Austin Stewart: Second Livestock

Title:

Second Livestock

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):



• Austin Stewart

Symposium:

• ISEA2015: 21st International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

• Simon Fraser University

Creation Year:

2012 – 2015

Medium:

Performance, Website

Artist Statement:

Second Livestock is a virtual reality world for battery-farmed chickens. By performing a straightfaced parody of virtual reality platform Second Life, the project attracts non-traditional art audiences to a conversation about the consequences of people choosing to spend more of their lives in virtual spaces, and questions the differences between how we treat animals and how we treat ourselves. The artist performs the presentation in the persona of the CEO of Second Livestock. The vocabulary and visual language of the presentation mocks the hype of technology firms who are perpetually introducing new, disruptive technologies. After the presentation the audience is invited to experience the VR world through the CCI (Chicken-Computer Interface), a prototype consisting of an Oculus Rift VR Headset and a custom-made omni-directional treadmill.

Website:

https://www.theaustinstewart.com/secondlivestock.html

Video:

• Text with images (PDF) p. 58

Category:

• Art Exhibition
• AR / VR / XR