Dreaming Community: Immersive 3D World Building in New Art City

with hiba ali
ART & TECH 606 001 | 3 credits
June 2–15, 10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET/9:00–11:30 a.m. CT

Dreams have the ability to activate our imagination. In this class we start with dreams as an inspiration point, and translate them via a collective 3D collage in New Art City, a 3D interactive platform. Demonstrations will prepare students to use 3D objects, images, and soundscapes to create a collective dreamland. We will use software including Blender, GIFs, and Bandlab to build an immersive collective collage on New Art City. Inspired by the work of Annika Hansteen-Izora, Tabitha Rezaire, Ruha Benjamin, and Mariame Kaba, in dreaming with community, we will create a digital portal of inspiration and activate our collective imagination. We will screen Tabitha Rezaire, Neema Githere, Merriam Bennani, Amina Ross, and Hito Steyerl's video work and discuss them. We will read chapters from We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (2021) by Mariame Kaba, "Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (2022) by Ruha Benjamin and I Will Survive (2021) by Hito Steyerl. Assignments will invite students to locate their sense of comfort online, and arrange images, 3D objects and text, and sounds to translate those feelings into a space of virtual relaxation. Students will present a final project to the group. Students should supply a laptop with Blender software installed and create an account in New Art City (links will be provided upon enrollment). This class is open to students of all levels.

hiba ali (they/them) is a producer of moving images, sounds, garments and words. they use principles of game design, 3d animation, and immersive installations to create liminal spaces where they engage in world building, storytelling, and digital poesis. in their practice, this term means a way to call forth more loving and healing into our world. they use virtual reality, 3d animation, and augmented reality to slow down time and create portals of solace and care. they are an assistant professor at the college of design in the art & technology program at the university of oregon in eugene and they teach on decolonial, feminist, anti-racist frameworks in digital art pedagogies. their work has been presented in chicago, stockholm, vienna, berlin, toronto, new york, istanbul, são paulo, detroit, windsor, dubai, austin, vancouver, and portland.

Singing to Ourselves: Animating 3D Characters

with hiba ali
ATSP 607 001 | 3 credits
June 16–29, 2025, 10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET/9:00–11:30 a.m. CT 

How can we create digital stories through characters? In this class, we'll be using the 3D software Blender and the Face Cap app to animate 3D characters. We will model and rig our characters and have them speak. Along the way, we'll use rendering to build a sense of digital animation workflows. We will look at Meriem Bennani's 2 Lizards, Morehshin Allahyari's She Who Sees the Unknown, and Tabita Rezaire's Ultra Wet Recapitulation, as well as our favorite cartoons. Our gait expresses our personality and place in the world. In an assignment, students will consider how their character walks and moves. They will create an animation cycle that expresses their character’s personality and write a 250-word reflection on how they interpreted the character's walk. The class will culminate in a presentation of animated characters that move, sing, and speak. Students will be provided with access to the Face Cap app but should have their own access to Adobe.

hiba ali (they/them) is a producer of moving images, sounds, garments and words. they use principles of game design, 3d animation, and immersive installations to create liminal spaces where they engage in world building, storytelling, and digital poesis. in their practice, this term means a way to call forth more loving and healing into our world. they use virtual reality, 3d animation, and augmented reality to slow down time and create portals of solace and care. they are an assistant professor at the college of design in the art & technology program at the university of oregon in eugene and they teach on decolonial, feminist, anti-racist frameworks in digital art pedagogies. their work has been presented in chicago, stockholm, vienna, berlin, toronto, new york, istanbul, são paulo, detroit, windsor, dubai, austin, vancouver, and portland.