The Philadelphia hive at Drexel University turns toward virtual reality, moving from research reviews to hands on immersive art making and a live 360 transmission from Colorado.
Philadelphia welcome
Natalie Carlton, associate clinical professor in the Drexel University creative arts therapies and counseling department, opens the Philadelphia hive with a short video poem about the city.
Natalie Carlton, PhD, ATR BC, LPCC
Mindfulness in virtual reality
The presentation explores the viability of virtual reality as a tool to learn mindfulness meditation for counsellors in training. The presenters review mindfulness and meditation software applications with video clips and images seen through the eyes of the virtual reality user, and explore technical specifications, advantages, disadvantages and limitations.
Abby Dougherty, PhD, NCC, LPC, assistant clinical professor and counseling curriculum coordinator for the creative arts therapies and counseling programme at Drexel University. Contact: ad3457 at drexel dot edu
Virtual reality art therapy, part one: what makes a good virtual reality art making app
In the short time that affordable consumer virtual reality has been available, several expressive and well featured virtual reality art making apps have emerged. Having created with and explored many of these tools, the presenter distils what makes a compelling and creative tool for art making and art therapy. Learn the qualities that make up a good virtual reality art app.
Jeff Lohrius, MA, art therapist. Jeff runs courses that mentor art therapists in virtual reality art making tools and their therapeutic potential at jefflohrius.com.
Roll camera, camera role: participatory video and the tenets of art therapy
The presentation addresses the practice of participatory video both globally and locally, drawing on the presenter's own work as a participatory video facilitator and filmmaker while sharing the work of other practitioners and researchers. After an outline of participatory video practice and video clips, the presentation explores the parallels and potential crossover to work as an art therapist.
Daniel Lanctot, MAAT, art therapist, filmmaker and musician
VROOM: virtual reality odyssey of multimedia
VROOM is a collective multimodal arts based project formed by creative arts therapies and counseling graduate students at Drexel University. Through a virtual reality application, a green screen and an abundance of instruments, students engaged in a real time conversation expressed through their modality, and followed the experience with a round table discussion.
Participants: Arisa Chan, Christiana Son, Eliot Klein, Farhana Ferdous and Sara Doane
Embodied experiences of painting in virtual reality
Preliminary findings from an arts based heuristic inquiry into art making in virtual reality are shared in this live presentation. The study explores phenomena emerging from embodied art making experiences, which are sensorial, kinesthetic, aesthetic, cognitive and affective, over time. A virtual reality painting programme is used to create virtual paintings, with the aim of gaining insight into factors that contribute to or detract from potential therapeutic art making within virtual reality.
Katrina Carroll Haskins, MA, art therapist and Drexel PhD student. Contact: kla67 at drexel dot edu
Virtual reality art therapy, part two: therapeutic qualities of virtual reality
When using virtual reality tools for therapeutic engagement, certain characteristics stand out as unique because of the properties that emerge from being in virtual reality. Identifying these attributes allows the art therapist to leverage and consciously create conditions and directives that play to the strengths of virtual reality. This presentation builds on the qualities explored in part one.
Jeff Lohrius, MA, art therapist
Strategies of resistance and aesthetics of ascension
A live content transmission from Boulder, Colorado, part of the Philadelphia hive program. Presented in 360 video, the work uses sound and vision as a platform of resistance and activism.
Shawn Trenell O'Neal, doctoral candidate in ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder; William Murphy, guitarist and member of Itchy O; Burke Miles, visual artist and videographer; with vocalists Amber Edwards and Cleopatra Daniels. A founding member of the High Mayhem Emerging Arts Collective, see highmayhem.org. Contact: shawn.oneal at colorado dot edu
Q&A and closing
Questions, answers and closing of the Philadelphia hive.
Drexel University
On to Vancouver
The broadcast moves north for two hours on Internet art therapy and the tools behind online therapy groups.