[-empyre-] // Second Life: Who's art is it anyway? //

[Christina McPhee]

Julian et al

Interesting that the 'in-between' idea that Elizabeth Grosz so  
eloquently develops in "Architecture from the Outside"  is now somehow  
appropriated  'inside' Second LIfe , but how ?   as a critical cut,  
the idea of
the in-between is very productive!

Grosz if I am not mistaken sees in-between as a chora, like the Greek  
chorus in ancient theatre.  Commenting on the action of the agon and  
anti-gon (Antigone).  Taking the 'place'  of the audience.  Because of  
its precise indeterminacy,  a  place that is open to futurity vs  
overly determined/predictive.

Could be that Second Life's public space isn't  "in" SL itself if (i  
agree with Julian) it's an administrative gamespace, so everything you  
'make' in SL is SL bound.  But how about a public space of
risk and ambiguity at its edge or threshold, as it were, its  
passage=moment.   I mean, at the laptops in real space / place where  
subjects are flicking in and out of it?  If you make a film from SL  
and put it on you-tube? (like 'China Tracey" did http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=5vcR7OkzHkI&mode=related&search=&v3

Christina


On Mar 28, 2008, at 5:12 AM, Julian Oliver wrote:

>
> though i appreciate SL's great contribution as a platform for
> collaborative creation of art, i have reservations about it being  
> touted
> as public-space.
>
> rather, i take it as private space that, while liberal about its use,
> inevitably has implications over the relative independence of art
> practices based therein. has this conversation come up on Empyre or
> elsewhere?
>
> an analogy:
>
>    a wealthy businessman buys an island and names it an Art Park. if
>    you can fly yourself there and pay a little rent, he will supply  
> all
>    the materials you need to build your art - seemingly having an
>    endless store. there is just one condition however: the art is  
> never
>    allowed to leave the island. you're allowed to take photos of it,
>    even make derivative works, but the island itself will always be  
> the
>    fixed home of the original.
>
>    you and he both recognise artists are a valuable part of his
>    business. by making the place more interesting - adding cultural
>    value - more and more people will pay to stay in his plush
>    accommodation. for the moment it seems to be working.
>
>    some of the artists wonder what will happen if global warming  
> raises
>    the water level so high that the island disappears, taking all the
>    art with it. others worry what will happen if tourism is bad one
>    year and the park can not afford to stay open. most however choose
>    not to think about it, imagining that it will be just as it is
>    forever, their art along with it..
>
> cheers!
>
> -- 
> julian oliver
> http://julianoliver.com
> http://selectparks.net
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Christina McPhee
http://christinamcphee.net
http://strikeslip.tv
http://naxsmash.net