What was supposed to be a cinema and media studies course to create virtual reality films on the Philadelphia Museum of Art collections became individual films by the students about the realities and connections to the pieces they researched.
Instead of creating a virtual reality film about the Japanese teahouse in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) for her cinema and media studies class, Penn student Jean Chapirocreated a tea ceremony in her own house in Mexico City and a documentary film about what she was experiencing during the pandemic.
The teaching team had to recast the experience, taking into account the course goals, curriculum, syllabus, work that had already been completed, and what the students could reasonably accomplish from home.
“We turned the assignment inward to create a work of personal expression. Before the shutdown, we focused more on the VR aspect of the projects, showing place or context. After moving online, the context became their own individuality and what that object means to them,” Schwartz says. “I’m amazed at what they did—very powerful stuff.”
See the full story here: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/reality-replaces-virtual-reality-philadelphia-art-museum