Anthony Fontana is an Instructor of Art and Learning Technologies Consultant at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. As an educator, he is very interested in web 2.0 applications and modes of communication that combine with educational course management technologies to optimize learning outcomes by providing channels of content transfer most familiar to the student; something he calls "The Multichronic Classroom". His research focuses on immersive learning environments such as Second Life and the way in which students engage in socially motivated peer production. As an artist, he has exhibited machinima and other artworks made in Second Life throughout the Midwest and in the virtual world.

His current work focuses on the narratives and relationship between himself and his avatar, or the virtual representation of himself. He has recently begun working on a series of machinima animations, images, and installation works with his wife, Sandra, as a collaborative team simply called "Fontana". Together, they are working on a series of stories that examines their individual and shared personalities in virtual space.

Creative and Scholarly Research Philosophy
One common thread, found in all of my artworks since 2005, is the representation of myself as a key visual and conceptual figure in the work. In my graphic novel THE DOGS, I used myself for a model of the character: James. In the animation “Machinima Paradiso”, which was video captured using the virtual world Second Life, my avatar transforms from a visually accurate representation of myself to a work of art and a singular entity himself.

As one whose work has always been focused on narrative and not one particular medium in general, I believe in the power of storytelling. Stories enrich our lives daily, whether through news, entertainment, anecdote or personal history. My research looks at how little visual information is needed to construct compelling narratives; especially in a digital context. At what point does the viewer engage in a willing suspension of disbelief? When does the immersion into another reality happen?

Since most of my childhood was spent reading comic books, my work often focuses on symbols of cartoon expression, incorporating themes of violence, sexual fetishism, gaming, pop culture and subculture. These other elements often go beyond transgressive boundaries to question the viewer’s relationship to the culture and society they live in. I feel that meaningful artwork coalesces from the synergy or convergence of the viewer’s life experience, their culture, and the narrative they have just engaged.

Being an artist it may sound odd that I hold the story in highest regard, even over the visual representations that they may take. I feel strongly connected to the history of the sequential visual narrative - the comic book, the graphic novel - and whatever digital future they may yet find. I believe my research will help guide this artfrom into new and creative areas of fruition, be it in virtual, cyber, or transmedia spaces.

My scholarly research, both pedagogical and creative, looks at emerging online communication tools known as web 2.0, of which virtual environments will play a crucial role. This expanding field of study has led presentations in 2008 at CAA in Dallas and the Pop Culture Association and American Culture Association National Conference in San Francisco. The Polychronic Classroom is the subject of my presentation at CAA and looks closely at the emerging combination of online applications and modes of communication (both synchronous and asynchronous) with educational course management technologies as well as real and virtual learning environments that optimize learning outcomes by providing channels of content transfer most familiar to the student. At PCA, I presented on virtual role-play as a form of performance art and its affect on immersive online culture.

Machinima

Machinima, or "machine cinema", is an animation technique whereby computer-generated imagery is rendered using a real-time, interactive 3D engine, such as Second Life. In "Machinima Paradiso", I examine the relationship of my avatar, or virtual representation, with my three dimensional creation (n00b) as a dynamically charged experience of creation, exploration, imagination, and metamorphosis.

In the beginning of this work, my avatar takes on my real life appearance. However, after he imagines one of his two dimensional images as a 3 dimensional form, issues of virtuality arise. In a virtual space where the work of art is as authentic to the envrionment as the audience itself, where lies the boundry between art and life? As my avatar and his creation pursue these answers they are transformed by the possibilities that lie ahead. By the end, my avatar has become a work of art himself and his creation has found new life as an artwork; in a machinima.

Graphic Novel

I am currently seeking a publisher for my first original graphic novel.
THE DOGS tale tells of four Cleveland cops that wear dog disguises during brutal acts of vigilanteism. When they inadvertently cross the line with a gang of Furries, a subculture that gains pleasure from wearing fursuits, a gang war erupts leaving one from each warring faction to experience love forbidden by loyalty, one dog, the other furry. In the end, only one gang will survive.
 

Second Life

Currently, I am the co-administrator of the Bowling Green State University Virtual Campus in Second Life and co-facilitator of a Learning Community that focueses on pedagogy and scholarship in the virtual world. For more information on this project visit www.bgsu.edu/Secondlife.

Since 2005 I have been exploring the Second Life virtual world, with much optimism and enthusiasm towards utilizing this platform for art presentation, creation, and education. In 2007, I have exhibited art works in-world with much success, participating in a group show at the A-List Gallery, contributing a 'Site-specific comic' to the New Media Consortium's first Second Life art symosium: NMC Connect, and having my first Second Life solo show at The Heldscalla Foundation in May, 2007.

Find me in SL as AnthonyFontana Chevalier.

Past work

My past series of digital works have juxtaposed the cartoon image against intensely mature themes provided by digitally manipulated photographs, computer screenshots, and experimental photography using low-res digital cameras. The sometimes overtly sexual nature of the images challenges the viewer’s sensibilities and confronts their expectations of the cartoon being marginalized as merely someting childlike. These works led me back to my passion for the comics medium and the creation of my own graphic novel.

History of FontanaArts.com
While in Graduate School, I started a Committee for the Graduate Group Exhibition at Northern Illinois University. This committee planned and installed an annual show as well as organized fundraising events. In my last year as chairman and head curator, we invited Aron Packer from the Aron Packer Gallery in Chicago to jury a brochure for the exhibition, of which over two thousand color copies were printed and mailed out. Since then, I have pursued my interest in exhibiting art using the Internet. 

Between 2003-2005 FontanaArts.com hosted 11 online exhibitions of various artists including printmakers, photographers, sculptors, illustrators, and painters. The site functioned as a way for emerging artists to network, exhibit art, and find gallery representation. As of January 2007 the Fontana Arts website is no longer avialable.