I have an avatar in 'Second Life' (that is me falling above). Having read quite a bit about this virtual world platform last year, I decided to enter it and am now wandering pretty aimlessly around the SL world as 'Gibon Loon' (on joining one can choose your own first name, but must choose a second name from those provided by SL). Gibon is an homage to the Zen priest-painter Sengai Gibon, who I wrote about for my Masters thesis a long time ago - I thought it would be rather apt to take the name of a Zen priest, after all someone who remains aware of, in and with the illusions of living.
It is a remarkable experience to first enter Second Life. My initial communication through chatting with other 'Lifers' was something of a shock, although one soon becomes used to this. I have some limited experience with role-playing games, so I have found the character aspects of the experience quite easy. I have visited a number of shops, museums and moungtain ranges, flown at will, tried unsuccessfully to build replicas of Donald Judd sculptures and even been temporarily caged by some not very friendly person (but was kindly un-caged by a very kind person). At the moment I enjoy finding secluded mountain tops to sit on.
I have also been researching art in SL and discovered a number of interesting initiatives - 'Gala Night of the Cannibals' a reenactment of a Picabia action in SL by Hinrich Sachs and an exhibition called 'The 13 Most Beautiful Avatars' by Eva and Franco Mattes. The obvious question is who and when will organise the first Biennale in Second Life? I think this could be interesting, but will require considerable lateral thinking from participating artists and curators, as well as some funds for programming etc. How would funders react to an application for a project in SL? I would like to try to find out.
Have you heard the rumor that Second Life is going to stop the immigration - no new avatars/residents accepted?
Posted by: Riiko | March 15, 2007 at 07:42 PM