The Virtual Reality Fine Art Program and Collection
A BRONX VIRTUAL PAINTING
By Tom Christopher
Tom Christopher
It Was My Sixth Grade Teacher, But When I Looked Up Again, She Was Gone. Maybe Forever This Time, 2016
Acrylic on canvas
Past Work by Artist Commissioned to Create First VR Fine Art Experience for Montefiore Medical Center
The Virtual Reality Fine Art Program
VRFA at Montefiore seeks to diminish anxiety, pain and opioid addition through stimulus-rich and curated artistic environments. Several specialties including sickle cell, rehabilitation, bone marrow transplant, and even simple injections often come with a varying degree of pain and other side effects. The opportunity for physicians and therapists to provide a simple google cardboard with a library of artistic VR experiences could change how patients react to medicine for life.
This new concept asks artists of all media to create artwork solely in virtual reality. To do this, the VRFA Program is partnering with various academic institutions and media labs to allow artists to experiment with tools such as Tiltbrush (www.tiltbrush.com) and work alongside students to make artwork in the 4th dimension and for the benefit of healthcare. THE VRFA program also offers portable equipment to allow artists to work in their own studios to further maintain a fine art aesthetic.
The overall success and primary objective of this program is to prove the effectiveness of virtual reality experiences to decrease patient anxiety and opioid use as compared to other activity options for the patient. To do this, we are working with state-of-the-art equipment that can read a patient’s neuro-responses i.e. thoughts to prove that VR is successful in impacting patient experience during treatment and beyond. In time, we hope these experiences will also begin to impact larger issues in healthcare such as the heroin epidemic sweeping the country.
A Bronx Virtual Painting
By Tom Christopher
Tom Christopher
Still from A Bronx Virtual Painting
Tiltbrush VR Application, HTC Vive Headset, and MSI Computer
Inspiration for a Bronx Virtual Painting
The Work of Tom Christopher and New York City
A Project Begins: Original Drawings
Fordham Road, The Bronx
June/July 2017
Editing and Sorting of Images for VR Experience
Special Thanks to the Fashion Institute of Technology Interns!
Tom Christopher Studio, Westchester
Site Images
Photographs by Tom Christopher and Students of the Fordham Road Area Near the 4 Train
Painting in Google Tiltbrush VR
Tom Christopher Studio and FIT Media Laboratory
A Bronx Virtual Reality Painting
Current Progress
"The rough style and semi abstract backgrounds are a result of the limitations of Tilt Brush. But it fits a gestural way of painting. Tilt Brush tries to emulate oil paint in some tools. In my opinion they should not. The accidents and characteristics of the system has it’s own beauty. You don’t need to reproduce the drips and scumbling you would see in oil. Vr has it’s own distinctive look. Not unlike sculpting with a chainsaw." - Tom Christopher, Artist
A Special Thanks to:
Tom Christopher, Artist
Olivia Davis, Project Manager and Assistant Curator, The Montefiore Fine Art Program
Jodi Moise, Curator, The Montefiore Fine Art Program and Collection
David Beach, Associate Professor of Architecture, Drury University
Patrick Denny, Media Specialist
Thomas McManus, Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology
Joel Werring, Chair, Fine Arts Department, Fashion Institute of Technology
James Pearce, Technology Department, Fashion Institute of Technology
Joseph Irizarry, Pilot Internship Program, Fashion Institute of Technology
Stephanie Held, Pilot Internship Program, Fashion Institute of Technology
Alaa AlRadwan, Architect and Co-Founder, ToGo Creations
Jessica Snyder, Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center and Co-Founder, ToGo Creations