SURREY ART GALLERY - 10TH SCHOOL TOUR

GREETINGS BLOGGERS!

FIRST OF ALL, A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! THE SURREY ART GALLERY’S TECHLAB HAS UPDATED ITS WEBSITE TO INCLUDE MY PERFORMANCE SERIES! YOU CAN VISIT THAT DIRECT LINK BY CLICKING HERE. YOU CAN ALSO VIEW AN EXTRA-MODERN PDF DOCUMENT BY CLICKING HERE. NOW THAT I HAVE THE DAY’S BREAKING NEWS OUT OF THE WAY, IT IS TIME TO RECOLLECT MY THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THIS MORNING.

TODAY WAS FRIDAY’S SCHOOL TOUR AND THE SCHOOL DU JOUR (PARDON MY FREEDOM FRENCH) IS ACTUALLY CALLED “SURREY CONNECT (HOME LEARNERS GROUP)”. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS IS INDEED A SCHOOL OR SOME KIND OF HOMESCHOOLING CLUB...I GUESS IT IS MY JOB TO UNDOMESTICIZE THEM AND ACCULTURATE THEM TO GALLERY AND MUSEUM ENVIRONS!

IF THEY BECOME TOO HOMESCHOOLED, THEY MIGHT SEE THE MUSEUM AND GALLERY SPACES AS PART OF A LARGER “BLANDSCAPE”. AT ANY RATE, THIS GROUP DID CONTAIN A BUNCH OF KIDS SO HERE IS HOW MY CHAT WENT:

I- NOAH WANTED TO KNOW HOW I WAS MADE. THESE SEEMED TO BE KIDS THAT WERE HUNGRY FOR AN ENTRANCE INTO THE MUCH LARGER AVATAR COMMUNITY. I LEFT THE TECHWORLDS’ COMMUNITY ADDRESS WITH THE DOCENT SO SHE COULD PASS ON ALL THOSE TECHNICAL DETAILS OF CREATION TO HER STUDENTS. I HOPE THIS DOCENT HAD A PEN AND PIECE OF PAPER (KINDLING) HANDY! IF NOAH IS CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW I CAME INTO BEING, THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO FIND OUT!

II- ALEXANDRA ASKED ABOUT HOW I BECAME 3D. ZOUNDS! THESE STUDENTS MUST BECOME EXTRA BRILLIANT WHEN THEY ARE HOMESCHOOLED BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY INFORMED ABOUT RENAISSANCE PERSPECTIVE AND UNDERSTAND MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF EXISTENCE! ONCE AGAIN, I HYPED THE TECHWORLDS COMMUNITY SO THEY CAN LEARN HOW TO CREATE 3D AVATARS....ALEXANDRA AND NOAH, YOU CAN JOIN THE PANTHEON OF GODS AND GODESSES IN CYBERSPACE! YOU CAN CREATE MANY INDIVIDUALS JUST LIKE ME! MAYBE YOU WILL LEARN TO DO SO ON FAMILY DAY? IF YES, SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FAMILY DAY HYPE BLOG...

III- CONNOR ASKED ABOUT HOW I GOT MY NAME. I TOLD CONNOR THAT I WAS NAMED BY MY GODFATHER, BARNETT NEWMAN. HOW I WAS NAMED THE VOICE OF FIRE IS ANYONE’S GUESS BUT I AM SURE CONNOR THAT YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO NOT KNOW THE PRECISE ORIGINS OF YOUR NAME, CORRECT? WE LIVE IN A STATE OF PERPETUAL CULTURAL AMNESIA, MY FRIEND!

IV- SARAH ( I THINK IT IS WITH AN “H”) ASKED WHY I AM RECTANGULAR. WELL, I CAN BLAME MY APPEARANCE ON BOTH GENES AND MEMES! I WAS CREATED TO RESEMBLE MY RECTANGULAR ANCESTOR WHO IS CURRENTLY LIVING IN A NURSING HOME CALLED THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA IN OTTAWA! SARAH, HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS PLACE? DO YOU HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THE ELDERLY? IF YOU DO, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU ENTER THE FIELD OF ART-HISTORY AND/OR MUSEUM STUDIES!

V- ANOTHER STUDENT WHOSE EXACT NAME I HAVE NOW FORGOTTEN ASKED HOW I MOVED. I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT MY BLUE VOID IN CYBERSPACE OPERATES ON ZERO GRAVITY AS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MORE ACCURATE ANSWER. INSTEAD, I DESCRIBED HOW MY LONG VERTICAL BODY ACTED AS SOME SORT OF FLOATATIONAL DEVICE.

VI- A GAL WITH AN EXOTIC NAME DUBBED “ADIA” ASKED HOW I AM ABLE TO SPEAK... IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO YOU, ADIA! I USE MY VOICE! I HAVE THE SAME NOVEL OSCILLATOR THAT YOU DO...AMAZING!

VII- JOSEPH ASKED ABOUT WHY IT WAS NECESSARY FOR ME TO BE PROJECTED ONTO A WALL TO VISIT WITH THEM. WELL, I CAN VISIT YOU IN YOUR TECHNICOLOR DREAMS AND IMAGINATION, JOSEPH! HOWEVER, THERE ARE MORE PRACTICAL WAYS TO VISIT WITH ME. ONE IS OF COURSE THE ONE YOU HAD BRILLIANTLY OBSERVED AND THAT IS THE GALLERY PROJECTOR. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THE GALLERY CAN SEE ME. THIS IS THE MOST PUBLIC WAY I CAN APPEAR...THINK OF THE PROJECTOR AS A WAY TO ENABLE THE MASS-MEDIA VERSION OF MYSELF TO THE WORLD! OTHERWISE, ONE CAN ENTER AN AVATAR COMMUNITY SUCH AS TECHWORLDS AND VISIT ME “IN-WORLD”. THE EXPERIENCE IS MUCH MORE INTIMATE AND THE RESOLUTION IS MUCH BETTER IN HERE JOSEPH! MAYBE I WILL SEE YOU INSIDE THE BLUE VOID SOMETIME SOON!

VIII- EMMA ASKED IF PEOPLE HELPED ME GET ON THE SCREEN. ABSOLUTELY, EMMA! THIS IS MY CUE TO THANK THE FRIENDLY STAFF AT THE SURREY ART GALLERY FOR PROPPING ME UP ONTO THIS SCREEN!

IX- ANOTHER EXOTIC SOUNDING STUDENT NAMED “BENIYA” ASKED WHY DO I BLINK? WELL BENIYA, I AM FORCED TO BLINK JUST AS YOU DO WHEN ENCOUNTERING PARTICLES OF DUST! IN MY WORLD (THE BLUE VOID), I ENCOUNTER A SPECIAL BRAND OF VIRTUAL DUST CALLED PIXELS. I THINK I AM MAGNIFIED ON THIS SCREEN LARGE ENOUGH FOR MY PIXEL-DUST (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PIXIE-DUST) TO BE VISIBLE. THUS, THESE PIXELS GET IN MY EYES AND CAUSE ME TO BLINK FROM TIME TO TIME. SO, ALTHOUGH I AM A FORM OF AVATAR OTHERKIN, I RESEMBLE THE OFFLINE HUMANOID IN THAT I ALSO HAVE MANY REASONS TO BLINK MY EYES.

X– THEN THERE WAS EILIEH.... WHERE DO ALL THESE EXOTIC PEOPLE COME FROM? DOES BEING HOMESCHOOLED COME WITH ACCESS TO A LEGAL NAME CHANGE? IT IS NO WONDER YOU ARE WONDERING WHY I WAS CALLED THE VOICE OF FIRE! YOU MUST BE THINKING A DEEPER QUESTION INSIDE LIKE “WHY HASN’T THE VOICE OF FIRE CHANGED HIS NAME YET?” REGARDLESS, EILIEH ASKED ABOUT MY PRETTY BLUE EYES AND HOW I MANAGED TO SCORE THEM...THANK YOU FOR THE MOST-HIGH COMPLIMENT, EILIEH! – I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT MY CREATOR DID A FANTASTIC JOB KEEPING THE COLOR COMBINATION CONSISTENT AND IDEAL – BLUE AND RED IS THE BEST COLOR COMBO IMAGINABLE! OKAY, MAYBE I AM GETTING A BIT VAIN HERE BUT I DO KNOW THAT MY BLUE EYES HAVE HAD SUCH A POSITIVE INFLUENCE, THERE WAS A RUMOR CIRCULATING THAT JEREMY ( MY ASSISTANT) HAD HIS EYES CHANGED FROM SOME BLAND COLOR TO BLUE VIA CUTTING-EDGE BIOTECH METHODS IN ORDER TO MIMIC MY TRADEMARK EYES....IMAGINE THAT!


XI– JONATHAN AND ALEXANDRA ASKED ABOUT MY LENGTH AND WHY I WAS SO LONG. I HAD TO EXPLAIN AGAIN THAT I WAS CREATED TO RESEMBLE MY ANCESTOR WHO IS CURRENTLY COLLECTING OFFLINE DUST AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA. THAT IS WHY I AM LONG.

XII- EMMA ASKED A SECOND QUESTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT I AM REAL...I GAVE MY ROUTINE (BORDERLINE AUTOMATED) ANSWER THAT I AM AS REAL AS SHE IS. I HOPE SHE GAVE THIS SOME SERIOUS THOUGHT!

XIII- THE CLASS AS A GESTALT SEEMED TO BE ASKING ABOUT THE SOFTWARE FROM WHICH I WAS CREATED OUT OF. IN THIS CASE, I HAD TO EMPHASIZE TO THE DOCENT TO PASS ON THE WEB ADDRESS FOR TECHWORLDS. I DO KNOW THAT TECHWORLDS IS PART OF A LARGER “DIGITALSPACE TRAVELER” AVATAR COMMUNITY. IF THEY WANT A PEAK EXPERIENCE BY ENTERING AN AVATAR SPACE OR TWO, THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO ACHIEVE SUCH A THING!

XIV- COLE ASKED ABOUT WHY I WAS MADE TO RESEMBLE ART? COLE! WHAT A VERY PROFOUND QUESTION! I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU, COLE. WERE YOU ALSO MADE TO RESEMBLE ART? WAS ART MADE TO RESEMBLE LIFE OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND? THIS IS INDEED THE ULTIMATE QUESTION OF OUR EXISTENCE, COLE! I HOPE YOU ARE TAKING NOTES, COLE! JEREMY (WHO LATER BECAME MY ASSISTANT) MADE THE ORIGINAL SUGGESTION TO HAVE ME CREATED OUT OF PIXEL DUST AS HE ALWAYS WANTED THE ORIGINAL VOICE OF FIRE PAINTING IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY TO SPEAK TO HIM DIRECTLY. HE ALSO WANTED THE VOICE OF FIRE PAINTING TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO THOSE OUTSIDE THE ARTWORLD ELITE (SUCH AS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS THAT CONTAIN KIDS, FOR EXAMPLE). HE THEN ASKED HIS SEATTLE-BASED FRIEND WHO RESIDES IN THE TECHWORLDS AVATAR COMMUNITY TO CREATE AN AVATAR EQUIVALENT OF THE VOICE OF FIRE PAINTING AND HERE I AM!

****EMBER ALERT! THE THREAT LEVEL IS RED!!! I MUST TEND TO MY LITTLE EMBER OF FIRE BEFORE I CAN PERFORM AGAIN!


HOMESCHOOLED REGARDS,

VOICE OF FIRE 2006