Vaneeesa Blaylock Pushes Second Life's Limits

I am a unique individual. And so am I.

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

My graphics card has nearly recovered from attending Vaneeesa Blaylock's "I Rez Therefore I Am" performance art event in early June. The artwork consisted of 25 silent female avatars wearing identical shoes and their own shapes - an invitation for viewers to ponder identity, the speed of rezing, and the whine of your computer's cooling fan as the GPU tries to save itself from death by meltdown and skins slowly materialize on the motionless avatars.

 

The artist's willingness to push the outer limits of what Second Life can handle was part of the performance's charm. While hoping for skins to snap into focus your expectations are reset - I cheered quietly each time a skin rendered and there was plenty of time to ponder how much of our time in SL is spent waiting -- and how much effort is put into constructing an SL persona. 

Aspiring SL designers may want to consider participating in a new piece involving a scarf design contest which will feature 16 performers helping Ms. Blaylock illustrate her tag line: I am a unique individual. And so am I.

Comments

[Art Critique]

Cheap rip off. An artist has done this in New York a couple of years ago. Placing a number of blonde women, naked and with identical make up and high heel boots in a room in a gallery, displayed just as the avatars above. The RL Installation had a different meaning but this is just a copy nontheless.

[404 Brain Not Found]

/me made it into two pictures! :D

Seriously though, we did hear the sim creaking under the strain a few times during the performance. It was worth it though and it was a rewarding experience for all involved.

You might like to read an in-depth interview with Vaneeesa about VB03 here - http://bardhaven.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/twenty-five-women-the-art-of-the-individual-in-second-life/

[SusanC]

Although the performers are all wearing their own shape, skin and hair, it's really striking how similar they all look.

[Darien Caldwell]

Art is something that makes you think. All this makes me think is "gee, that's retarded." Fail.

[Gomalt]

More like "I'm redgrave, therefore I'm clone".

[debbie downer]

This isn't a "performance", it's a "display".

A performance takes talent to do this thing called "perform". Not just stand there.

[wondering]

I wonder if this show will get better and better the longer it takes stuff to rez. You know, moar suspense and all... That would mean that these people have figured out an SL activity that gets better and better the more that LL craps things up. Genius. :)

[Goatlicking For Phun]

"A performance takes talent to do this thing called "perform". Not just stand there."

Really? You don't see the movement? Those two hours were packed with an intensity that I never expected to experience when I originally signed up to be a member of the cast. In all fairness if you're looking at a one-dimensional snapshot of a four-dimensional event then it's hard to see movement. And it's maybe worth considering that it's considerably harder to express something through silence and stillness than it is through sound and movement.

[Alazarin]

Showroom dummies?

The gravity-defying bewbs are awesome. Otherwise it's just advertising, not art.

[Ajax]

The only more fascinating and more artistic performance is the backroom mannikin storage area at Macy's

[kakukkfu]

the same performace in real life http://www.designboom.com/portrait/beecroft.html#