Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Videos outtakes from the 17th annual Viz-a-GoGo, a showcase of work produced by the digital wizards in the Master of Science in Visualization Sciences program at Texas A&M University, can be viewed on the Department of Visualization's Vimeo website.
The show’s main events, the public screenings of short, special-effects laden videos and digital animations, was held at the Palace Theater, 105 South Main Street.
At the second venue in the formerly vacant Old Texas Furniture Store, a pre-show event included several MS Visualization students, or “Vizzers,” providing behind-the-scenes demonstrations of the various software and creative techniques they employ to produce the dazzling digital creations featured in the Viz-a-GoGo screening. Also, student game developers exhibited their latest interactive works. For the kids, “hand pong,” a giant-sized version of the old Atari game that kicked off the video gaming revolution, were available, as well as compelling interactive multimedia installations.
The furniture store venue also included a “flatwork” exhibit (pictured), featuring drawings, paintings, photography, and just about everything Vizzers create that isn’t time-based work.
The time-based portion of the show, Viz-a-GoGo’s main event, was brought to viewers in “simpli-vision” — the theme of this year’s show — a homage to the simple, primitive geometric shapes that form the building blocks, literally, of 3-D animation. Throughout the show, the simpli-vision concept was articulated in interstitials, or terse thematic features laced between show segments, which included well-known scenes from movies and fairytales, remade with simple geometric figures in the starring roles.
The May 7 show ensued amid the flurry of fanfare that is downtown Bryan’s “First Fridays” festival, a celebration the visual and performing arts that included art demonstrations and exhibits, horse-drawn carriage rides, live music and happy hour specials at the numerous restaurants and bars that dot the historic district.
Viz-a-GoGo 17 was sponsored by the Arts Council of Brazos Valley, the TAMU Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts, the Texas A&M College of Architecture and the Department of Visualization.
Since 1989, the Master of Science in Visualization Sciences program at Texas A&M has provided a steady stream of aspirants for the burgeoning field of digital and electronic visualization. Vizzers are true Renaissance men and women, gifted with a unique left-right-brain ambidexterity, facilitating a mastery of both art and science. The program's graduates have achieved success as creative directors, computer animators, university professors and software designers, with the majority working in the animation, visual effects and electronic gaming industries. Aggie Vizzers can be found among the creative talent at Pixar, Blue Sky, Industrial Light and Magic, Dreamworks/PDI, Electronic Arts, Rhythm & Hues, Reel FX and Sony Pictures Imageworks.
After almost a decade of outstanding achievement in visualization education in its Visualization Laboratory, the College of Architecture established the Department of Visualization at Texas A&M, and in January 2009 an undergraduate visualization program was introduced.
The Department of Visualization nurtures a unique, synergetic studio environment combining academic rigor with creativity, fun, camaraderie and collaborative problem solving.
Samples of the work currently being produce in the Viz Lab can be seen on the Department of Visualization website, its vimeo webpage, at iTunes U, and on the Viz Lab Facebook page.
- Updated: June 11, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
