The AmbientStream is an Immersive Art Framework that involves 6 key pillars an aWIP, ORIGINAL, RE*MIX, MOTION, NFT and VIRTUAL. The art making process involves six steps; aWIP (artWork in Progress), ORIGINAL (traditional art piece), RE*MIX (iterations of the ORIGINAL piece), MOTION (a 3D animated representation of the ORIGINAL and RE*MIX pieces), NFT's and then we end on the VIRTUAL (a virtual reality representation of the ORIGINAL, RE+MIX and MOTION).
aWIP: Art Work in Progress
An aWIP is defined as the "ideation" stage of the my art making process. Within this "ideation" stage the initial sketches and studies are done leading up to the art making process for the ORIGINAL, RE*MIX, MOTION and VIRTUAL art pieces. This process unfolds over a number of months and involves everything from fundamental drawing exercises (Bridgman Life Drawings) to reviewing color studies of Joseph Albers to studying the Robert Rauschenberg catalog and beyond.
The sketches themselves live between two sketch books. One sketchbook is an 8.5" x 11" black hard cover sketch where I workshop different ideas and concepts. Charcoal, colored pencil and soft pastels are the mediums of choice for getting my ideas onto paper. After the path for concept that is being focused on reaches a point of maturity I switch over to a 14" x 17" sketch to explore the whatever I am working on further. During this whole process I am photographing the drawings and importing them into Evernote. This way I can track the progress of how the ideas are unfolding, add comments and see where the pieces are headed.
ORIGINAL: A tradition piece of Art like a painting on canvas, mixed media on paper or canvas.
These pieces function as both an image and a roadmap for the RE*MIX, MOTION and VIRTUAL art pieces. The ORIGINAL is a starting point in a journey so it's critical that the concepts within the aWIP phase are clearly defined and have purpose. Each element of the ORIGINAL will take on a persona whether a character, background, supporting marks or collaged elements.
The canvas is built in layers which results in a color rich presentation with colors that tell a story. This is a nexus of sorts where shape, color, shadows, marks and space all come together in concert to form an image. From the image that is formed the rest of the sequence comes to life. The art making process is linear and begins with this piece.
RE*MIX: An iteration of the ORIGINAL art piece that focuses on the characters and their personalities.
Think of a RE*MIX in the same way musicians think of a remix as it applies to their music. See you can take a piece of music and rearrange its rhythms, vocals, music, percussion etc. and have a completely new song to listen to.
A RE*MIX is made by first taking a very high resolution photo of the ORIGINAL. The photo can taken with a high resolution DSLR or with an iOS app like Hydra then can emulate a 32MP camera.
Once the photo has been captured it is opened up in photo shop where the DPI and resolution are adjusted along with the color, contrast, color temperature and sometimes perspective depending on how carefully the picture was take.The next step in the process is to turn everything within the image into a layer. I first start with the characters follow by the layered elements (marks and brush strokes) and then the background.
The layers theme have a duel role; to provide the infrastructure for the RE*MIX images as well as the infrastructure for the MOTION animations.Once all of the pieces are cut the aWIP sketches are referenced and work begin on assembling the images together. Often times during the creative process I will do charcoal drawings as needed to add layers and depth to the images.Upon completion of the images I will sign and date them digitally.
MOTION: Animated version of the RE*MIX's, by using the infrastructure of elements generated during the RE*MIX process I am able use 2D and 3D software to generate short 3D animated films.
The MOTION is a linear continuation of the journey of the RE*MIX in an animated format. This format can come to life as a short film, a 2D animation of a RE*MIX.
A MOTION piece can exist on its own in two dimensions as a video or as a "Walk Up". The "Walk Up" is defined as an immersive space that the viewer can walk up into and be immersed within the piece itself. A "Walk Up" structure surrounds the viewer in the piece with both sound and vision.
NFT's are secured and protected by blockchain technology. Blockchain technology is an incorruptible database that cannot be tampered with. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum utilize the blockchain to provide services such as wallets, coins for trading, smart contracts etc.
The nature of blockchain is such that no one can change the record of ownership nor copy or paste to create a new version of the NFT.
NFT's can be traded, verified, exist within blockchain wallets and displayed via the wallets themselves. NFTs utilize the same database as cryptocurrency, this enable them to store extra information, making them work more efficiently
NFT's enable digital items such as, works of art into a “one-of-a-kind” assets that can be trade by their makers and buyers like any other asset.Non-fungible tokens are original and exclusive and cannot be interchangeable with any other kind of tokens.
The VIRTUAL (VR) part of the Immersive Art Framework is designed to take the art viewer through a journey building up to the 3D models that represent the RE*Mix the art viewer chose to view. This journey is meant to show the progress of the art piece from a two dimensional flat piece of art to an interactive 3D representation that the art viewer can explore. VIRTUAL Immersive Environment Art Sequence narrative VIRTUAL Property VIRTUAL Lot VIRTUAL Spaces Summary
VIRTUAL Immersive Environment
An Immersive Environment is a 3D based VR environment that provides the infrastructure for all Immersive Experiences relating to the AmbientStream on display. This Immersive Environment provides the meta-space needed to accommodate the display of the AmbientStream's VIRTUAL Properties. The VIRTUAL Properties will provide the meta-real estate and infrastructure for the VIRTUAL Lots that will display the AmbientStream on View.
VIRTUAL Property:
A Virtual Property is a portion of the VIRTUAL Immersive Environment dedicated to a specific piece of an AmbientStream. The size of the property differs by the amount of 2D RE*MIX's which define how much space is needed for that particular property. The areas of the VIRTUAL Property are defined by "VIRTUAL Lots".
Self Portrait One is a deep dive into what my head experienced in my youth, almost going blind at the age of 9, to multiple surgeries and yes braces.
The AmbientStream features; 5 aWIPS, 1 ORIGINAL, 300+ RE*MIXES, 50+MOTIONS, NFT's for Collecting and a VIRTUAL (coming soon)