Ludica: The New West
Title:
- The New West
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Creation Year:
- 2006
Medium:
- virtual world
Artist Statement:
As computer games increasingly include affordances for player creativity, new art forms are beginning to conflate consumption and production, practices that constitute a kind of digital folk art emerging within online game worlds. For ISEA, Ludica proposes to create virtual art park within the online world Second Life, designed to showcase these new forms of cultural production. Ludica. will solicit proposals for ‘site-specific’ installations, performances and interventions from current Second Life artists and designers, the ISEA and electronic arts community, and international digital arts and game programs at Universities. We and would wish to create a parallel space within the teen server of Second Life in conjunction with workshops for Middle and High School Students. We will also host in-game workshops at the exhibition venue within Second Life to teach the building tools to prospective contributors to encourage new voices to emerge. Within the physical exhibition, The New West would comprise a portal into cyberspace within a darkened room with a projection of the art park entirely covering one wall. On either side of the screen along the walls would be 6-10 computer stations, both Mac and PC. The large screen display would be controlled by visitors, who could also sit at the individual stations and navigate the virtual exhibition. The goal is to extend the ISEA electronic artssymposium beyond its geographical location, making it accessible to a wider audience beyond those who can physically attend the exhibition in San Jose.
Amidst the torrent of edgy art descending on San Jose this week is a new frontier of artists working totally within the virtual realm. All their art is built within a multi-player online universe called Second Life. The arts game collective, Ludica has curated some of the best of these virtual arts works for a show called “The New West” which is being projected in the South Hall of the convention center during the ZeroOne festivities.”
