Virtual reality and visceral realism

The Virtualization of Art Practice: Body Knowledge and the Engineering Worldview, by Simon Penny

This article covers themes such as embodiment, the "digital revolution", "convergence (arts)", "mind" over "body", (behavioral) artificial intelligence, artificial life and pedagogical issues.

Overall there are large sweeping statements in this article that one can wrestle with and choose to agree with or not. Two agreeable thoughts pop out for me (quoting the article):

-- "To make conquering strides across cyberspace, we sit, neck cramped, arms locked, tapping a keyboard, our vision fixed on a small plane twenty inches ahead. As the image becomes more mobile (VR), the viewer becomes less mobile." I'm in this cyberspace position right now to write this post. Getting good at Second Life requires hundreds of hours in this position. It's this immobility more than anything that gives me pause to move my art in the direction of online activities, as this locked-up position is not where I wish to be and it causes back cramps if I stay too long. New vow -- scale down to a maximum of five computing hours/day.

-- "Why do we believe that the consciousness is located exclusively in the brain, when, contrarily, we put so much faith in "gut feelings"? Why do we describe some responses as "visceral"? Why do ancient Indian yogic and Chinese martial traditions locate the center of the will in the belly? We believe we think with our brains because we've been taught that this is the case. What if we believed otherwise? How differently would we live our lives?"

I subscribe to a world of intuition and feelings. I engage my feelings, assess them through logic, and draw on wisdom and intellect to figure out the best way to act on them. My approach is not for everyone, but I swear by it with few exceptions. In rule-rigid environments and spheres of logic I try to hover behind the words I wish to speak instead of blurting them out (and not always successfully), aware that feelings and passion are generally out of place in such spaces. Whereas in open, expressive environments I freely raise my voice in song, without constraint.

These are general terms to describe forms of complex physical engagement articulated in this article. The main thing I take from it is a confirmation that being a sponge to the full range of human experiences, including my own and those of people in vastly different environments, allows me feel and think concurrently, rather than just imposing my thought, which can be dry and absent of passion. In my artistic practice my gut instinct is part of the intellectual rigor that makes my work distinctly mine. New vow -- in the second year of the program I'll work with advisors who understand and support my intuitive, visceral process in making art work.