A topsy turvy spring in digital media 350 by victoria vallis

Black Survival Guide Terry Marshall by Victoria Vallis

Black Survival Guide Terry Marshall by Victoria Vallis On the University of Nevada, Reno campus, the Reno Justice Coalition, which formed in the fall of 2014, helps students to explore activism and community involvement. The most recent exhibition the Reno Justice Coalition presented was to bring awareness of persons whose deaths were attributed to police brutality, vigilantism, and hate crimes. The purpose of the Reno Justice Coalition is to have a voice on campus about racism and other forms of social injustice. It was created to have a forum to talk about these issues and do something about it, because there are students here who care about these things and want change. The “Week of ACTION” gave the Reno Justice Coalition the opportunity to bring in several individuals, including members of the American Civil Liberties Union and activist Terry Marshall, who has been working with the Black Lives Matter campaign, all in an effort to encourage the Reno community to commit to social change. During the Reno Justice Coalition's National week of action, Terry Marshall spoke on how social media and the arts influence activism against police brutality and racism. As a response to the current state of race relations in the U.S., he has designed a multimedia project called "The Black Body Survival Guide." This is a guide as the owner of a black body for surviving in the U.S. He believes that this is one of the best ways to expose Racial Injustice in America. This satirical guide is meant to comment on the violence against black people being perpetuated, and raise our consciousness about the drastic nature of racial relations in the United States. Hence, sparking a movement to change the perceptions of black bodies and to increase awareness of social injustice.

No Boundaries at the NMA by Victoria Vallis

No Boundaries at the NMA by Victoria Vallis Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting February 28, 2015 The Nevada Museum of Art is now displaying the works of Aboriginal artists. The paintings from the remote Paruku region of Western Australian desert of No Boundaries by Paddy Bedford, Janangoo Butcher Cherel, Tommy Mitchell, Ngarra, Boxer Milner Tjampitjin, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Tjumpo Tjapanangvka, Billy Joongoorra Thomas, and Midpul forge a new path in abstract images. These tribal leaders demonstrate a unique view of art defined by ancient beliefs. Visual traditions of these people are transformed into contemporary artworks that serve to broaden the possibilities of Aboriginal art. These revered Australian painters preserve the stories and cultural heritage of their people. The conservation of the work of Australian Aboriginal artists is important. The roots of their work reach back more than 50,000 years, and represent the oldest continuous cultural production in the world in which ancestral spirits exert a continuing presence in everyday life. I found the colorful designs and patterns to be intriguing and very modern looking. I am motivated to try some of these styles in my own artwork. Some of the resulting patterns reminded me of optical illusions or Op Art from posters of the sixties. The colorful dots were also interesting to observe.

art 350s digital media: Project 1 Steampunk Vixen an installation ...

Artist Statement of Victoria Vallis      
Spring, 2015

Title: Steampunk Vixen2 by
Victoria Vallis

      During my adult life I have been
experimental in approach to a love of art and creation. Ever trying to combine imagination
with possibilities, I have created “Steampunk Vixen2”.  This digital media installation forms a mysterious
and very different and eerie display. In the perception of continuity, gaps are
often filled in; the result can be fragmented, and paradoxical; without
apparent meaning.  “Steampunk Vixen2”becomes
an unpretentious, and dreamlike landscape of provocative aura and escapism. Steampunk
as an escape has leaked into the real world with costumes and working steam powered
machinery, resulting in a state of heightened perception. A moving doll carries
messages of light, shadow, movement and reflection. Through the use unusual
patterns displaying an array of oddly mystical images, one perceives an
emergence of illusion, similar to a glance from the corner of the eye.  Over the years, I have realized that my love
and admiration for certain things did not just crop up by random chance. Detailed
pattern, emphasizing form creates interest while producing abstraction between
reality and fiction, producing visual metaphors and purity of image.  

     Martin Heidegger wrote an essay, “The
Question Concerning Technology”, over fifty years ago, but his ideas about
modern technology are still extremely applicable. He says, “…Technology is the
fate of our age, where “fate” means the inevitableness of an unalterable
course” Heidegger maintained that our way of questioning defines our nature. He
argued that philosophy, Western Civilization's chief way of questioning, had
lost sight of the being it sought. As a solution to this condition, Heidegger
advocated a return to the practical being in the world, allowing it to reveal,
or "unconceal" itself as concealment. He is best known for his
existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of
Being". His best known book, Being and Time, is considered one of
the most important philosophical works of the 20th century.

      The
arguments about nostalgia for a time when we were closer to technology, and the
need to understand the past so we can imagine the future, are actually quite
compelling. My work reflects an evolution of objects of pleasure in Heidegger
fashion, as well as from original steam tools
to entirely aesthetic contraptions which are representations of useful things. My
question is, could steampunk, with an emphasis on technology  take part in ordering as a way of revealing?     Heidegger implies that people are not in
control of what they are developing, that it is fated and destined to happen,
and also mentions that knowledge to create technology was around much earlier
than it is actually created; the ideas were just waiting to be uncovered.

The
fundamental distinguishing characteristic of steampunk is what might be termed
a radical desire for individual freedom. By this orientation, all of reality is
simply information presented to us by the mind, synthesized from the raw data
of experience.  Another question is, therefore
could steampunk combined with a moving doll reflect our changing society? A
playful effect of bright colors and the unexpected emerges. By using an
imaginative experimental approach to digital media, I have combined an
accumulation of objects into one coherent outcome. The backdrop is natural
setting of peaceful possibilities. Interpretation of the intricate
interaction of the doll to the observer is a moving symphony in progress for
the eyes. With meticulous attention to detail and observance of the elements
such as light, colors, textures and patterns, the elements of composition are explored.  It's an opportunity for close visual
observation of the details of a moving doll's face. Character and the personal
history that are written on it, as the artful digital media composition blooms
forth. Patterns of interest from clothing to soft fresh skin tones and textures,
facial expressions, take the mundane out of the doll, thus elevating her to an
art form of creation as an
artistic product that is pleasing, interesting, and unique. My art is a trek
into the fantasy world of what if? If all was perfect like dolls playing in a
happy cartoon with no evil; then how would things be?  This project has taught
me many things, the most important being that I have to always remember to
enjoy the little things.

art 350s digital media: Proposal for Project 1 Steampunk Vixen ...: Proposal for Project 1 Steampunk Vixen Digital Media 350s Victoria Vallis Spring 2015 List of Supplies or Toolbox: Elec...

..Nevada in Time: Photographs of a Changing Landscape and the Power of Observation.

Nevada in Time: Photographs of a Changing Landscape and
the Power of Observation

 February 12, 2015 by Victoria Vallis

Photographs of altered landscapes of
Northern Nevada are the subject of an exhibit at the Knowledge Center.
Landscapes,
made by nature or by man, which change daily, yearly, and generationaly, are
featured in this exhibit
exploring the dynamic and changing landscapes of northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe.

Among the
photographers whose works are featured are Stephen Davis with “Truckee Meadows
Open Lands Project;” Jack Hursh with photographs “Nevada Historic Barns and
Ranch Architecture;” Peter Goin, University of Nevada Reno Foundation Professor
with “Selected Images from Stopping Time: A Rephotographic Survey of Lake
Tahoe; Mark Klett with the “Rephotographic Survey” and Howard Goldbaum with
“American Flat.”



Three of
the photographers: Davis, Hursh and Goin, took part in a forum titled
“Photography, History and the Power of Observation” at the Wells Fargo
Auditorium inside the Knowledge Center. Stephanie Gibson, a writer with a focus
on contemporary photography, and arts administrator from Ottawa, Canada, who
now lives in Reno, moderated the discussion.



The
discussion was introduced by Kathy Ray Dean, and looked at the importance
of  photographs of a changing landscape
and difference between documenting history and family photographs which are a
visual bridge to the public.



 “Nevada in Time: Photographs of a Changing
Landscape,” tells the story of Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe through images of
a landscape in flux. Using photographs from the University’s Special Collections
Department, combined with contemporary projects, it shows how the camera helps
define and record our surroundings.



 Kimberly Roberts, who is the photo curator for
the special collections department, said the photographs offer an unvarnished
look at various landscapes in the region along with the changing environment.
For example, one set illustrates the changing of Plumb Lane through the years from
largely open space to a cityscape.



 Her intent in the curation of this show is to
demonstrate that history is not something that is confined to the past or to
books, but is all around us and is happening now, especially with the Truckee
Meadows on the cusp of another major transformation as more industries move
into the area, explained Roberts.



The
University of Nevada Reno’s Archives at the Knowledge Center has many
historical photographs. The exhibit also includes many of these historic
photographs from Special Collections and from Reno Photo Service. Dozens of
photographs make up the exhibit, and are displayed on the second, third, and
fourth floor walls of the Knowledge Center. 




Reno,
Nevada is in a constant state of flux and change. Having grown up here, I have
personally witnessed many of the growth expansions discussed in this forum. I
watched medical centers, malls, schools and houses take over the vast cow
pastures I used to ride horses and bicycle through. I experienced firsthand the
construction of I-80 and then 395 and the spaghetti bowl with all of the
traffic that now congests its roadways. I am glad that these and other
photographers have documented the expansion, and that family albums prove how
it used to look here.



I used to
play at American Flats and even had a pottery class there with Fred Reid and
Bob Griffin, and now it is gone. Only a memory, like so much of my vanishing
past. As my two questions I asked the panel what they thought of the
disappearance of American Flats and the wild horses. The answers I heard ranged
from it’s too late,… to must be managed. Goin 
believes we are all part of history and would like to see a living park
built with the artifacts of American Flats. Hursh who photographs old barns
before they fall down with time, helped to preserve some old buildings which
have been moved to Bartley Ranch. Kudos go out to all who help to preserve the
past, because once it is gone, there is no replacing it.

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