jonathan. We have been discussing  the possibility to construct the real chapel that i suggest for the other outcome of my proposal in a different way, maybe like an installation that would engage percipients in a more digital way. My tutors views are certainly important but i have to take into consoderation some views of the Orthodox church here.During another chat session i said that i would build the real chapel with a more “modern” aesthetic, maybe for the younger people. Maybe that comment or thought was not right.I will mention tomorrow my thought on how some physical restrictions or “rules” for the Byzantine Art can be reformed, at least for my project.This way i can exploit the ideas of my tutors to bypass some physical restrictions and rules. After the discussion with my tutor on Tuesday i realized that there must be a way with not offending Byzantine Art. In  Byzantine Art there are also  “rebel” manifestations. 

Below there is another snapshot of my territory in second life with the ocean view and some building around.I will sketch a draft design for the 3d chapel creation in the game.

1W17-1W18-Week reflection

The research for buying a proper computer system unit is still going on. The new term has started for the week 1W18 and i was happy to meet my peers.Some issues were raised concerning podcasting and also security for our blogs in wordpress. The previous weeks have been a good brake from my work but i wasn’t able to reflect properly due to my computer failure. I hope i can reflect my work better the new term and find time to do it appart my work and my art project research and practising. Anyway these weeks have been very productive because of a new idea i had and  i  have decided to incorporate in my project. At a previous state i have mentioned in the chat session the  www.secondlife.com virtual world – game.

We had to submit our essays and i was sure that i couldn’t leave out this part. I have used my brothers computer with my computers graphics card that was able to “load this world” and i have signed in the game. I have become a member of this community and i have searched for land.

On this land i will construct a virtual 3d chapel appart the other outcomes of my research. I hope that my attempt will attract the couriocity and artistic sense of  online – percipients and  bring to public my art and what i want to express.

On a snapshot below you can notice my 3d character in the middle and my land with marked with the yellow line. I will construct the 3d chapel between these borders. I have turned on the yellow line to show the borders of my territory. This territory is next to the shore and it has a very nice view. I will submit more photos soon.

1W15 – 1W16 Week reflection

Sorry Blog!

I wasn’t so active in the blog for the weeks 15-16. The offsite study week and Christmas holidays kept me away for sometime! It’s time to rectify my absence.

I have been thinking to buy a laptop but because of my desktop computer failure i will buy a new system unit with a good graphics card and processor. I am thinking to buy an AMD Athlon or Opteron processor and an Nvidia Quatro card. These hardware parts will ensure good rendering speeds and high definition results. The possibility of using Gelato –  NVIDIA’s final-frame rendering software) – http://www.nvidia.com/page/gz_home.html is a possibility to increase rendering speeds using varius software.

I have been studying the option of buying an HP workstation with a matrox graphics card for professional editing but i have changed my mind. It has been a very expensive proposal. For my project i can invest on a cheaper system that will enable me to fullfill a number of outcomes for my study.

I have tried to save my old computer replacing the power supply ‘its heart’ and other first aid. Probably a deadly virus had killed the cpu.

Fairwell!