Minecraft ReaganSize: 115 blocks W, 130 blocks L & 20 blocks H
Medium: Digital Model, Block build June 2020 "Minecraft Reagan" is a virtual block build created in the game Minecraft in an attempt to rebuild Ronald Reagan HS in the game, to-scale and with great detail. It was created to show not only that a game can produce art as well, but also to show growth in art and continuation with work during the quarantine of the Corona virus outbreak. I was inspired by a group known as BlockWorks. Its a group of real-life architects and designers that use Minecraft as a learning platform and idea communication software. |
^The virtual tour can be found here^
Inspiration and Reasoning Behind Creation
During the midst of our extended Covid-19 summer break, I got back into a game I hadn't played in months, Minecraft. I am very experienced in the game as I've played it for most of my life on and off. In one of the three game modes to play in, creative mode gives the most creative freedom as you can essentially build to your hearts content. So, to occupy myself during the covid quarantine, I began building Reagan, first as something more of a joke, but soon morphing into something that gained a lot of positive attention. Over the course of a week, I built Reagan nearly to-scale, including all the rooms and all the way down to the fine detail of plates on the lunch tables and cobwebs in the corners. It grew some popularity on Facebook and YouTube and was quick to be loved by students and staff alike. What brought me to build Reagan in the first place, was a group I stumbled upon known as BlockWorks. Its a group of real-life architects and designers that use minecraft as a learning platform and idea communication software. They have worked with museums and galleries to make minecraft builds into animations as a visual language that people of all ages can grasp. It consists of around 60 individuals from different parts of the world working to bring the fun of gaming into art. I found their work to be very realistic because it was built to-scale and this made it visually appealing and interesting to me. I wanted to see if I could achieve this level of realism in my own builds.
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Planning
Though there was not a whole lot of planning as this was somewhat of a random build I began for fun, I did do some math to figure out approximate length and size of the school. A block in minecraft translates to roughly 2-3 feet. It was hard to do this conversion not knowing the actual size of the school or classrooms, but essentially I counted the amount of classrooms in a hallway or wing, and accounted each room for around 10-15 blocks long. I then just made some rough sketches of each floor and the class layout, and noted some small details to add. I made myself a little legend (not pictured) to note where the bathrooms, stairwells, doors and water fountains were. The stairs are the zig-zags, droplets are water fountains, bathrooms are the three wavy lines, and the doors are the arrows.
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Building Process
Once I made some rough sketches of the layout, I began by building the frame. Our school is a bit off level, as the first floor is ground level in the front, and the second floor is ground level at the back. So there is a bit of unused space underneath the back of the school. Once I had the initial floor plan laid out, I continued moving on up. I built all the outer walls first, followed by the courtyard so I could get my bearings of the inner space better. I then began with the classroom layout, and adding the walls separating each of the different rooms. I did find that some of the classes were disproportionate, and there were a few rooms that were smaller than anticipated. I also had to relocate a room or two because I underestimated the size of a few rooms, so I had to move them across the hall. I may have missed a few small closets and offices here and there, but the idea was there. This ended up not mattering a whole lot, because these were rooms I had never been in myself, like storage closets and janitor rooms and such, so I wasn't too worried about the interior. I started with the more common details; the things that were present in every room like the tables, chairs and smartboards. Then on to the large common areas ie. the gym, library, courtyard, lunchroom, auditorium, followed by the hallways and bathrooms. I found the most joy in customizing every room, giving it its own personality. I made them as accurate as possible, spending more time on the rooms I had actually been to on a regular basis. I did end up free-styling a few rooms I had never been in, or only seen in passing. I added the names of each teacher and room number on the outside of their door, the bells in the halls, the posters on the in and outside of the school, and the plants in the courtyard and in front of the school, which really pulled everything together.
Compare/Contrast
Similarities
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Reflection
This was one of the most fun projects I've done. I really enjoy being able to bring art into a game I love and play on a normal basis. I was also so pleased at the amazing reaction it got from all the staff and students at Reagan. As I mentioned before, I didn't create a whole lot of planning for this other than dimensions, which allowed for a lot of creative freedom as far as the materials and blocks I used to build the interior of the school. Overall I do think that that was a nicer way of doing things as well, as I changed the look of tables and chairs and such according to the classroom.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork...
I found that in my inspiration attention to detail was highly looked upon and important, so in my final product I used a lot of detail and accuracy.
What is the overall Point of view the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The creators of the Blockworks creations saw their builds as learning points and a way to communicate ideas, as I wanted to achieve this as well.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The small details of a large-scale project mean just as much to the final product as the large aspects.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to make something that showed people that games can be incorporated into art and vice versa.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had never considered the viewpoints of other people, and how seeing a place they have too been in virtually, would be of high interest and popularity to them.
I found that in my inspiration attention to detail was highly looked upon and important, so in my final product I used a lot of detail and accuracy.
What is the overall Point of view the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The creators of the Blockworks creations saw their builds as learning points and a way to communicate ideas, as I wanted to achieve this as well.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The small details of a large-scale project mean just as much to the final product as the large aspects.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to make something that showed people that games can be incorporated into art and vice versa.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had never considered the viewpoints of other people, and how seeing a place they have too been in virtually, would be of high interest and popularity to them.
Sources
Images
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6TwhlHG0Yw
BlockWorks. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.blockworks.uk/
Websites
BlockWorks. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.blockworks.uk/
Minecraft Architecture: What Architects Can Learn From a Video Game. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/minecraft-architecture/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6TwhlHG0Yw
BlockWorks. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.blockworks.uk/
Websites
BlockWorks. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.blockworks.uk/
Minecraft Architecture: What Architects Can Learn From a Video Game. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/minecraft-architecture/