Aesthetics & tools in the virtual environment (panel session)

Christian Greuel We hear the talk of endless technological revolutions. We are surrounded by high-tech gadgetry that does our bidding. Yet what does all of this magnificent machinery really offer us? Does progress in fact exist? And if so, what is it actually worth without substantial content? This discussion panel is addressing the current state of aesthetics in the virtual environment by focusing on the roles that tools have played in artistic communities of the past and how virtual technologies will undoubtedly affect their future. The beginning of history shows human beings using naturally-made pigments to draw images on cave walls, allowing them to represent their experiences to others. Through tomorrow's technology, we may find ourselves projecting our very thoughts into the space around us in order to do exactly the same. The purpose of the aesthetic action has and always will be to visualize ideas and to explore our environments using whatever devices are available. Today we have increasingly powerful instruments, such as personal computer workstations, stereoscopic video displays and interactive software, to present artificially fabricated environments, popularly known as Virtual Reality. The technological elements are in place and we have begun our investigation into the latest and greatest form of artistic communication. Virtual Reality promises artists the most exciting breakthrough for the creative process since the invention of motion pictures. Now at the dawn of an era of virtual arts, the first generations of tools wait patiently to tell us something that we don't already know. But what message do they bring? Is there any passion here? High-end technology is not an end in itself. It merely represents the latest in a long list of tools that can be used for human expression. We have not come this far just to do cool computer tricks or sell vacant office space. There has been an unfortunate lack of artistic activity in cyberspace. We must focus on this cultural deficit and breathe life into the cold silicon void that we have created. By considering the tools of Virtual Reality in a historical context of art and technology as they relate to the fabrication of simulated experience, this panel of active artists intends to provoke constructive thought amongst the virtual arts community, promote active exploration of experience as an art form and unlock doors to possible roads for our artistic travels throughout this age of cybernetics.