EXHIBITION
TRANSMUTE
Subtle Technologies Exhibition 2009
Co-Presented by the University of Toronto Art Centre
Curated by: Camille Turner
Venue
University of Toronto Art Centre
15 King’s College Circle
(Main floor of Laidlaw Wing)
University College
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 3H7
Tel: (416) 978-1838
Tuesday to Friday 12 to 5 pm
Saturday 12 to 4 pm
Sunday and Monday closed
Dates
June 5th - June 28th
Opening: Saturday June 13th
Networked culture has resulted in digital artifacts such as Second Life (SL), a multiplayer online environment that enables participants to not only create the content of their world, but the world itself. The ongoing proliferation of networks bridge virtual and bio-space, enabling new opportunities and possibilities in the worlds of commerce and culture.
In November 2006, Aislin Graef and her virtual persona Anshe Chung were featured in business magazines such as Fortune and Business Week as the first SL millionaire(s). Through buying and selling properties online, Anshe Chung Studios amassed its wealth in Linden dollars, the official SL currency, which is transferrable into real-world dollars. Last year SL generated $350 million as people, objects, social interactions, skills and wealth flowed seamlessly across its porous borders.
The Transmute exhibition features two “mixed reality” projects that explore the economic and cultural intersection of SL and the bio-world. The works are by artists Lynne Heller and duo Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott.
No Matter by Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott is an installation that exposes differences in value of the material and immaterial worlds. SL builders were commissioned to create “imaginary objects” that appear in myth, literature, philosophical riddles and popular culture. Examples include: Pandora’s Box, The Holy Grail and Schrödinger’s Cat. The No Matter website profiles the builders along with their hourly wage and the cost of each object. Paid in Linden dollars, builders received market value payment of about $1.50 to $12.00 for their objects when translated into real currency, a fraction of what they would have been paid in the physical world. Proprietary data was then extracted from the objects so they could be smuggled out of SL and translated into real-world paper sculptures. The resulting objects are displayed in the gallery along with a video of their virtual counterparts.
Dancing With Myself by Lynne Heller is part of an ongoing journey with her avatar Nar Duell. In this experimental work, Lynne, a former dancer, explores the social phenomenon of dance as a common activity in SL. This performative installation inverts the usual relationship between the maker and her avatar. Nar is experienced as a person-sized projection in the space rather than a small object on the screen. Instead of the user, seated passively, jacking into SL through a series of mouse-clicks, Lynne’s whole body interfaces with the virtual world. Programmed to perform a random sequence of movements, Nar leads the dance and Lynne follows.