Of all of the spaces that will be part of the maker faire, the Dark Stage is the focus of a specific make. We have recreated it as an interior on MakerSim. Mixing reality is a multi modal idea. What is literal at once seduces and distracts.
MakerSim: Ontos and Hephaestus in the 3Rd Rock Grid running on OpenSim.
A Make Cycle resembles a fibonacci fractal more than a road. And the map is mythopoetic. Humans as myth makers. The Maker Myth is the the journey to MakerSim. After Hephaestus is thrown from Olympus for defending Athena, he re emerges Husband to Aphrodite, a cripple and the ultimate maker, appearing on a chariot. In this re telling of the tale, Hephaestus falls into Lemnos and emerges from a volcano to be transported to Shelburne, Vermont and the spectacular Coach Barn.
Going through a series of maker stations, finally Hephaestus finds the Sky box of MakerSim, sees the entire simulator (has the revelation of flight), and falls again into a volcano, repeating the journey. And though the tale features a male protagonist, the role of the feminine is equally as essential and insightful into the nature of making. This is a cycle, and the myth of eternal return. I wonder about what I can learn from these ancient stories of makers, and how it connects to the present, the future? Myths hold secrets as we re discover who we are. They need to be remade. The ultimate remix. MakerSim is the Virtual MakerSpace I created to accompany the Champlain Mini Maker Faire. Organized as a social network using spruz.com. The idea is to provide a persistent virtual environment to build a network around the event for the Makers. I have some other synthesis occurring with this event. It will be the focus of a class I am teaching in the fall:Intro to 3D Design. The students will be makers virtually, and hosts of the machinima. As a mixed reality event it will occur both actually on September 28th and 29th in a real place, but simultaneously and for a little bit longer, it will persist as a virtual space, a learning environment, MakerSim. I'm looking for a blended learning environment, that captures the rich, unique diversity of place with the affordances of the internet. Maker Faires and MakerSpaces provide opportunities for this kind of activity. But there is more here. I can't quire figure out how to get to it. But it is about access to Maker Faires for anyone, anywhere. In some way. Start somewhere. why not here? So I hope to work with some learner's with access issues, who can only participate virtually, or primarily. Once we open this up to a connected internet anyone can attend in some capacity. And as we enhance our ability to mix and blend reality, the greater and more immersed the virtual participation will be. It is here that the greater the diversity, the greater the potential for innovation and catharsis. I have been participating in the #clmooc as part of 'A Massive Open Online Collaboration about Connected Learning' that the National Writing Project is facilitating. One of the most exciting aspects of the Maker Movement is its emergent bottom up nature. In this sense it does act in some ways like a self organizing learning environment, rhizomic learning, as Dave Cormier envisions the cmooc. The many prompts that the team at #clmooc facilitates are excellent places to begin. LOL. I suppose this is one way I learn. Though I do find the make cycles a bit tight in terms of a time frame. If I make one vision even partially manifest in the course of a year I would be delighted! And to make one real connection with another person would also be incredibly valuable. The vision that has been cycling around me is that of a virtual makerspace. I am taking this mooc as a way to develop and explore this idea, piggy backing on the wonderful energy that the others in the mooc are exuding, eager to share and learn.Through my own experiences in 'makerspaces', and I use this name very broadly, I have wondered about accessibility and equity. I observe both that it tends to attract people who would not normally be interested in making and connections to STEM subjects, yet excludes them because of physical access. I started thinking about what a virtual makerspace would be, and how it could be universally accessible. OpenSim is a virtual Makerspace. Here there was space to dream and create. It is a space to collaborate. Yet the deep past called to me with names and sounds. I dreamed of Hephestus. The god is enabled. MakerSim was created, Ontos and Hephestus. They can be found on the 3rd Rock Grid. Hephestus returns from exile on the chariot he made, winged, though crippled The Maker has long been a god, and the myths that surround him have tantalizing connections to the maker movement today. There are deep insights into our nature in this image and tale. Not all of it savory. Here is the info on this image: K7.6 THE RETURN OF HEPHAISTOS Museum Collection: (not known where), Berlin, Germany Catalogue Number: Berlin F2273 Beazley Archive Number: 201595 Ware: Attic Red Figure Shape: Kylix Painter: Attributed to the Ambrosios Painter Date: ca 525 BC Period: Archaic This god's connection to Aphrodite, his parthenogenesis and his crippled and ugly appearance, seem to suggest something more universal in his aspect of creator. It makes sense to me that in the ancient world people who were different or challenged in some way, would not be going off to war, or the fields farming-- but likely they would be making. Although a powerful masculine figure, not all cultures identified these characteristics as exclusively male. For example in Celtic mythology the aspects of creation and fire are feminine, the goddess is named, "BRIGIT (Breet) / BRID (Breed) / BRIG / BRIGID / BRIGHID ((Ireland, Wales, Spain, France)) *goddess*" Associated with Imbloc. Goddess of fire, fertility, the hearth, all feminine arts and crafts and martial arts. Healing, physicians, agriculture, inspiration, learning, poetry, divination, prophecy, smithcraft, animal husbandry, love, witchcraft, occult knowledge. or, "SCATHACH / SCOTA/ SCATHA ((Ireland)) *Goddess* The shadowy one. Goddess in the destroyer aspect. A warrior woman and prophetess who lived in Albion (Scotland), probably on the Isle of Skye and taught the martial arts. Patroness of blacksmiths, healing, magick, prophecy, martials arts." In Chinese mythology, "Nüwa is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven. "Nüwa used yellow clay to make people. But the clay was not strong enough so she put ropes into the clay to make the bodies erect." I found this very interesting video about making and the disabled by Meryl Apel transcribed here on the HASTAC site entitled Making Space in the Makerspace: Building a Mixed-Ability Maker Culture. |