School Notes: School of Art
March/April 2017

Design projects blend physical and digital

School of Art students and faculty are among the recipients of Yale’s Blended Reality Applied Research Project Grants, a program sponsored by Hewlett Packard that aims to blur the lines between the physical and digital world and facilitate the transition of an idea from imagination to design and realization. Christie DeNizio ’17MFA and Stephanie Gonzalez-Turner ’17MFA are collaborating on a project that investigates digitally simulated material collisions, from which they will generate 3D-printed artifacts and finally resin sculptures that will reference both macro and micro collisions in the real world. Bek Anderson ’17MFA is using both traditional and developing technologies to create a 3D hologram that can be viewed without the use of an overwhelming apparatus. And Justin Berry, a critic at the School of Art, is spearheading an interdisciplinary project with graduate students in both art and drama, which fosters dialog among the arts areas while enabling creative interdisciplinary research with emergent technologies.

The goal of the Blended Reality program is to “democratize 3D design, augmented reality, digital imaging, and 3D fabrication technologies,” in order to make it easier for artists, designers, scientists, and researchers to use. HP has provided the 3D printers, computers, and software needed to complete the projects. School of Art faculty Sarah Stevens-Morling and Johannes DeYoung serve on the program’s faculty/staff steering committee.