Art and the avatar: the kritical works in SL project

Abstract

As 3D Online Virtual Worlds begin to assume a sense of presence in real terms, there is a growing interest amongst the wider international artistic community in Second Life (SL) as a platform to develop creative practice. A number of artists and designers have continued, for some time, to specifically work with the SL building tools and programming language to explore the potentials and limitations of the platform itself. Other established real world artists have also begun to explore their own concerns within the SL space. The purchase and development of Kriti Island on the SL grid in 2007 saw the online virtual space rapidly become a focus for collaboration, nationally and internationally. The Kritical Works in SL (2008) project invited ten international artists to construct art works on Kriti responding to one of the themes from ISEA2008: Reality Jam. The new (and existing) works aimed to identify new approaches emerging when interfacing between real and virtual space and asked if there is a maturing of the languages used within SL? Is there a commonality of approach and emergent experience? What are the characteristics of the virtual fabric of the platform and what inherent opportunities are there in this interface as virtual space? This article discusses recent projects produced for the exhibition on Kriti along with other significant projects recently developed in SL. There are at least two approaches that can to be considered when exploring SL for creative practice, beyond the potential of using SL as a presentation space that echoes real life gallery spaces. First, SL explored as a space for performance and second, where the audience or avatar plays an intrinsic role in the work produced or even where the audience becomes the performer of the work itself. The SL space can be a performative space for both the artist and the audience. Finally, this article will consider how the emerging languages of artistic and creative practice on the SL platform are determining our experience as audiences in these online virtual spaces.