Britta Pollmuller joined Second Life two months ago and she already has an online exhibition of her first life paintings in a skybox gallery. Britta is a former art teacher who is studying for a MPhil/PhD at Norwich School of Art and Design (Andrew is co-supervising). Britta’s research involves animation in education and its potential impact on learning, creativity and literacy.
Britta kindly offered to take me (Diane) on a introductory tour of SL galleries.
We started at the group show in the skybox where Britta was showing some pictures. We then teleported over to Virtual Starry Night, the Van Gogh museum (where I got lost and found a few times) and then moved to the institutionally-scaled VMOA.
Based on these brief visits it’s easy to imagine how SL might be useful to art teachers, especially as an alternative to conventional textbooks (are textbooks still used in art lessons?). The images look great, and they are beautifully presented. For art educators, the replication of first-life/real life conventions might also be interesting – from group shows in independent or little commercial galleries, to the high-status-with-a-high-ceiling solo-show, to the venerable museum. In each instance, the shows involved work that was produced in first life/real life (paintings, drawings) and scanned into Second Life.
There’s other work out there (installations, video art stuff) and Britta will be adding some ‘landmarks’ and links to this post (see comments). I’m not sure yet how or if these practices intersect with more SL-specific creative practices (from avatar personalisation, building and scripting, to er…’creative interventions’ like grief play…)
Thanks to Britta, and here are the addresses from Britta’s Introductory Tour to Art in Second Life:
SIM 2.0 Art Gallery – Free Space, SINNIQ SIM 01 (165, 24, 23)
Virtual Starry Night – Vincent’s, Luctesa (50, 210, 66)
VMOA, VMOA (150, 75, 27)
Image from a visit to VMOA during the Gottfried Helnwein exhibition.
May 30, 2007 at 4:22 pm
And on a related note –
The Australia Council for the Arts is offering up to $20,000 for a collaborative artist residency in the virtual world of Second Life. The aim of the residency is to offer Australian artists and writers the opportunity to creatively and critically explore new interactive, virtual platforms.
The residency allows for a collaborative team of up to three people (including a writer, musician/sound artist and digital visual media practitioner) to develop inter-disciplinary artwork in Second Life.
More information at: http://www.ozco.gov.au/grants/grants_new_media_arts/second_life_artist_residency/
DC
May 31, 2007 at 7:36 am
“‘Those who live in the next century will see better.’ Edouard Manet”
Second life is already called “the biggest digital art installation in the world” (Warren Ellis)
I had to present my paintings in this world of modern technology; wondering how relevant painting is in our digital age? This grows out of a certain anxiety I sense about the influence of technology on art and our culture as a whole. How can art reposition itself in relation to image production in our technological age? SIM 2.0 Art Gallery – Free Space, SINNIQ SIM 01 (161, 20, 131)
Second life certainly transforms the ways art is produced, exhibit, and valued, and how new art forms, new tools for representation and new conditions for communication are now generated. There are private views where avs can drink virtual champagne and talk to the artist, poetry readings in an Irish pub, museum exhibition tours and talks, photography exhibition, avant-garde video art, scripted kinetic sculpture exhibitions, music live performances and even ballet. The sl art learning experience is endless, resourceful and stimulating.
Interestingly more and more artists create digital versions of their work and let their Second Life characters present it in their online world. It is an opportunity to creatively and critically explore new interactive, virtual platforms. For example the Australian council is inviting writers, musician/sound artists and digital visual media practitioners to develop interdisciplinary artwork in second life in the form of an artist in residency.
The first Second Life SLart has been launched, a magazine to bring ‘real world art issues’ into the virtual sphere, and to make sense of a virtual art scene that already involves some 100 online galleries.
There are so many places to visit and search/events are the best way to start. You can also join artists group to receive their newsletters and latest happenings.
SL Art Blogs/Websites/News about the arts for Second Lifers
http://sl-art-news.blogspot.com/
http://virtualartistsalliance.blogspot.com
http://www.nmc.org/sl
http://www.slatenight.com
http://sl-art-news.blogspot.com
http://irwinandzohari.wordpress.com
http://slartmagazine.com
Top places to see:
Muzza Gallery, Chrysanthemum Island (45, 46, 316)
“NO MATTER, WHAT?” an exhibition by Muzza Tesio
GHava{SL} Center for the Arts, Avignon (148, 220, 70)
The Bluffs Nature Preserve and C, Lappet (52, 227, 101)
IBM 10 / Ballet, IBM 10 (20, 175, 25)
Ubik, Bretton (121, 200, 104)
Four Deuces Entertainment Island, The Four Deuces (133, 131, 29)
Wildman Galleries, Promissa (232, 198, 23)
MULTI MEDIA ARTS CENTER The, Somerset (234, 240, 66)
Snafu (M) ML, Snafu (212, 71, 601)
Enigmatic Artworks, Infamy (32, 213, 40)
JJ Lane’s, Roosa (119, 195, 301)
Tirzah’s Art Gallery and Club, Wainscot (252, 100, 33)
Nancy Blakes Pub – West of Irela, West of Ireland (124, 224, 27)