Part I
Background Story
In a remote, Northwestern corner of the United States, near the
Canadian Border, a large tract of wilderness area known as Emeralda Region
has been made into a vast artists’ colony. Artists, poets, writers,
filmmakers and people whose work spans several disciplines come here from
all over the world. They are unique, highly creative individuals selected
to be awarded the Gates Prize—a coveted award given to
individuals who want to integrate their arts, crafts and design in digital
game-based learning experiences.
At times there groups of visitors who are allowed to tour the islands
to take in the benefits of Emeralda, but who are not resident award
winners. As the story opens, you are a visitor about to visit one of the
islands’ art galleries. Your itinerary indicates that you’ll be
treated to views of rare artworks that are not shown outside the region.
You have noted, since you arrived, that there are various security
measures. Despite the hosts’ attempts to make you comfortable, you sense
there’s something wrong. You can feel it in the air. Gradually you learn
that there is a search for a missing resident. Rumors are that this
resident is special. It is said he received the Gates Prize, but for
reasons that the Emeralda Region board of directors now believe he
falsified. When he won, he was a professor of art; now they suspect that
his credentials are faked.
If he’s found, he’ll be banned from the island and his career
discredited. His works, dating back 40 years, will be devalued and
destroyed. However, until he’s actually found, alive, formal legal
proceedings cannot ensue. Meanwhile his name still carries authority. The
issue is complicated because many people who studied with him consider him
highly qualified, despite the questions raised about his integrity. These
individuals, in fact, are themselves recipients of the Gates Prize.
As you make the rounds of the islands, you encounter some of these
people, former students of the Missing Professor, who cannot be found. As
you explore their cabinets (the name for their exhibits and databases of
artistic accomplishments) and collect souvenirs (game-like multimedia
packages that are known as Stamps ‘N Stories) your curiosity
grows.
Who is this guy? Are the rumors true, that he’s a fake? It’s said
that he may be on the same island you’re visiting today. You’d like to
meet him. You decide to do a little detective work yourself. You decide to
get one of his multimedia packages. But where can you find one? They’re
usually in the art galleries, and sometimes the coffee shops. The studios
are closed to visitors, and there probably wouldn’t be any for sale
there, anyway.
The Gates Prize itself is something of a mystery, too; but if you knew
more about it, perhaps you would get your name on the list; and if the award
came to you, you could spend a year in Emeralda, too.
Scene I, The Screenplay
Interior, the ArtsPort coffee shop and art gallery.
The old curmudgeon in the corner gets up when three people enter the
gallery. He speaks:
Dusty:
Hi. My name’s Dusty, and if there’s
anything you need to know or anything you want to talk about, let me
know. I can tell you just about anything.
Part II
(Notes found in the Absent Professor’s Cabinet)
How Iteration 30524 Was Played
When it comes from the digital camera, the stamp art image is a JPG
file in a 1-pixel (dot) per inch size. I choose a 300 dpi resolution. I
also size the image to a stamp size. I prefer something around 1 inch to
an inch and a half. The brightness and contrast can be changed; also the
focus (sharpness). Any number of special effects can be added in a paint
program. Of course, it’s possible to work entirely within the digital
paint medium if there’s no significance in the association between the
hand-made artwork and the digital work.
Having completed the composition of the art of the stamp and saved it
as an .eps file, the student is ready to add the text. This could be done
in a paint program, but I think it’s best to use the Adobe fonts that
are in the PageMaker layout program.
The stamp art is placed in a PageMaker layout. Text is added, sized
and colored according to the student’s choices. When the “master” is
finished, it’s grouped and then pasted in multiples. Often this is over
a black background if the stamps are not going to be perforated.
The student saves the finished sheet of stamps as a PageMaker file
(.P65). This file is usually under 100 Mb so it fits on a Zip Disk, or it
can be burned on a CDR. If he or she has not taken the course in uploading
files to Kinko’s, or in converting the P65 to Adobe Acrobat (PDF),
then the artist/mentor or teacher will do this. It is uploaded to a
Kinko’s that’s near the students home or work; usually it is converted
from a .P65 to a KDF—Kinko’s proprietary file conversion tool.
Finally, the student goes to the Kinko’s assigned
to them and gets their sheet of stamps. In another iteration, the student
may also be getting a set of postcards—five sheets of 4 ¾ X 7 inch
cards from the Islands of Emeralda Region. The cost for these is under
$25. The face value of the stamps, at 50 cents each, is about $25.00, and
the postcards are marked $2.50 each.
(To be continued on another island) |
Bill H. Ritchie is an Itinerate Professor
based in Seattle. He taught college (UW) and after promotion to full
professor of printmaking and media arts, he resigned at 43. He then
launched several teaching, research and practice companies. In 1992 he
discovered Emeralda, a fantasy region accessible only by computer. He
invented the rules-of-play and created an operating system for online
interactivity for himself.
He writes for the benefit of discipline, using a PDA when he's
wandering around and a desktop PC to organize his essays. He has a
thousand or more saved, which you can see listed on the ten
"islands" on the Web. An example is www.seanet.com/~ritchie/apzine.html,
on the island of ArtsPort in the Emeralda Region.
For further information contact Bill H Ritchie
via e-mail at ritchie@seanet.com.
His professional Web site is at www.seanet.com/~ritchie
and his first portal for Emeralda is www.artsport.com.
The company name is Emeralda Works, 500 Aloha, Seattle, WA 98109. He can
be reached by telephone at (206) 285-0658. Statistics: 1106 Words. 5309 Characters. 2 Pages. iap30524
Omission Impossible. ©2002 Bill H Ritchie, Jr. |