Upgrade! Second Life

The first The UPGRADE! Second Life presentation occurred on Friday at
the BitFactory Chindo gallery as a co-location with the Paris node, with
consistent attendance of about 15-18 avatars from North America, Europe,
and South America. Alain Della Negra and Kaori Kinoshita presented their
documentary work on the lives of avatars in real life. Although there
were the usual technical challenges (latency times on streaming, etc),
multiple contingencies were planned for, and attendees were able to see
all media clips for the event. As with most SL events, the social
milieu was a little chaotic, very lively, but there was abundant
conversation about the work, and virtual attendees from France stayed ar
t least 30-60 minutes after the meeting.

This was a very exciting event, and James are very excited about the
level of enthusiasm for this first meet.
Documentation is at:
http://incident.net/theupgrade/

Alain Della Negra and Kaori Kinoshita are artists working on virtual
worlds. They present their last documentary about "Second Life" universe
and users. Their movie questions the notion of the virtual life.
http://avatars.blogs.liberation.fr/
For those who wishing to live in / experiment this virtual world(s),
"Second Life" offers the chance to create, manage and develop their own
alternate reality. With these possibilities, and a population that is in
constant growth, "Second Life" has political ramifications. Who decides
the rules applied in this virtual world?
What laws, what measures need to be defined? Where is the frontier
between the virtual and the real, and how is it transmuted? This
documentary aims to elucidate the porous nature between real and virtual
worlds.

The UPGRADE! SL is a forum for the promotion and sharing of New Media
art and critical discourse occurring in the online world, Second Life.
Founded by Rubiyat Shatner (James Morgan)/Ars Virtua and Man Michinaga
(Patrick Lichty)/BitFactory/Columbia College Chicago, The UPGRADE! SL is
the first non-geographical node of the international UG network, and its
organizers are pleased to add this node to the international UPGRADE
network.



Patrick Lichty
- Interactive Arts & Media
Columbia College, Chicago
- Editor-In-Chief
Intelligent Agent Magazine
http://www.intelligentagent.com
225 288 5813
[email protected]