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SECOR GALLERY PRESENTS EXHIBITION OF DIGITAL & INSTALLATION ART

Exhibition Features Toledo Area Artists: Fred Leighton and Fontana

February 7th marked the opening of an exhibit of new artworks at The Secor Gallery located at 425 Jefferson Avenue Toledo, Ohio, 43604, across from the newly constructed Lucas County Arena. The exhibition features the artworks of artists Fred Leighton and the collaborative husband-wife team of Anthony and Sandra Fontana, simply called Fontana. The opening reception was held on Saturday, February 7th from 6-9pm. On display until Saturday, February 21st, this show features installation art, machinima animation, and digital prints. (Check this blog again for the full machinima).

The Secret of Bigfoot Pass

In The Secret of Bigfoot Pass, Fred Leighton has created a large cube comprised of plexiglass, fiber and computer-controlled LED lights along with several digital 3D analygraphic printed images. The title of the work refers to the 1976 TV show and paperback of the same name featuring the Six Million Dollar Man character, Steve Austin. In the story, the legend of Sasquatch is explained as a cyborg created by Alien explorers. Half-man, half-machine himself, Steve Austin confronts Bigfoot and the extra-terrestrials. In this group of works, the artists explores the significance of these characters and the popularity of the themes and subject matter in mid 1970s America, a fascination that continues to today.

Fred Leighton was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1965. He holds a BA from The University of Michigan where he majored in History of Art and an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design where he studied Interactive Design and Game Development. As Developer and Producer, Leighton has been recognized by HOW, PRINT, WIRED, and Mac Art & Design for his creativity in developing interactive media projects for subjects including artists Rev. Howard Finster and Joe Coleman. Leighton uses physical computing, interactive installation, digital images and sound, online interactivity, and game design to create interactive artworks. Fred Leighton is currently an Instructor in Visual Communications Technology at Bowling Green State University.

We Are Avatars

Since 2005, Fontana has been investigating virtual identities in online social platforms, their economies, and the ways in which relationships are represented in digital forms. In this body of work the Fontana's collaborative search for distinct ways of documenting their avatar's experiences and memories can be seen through blended reality installations, altered avatar representations, and machinima animations. Through their artworks, Fontana's search begins with their digital documentation of their daily lives on social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, extends through their alternate, imagined, and "real" personas in virtual worlds such as Second Life, and burgeons forth into a space where viewers are able to question the paradox: "Is the virtual real?"

Anthony Fontana has been exhibiting artworks in and about online virtual worlds since 2005 and began creating machinima animaitons using the virtual world of Second Life in 2007 as a way to tell stories connected to humans, yet beyond the experiences of one's own body. He earned an MFA in Painting from Northern Illinois University in 2004 and a BFA in painting from the Columbus College of Art and Design in 2001. Sandra Fontana has worked as a professional photographer and homemaker for the last 7 years. She has toured the country shooting beauty pageants, school portraits, and often using her own children as subjects. Her favorite subject has always been herself, shooting several hundred self-portraits over the last decade. In 2001, Sandra earned a BFA in Photography from the Columbus College of Art and Design.

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If you would like to schedule a visit to the gallery or need more information about the exhibition or artists please contact Fred Leighton at fred@artsdigital.com, visit www.ArtsDigital.com, or www.AnthonyFontana.com.

A few months ago I presented at a comic conference in Second Life. Check out the article and mention here:
http://www.comicbookbin.com/SecondLife004.html

"Anthony Fontana discussed the challenges of using Second Life to market comics, an activity which Fontana has pioneered and which is still very much in its infancy."

I was using the service at LoudTwitter.com to broadcast my tweets into a blog post here and in my Notes on Facebook but... I'm just not sure that's an effective use of Twitter. Seems to just make a lot of "Loud" noise on the blog and FB.

• 13:18 Watching the Browns (lose) w/ my Dad. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter

• 11:40 Having a lazy day! Showing Apple WWE wrestling for the 1st time. She loves it! #
• 13:28 Playing a Wii curling tournament with the girls. Sandy thinks she's a pro. Its on! #
• 08:21 Kids feeling better today. Heading to Cleveland for ice capades (girls) & Browns game (boys). Very gender specific today, I guess #
• 08:24 The lady at McDonalds says "You can't order a water from this window due to our new beverage system." Wonderful technology! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter

• 12:51 Finishing a report. It just never ends. #
• 13:44 Headed to the Secor Gallery to plan our two person show in Feb w/ Fred Leighton #
• 14:53 twitpic.com/tyig - Check out this huge space & great windows! #
• 17:50 twitpic.com/u0i3 - on our way to lights at the Toledo zoo #
• 18:46 12seconds - Lights at the Zoo tiny12.tv/HF78C #
• 10:52 Fixing kids furniture & wondering if my handy Grandfathers could fix such poorly made chipboard junk! Maybe that's why they built everything #
• 11:06 12seconds - Hanging with my buddy tiny12.tv/GH33D #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter

• 13:54 Wondering why everything has to be so difficult today. Where's the positive side?! #
• 16:05 Well i've been lookin real hard And i'm tryin' to find a job But it just keeps gettin tougher every day But i got to do my part cause... #
• 16:47 12seconds - Driving home to some new jams tiny12.tv/9EQSQ #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter

• 11:54 I'm finally done grading!! Missed a deadline for a job I don't qualify for today (oh well). #
• 16:11 I am done with classes this semester!! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter

• 13:13 Meeting hopping until 5. Dreading the walk across campus - It's SUPER windy cold out today! #
• 13:14 @rikomatic Use Ustream.tv or Mogulus.com. Both will allow you to add content and then stream it to a webpage (totally free) #
• 15:35 Waiting for the other Velks to get to the lodge... #
• 17:49 Heading to final #1 of 2. Handing out grades & saying goodbye #
• 19:09 I can't believe the Browns are on Monday night AGAIN! Next appearance: 2012 #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter

• 11:38 12seconds - At Chucky Cheese for Apple's Bday party! tiny12.tv/MVBVP #
• 11:48 @Intellagirl Congrats! That kind of news is always the best #
• 16:18 Grading, grading, and more grading. And oh... watching (not really) the Steelers vs. Ravens. #
• 18:41 Done grading for today. Need to fall asleep to a bad movie. This weekend is over (and it was awesome!)! #
• 11:09 I think Santa Claus represents the first true virtual identity #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter from Anthony's Twitter