_Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_ by Mez Breeze

_The Salt Satyagraha Online_: A Mixed Reality Project [Part 2]

Jul 18 2008

_Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_ by Mez Breeze

_The Salt Satyagraha Online_: A Mixed Reality Project [Part 1]

Jul 11 2008

Defense Co-op Meeting Thursday

Jun 22 2008

Red76 and Ars Virtua invite the Second Life Builder and Arts communities to an informal gathering to discuss a new crowd-sourced socially responsible project, “Defense Co-op.”

What is this?

Defense Coop (http://defense-coop.org) is a forum that connects Second Life artists and builders with public defense attorneys throughout the United States to help illustrate scenarios, using 3d graphic movies (machinima), for the defense of indigent clients at trial.

“When a defendant stands trial, it is an agonizing experience. She faces the accusations of the District Attorney, the police, and any independent witnesses the State brings to testify against him. The police are trained how to talk to and persuade juries. They know to come across as affable, good natured people; they know to look at the jury when the speak; they know how to answer the District Attorney’s questions in a way that effectively narrates the events in controversy. They have reports that they wrote just after the events in controversy, which they review prior to testifying. They understand the elements that the District Attorney must establish in order to convict a defendant. Most importantly, they testify all the time - they have lots of experience in the courtroom, and generally feel comfortable there.” — Laura Baldwin (Red76 member, and Portland, Oregon public defense lawyer)

A typical defendant has none of this and is frequently faced with limited resources, compared to those of the state, to make a compelling, memorable, believable case to the jury. This is where Second Life simulation / machinima can be of vital use.

When is it?

June 26 @ 6.30 pacific time (SLT - Second Life Time)

Where?

Liberty Hall (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seventh%20Eye/245/173/301) in Second Life

We will have a brief presentation by Laura Baldwin to talk about the issues and then a discussion about what we think we can do to help as Second Life builders and artisans, and concerned individuals committed to justice, and legal equality for all peoples regardless of race, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

Who should attend?

Artists, builders, machinimists or just people in Second Life (or from outside) who just want to see these people get a fair chance in court.

How will this be accomplished?

This is really a community based project so very little is decided except the bare bones of the Defense Co-op framework. Defense Co-op, at its core, is a connection point wherein two disparate skills set can meet and work together for the benefit of the under-served within the United States judicial system. One of the possibilities here is to create a library of objects, places, and gestures that make it easy for a lawyer to get a compelling machinima fairly quickly and easily with the assistance of Second Life artisans, and also to consider and construct a flow of the process for making these videos efficiently.

Why?

Because the system is frequently stacked against the defendant in this sort of case, to use machinima and SL for the community and for a social good.

Who chooses the cases? The Defense Co-op discussion board serves as a way-station for the needs of indigent clients. As an example, public defenders may use it to place calls to the community for assistance on trials. Our goal is for the Defense Co-op site to become an open resource, mailable to the needs of those who need our services most.

Portal Pictures

Jun 7 2008

Here are the portal pictures from thursday night they are cc Michael Lowell

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pookieevans/sets/72157605473728043/

Play WoW next to Portal

Jun 5 2008

Play WoW Next to the Portal
Have your picture taken with your avatar.

Have fun, play games and get a souvenier from Zero1 San Jose, come down and play World of Warcraft by a genuine 16′ tall 4 ton portal on SJSU campus and to have their picture taken with their Avatar.

This event will be at Eddo Stern’s Portal, Wormhole, Flythrough on Thursday June 5th starting at 8pm.

We will start taking photos at 10 pm. Avatars will be set on the other side of the portal (life size) and the player can then have a photo taken standing along side their favorite character.

The portal is located on SJSU Campus next to the MLK Library and Tower Hall
google map of portal (http://tinyurl.com/5qhbct)

Please bring laptops, lawn furniture (blankets) extention cords and powerstrips. We will supply some power and network. Dress warmly as it has been getting chilly after dark.

http://01sj.org/?p=297
http://arsvirtua.com

This event is sponsored by Ars Virtua and the CADRE Laboratory for New Media.

Portal, Wormhole, Flythrough

Eddo Stern
Portal, Wormhole, Flythrough
Supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation for Intersections
01SJ Biennial: Superlight
San Jose State University campus
Summer, 2008

Open Sim / Second Life Workshop at 01SJ

May 29 2008

Ars Virtua & The CADRE Laboratory for New Media will host a workshop on open source alternatives to the Second Life(TM) grid, in conjunction with the 2nd Biennial 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge.

This two hour workshop provides an overview of open-source, third-party virtual-world server technology based on Second Life(TM), and the opportunities afforded to artists and experimenters who are now able to cheaply host tailored synthetic spaces.

The first hour will be devoted to a brief overview of Second Life and the “OpenMetaverse” initiatives (libsl, opensim, etc.) Bennett Goble of Ars Virtua will discuss features and show demos of the most popular alternatives (OpenSim, OpenLife & realXtend), their qualities, strengths etc.

We will consider the issues surrounding installation, maintenance and function of the OpenSim server and will be connecting participants through third-party clients and through modifications of the Linden Lab Second Life client.

During this session participants will have an opportunity to look at code, and to consider the space as a place for artistic experimentation and collaboration. Special consideration will be given to coding within the environment and control afforded by building and running servers.

We will also discuss the relative merits of running sims on cloud systems (such as Amazon’s EC2/S3) and instantiating a foothold sim for further experimentation.

For more information see Aldon Hyne’s ‘An idiot’s guide to OpenSim.‘

“Typically, people running OpenSim set up a grid, similar to the Main Grid, the Teen Grid or the Beta Grids that Linden Lab runs.” - Aldon Hynes

The workshop will be held from noon - 2 p.m. Friday June 6 in room 237 of the art building on SJSU campus. This workshop is free and open to the public.

—

Bennett Goble is a synthetic world junkie, new media artist and info-addict that spends 12+ hours a day overviewing dual computer monitors with his independently operating eyes. He is heavily involved within the digital world Second Life, working on coding, design, and art projects.

Ars Virtua is a new media center and gallery located in the synthetic worlds. It leverages the tension between 3-D rendered game space and terrestrial reality, between simulated and simulation. AV has active initiatives in Second Life, World of Warcraft and in the open source simulator space. Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media.

The 2nd Biennial 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge is North America’s newest and largest festival of digital arts, and a great deal more. Festival organizers expect it to be a perspective-altering experience that entertains, enlightens, educates and involves attendees in a new understanding of our changing world.

http://arsvirtua.com
http://01sj.org/

_Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_ now live

Apr 17 2008

http://arsvirtuafoundation.org/research/
updated every Friday

Ars Virtua is pleased to announce _Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_ by Mary-Anne (Mez) Breeze. Mez has initiated this work as part of her ongoing interrogation of the space, place and language of synthetic worlds.

This text brings Mez’ prodigious talents and experience to bear on several fundamental issues relating to the nature of game and social space:

“_Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_ explores concepts that shape and are shaped by an extensive range of online/synthetic encounters. These concepts are formed through principles generated internally within specific online environments. These environments include - among others - Massively Multiplayer Online Environments [World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Second Life], Social Networking Platforms [Twitter, Facebook, OpenSocial], Social Gaming [Passively Multiplayer Online Game, Parallel Kingdom] and Alternative Reality Games [I Love Bees, Perplex_City, Year Zero]. Entries will dissect post-geophysically defined notions of reality through a mixture of:
* Platform-specific case studies.
* Analysis of contextual behaviour sets.
* Construction of theoretical projections derived via synthetic, mixed and augmented formats.”

Mez is a Futurist who has had a sustained presence in synthetic realities for over two decades. She is also an established net artist and game theorist who practices _Poetic Game Interventions_ [the creative manipulation of MMO parameters in order to disrupt or comment on various aspects of augmented states]. She is a widely exhibited, award winning artist and we are extremely fortunate to be able to present her work here and enjoy her company as a member of our guild.

Ars Virtua is a New Media Center and Gallery located in the synthetic world of Second Life, World of Warcraft and the World Wide Web. It is a new type of space that leverages the tension between 3-D rendered game space and terrestrial reality, between simulated and simulation. The Ars Virtua Foundation is a locus of research around the issues of reality within simulated environments.

Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media.

Turbulence Mixed Realities Reception

Mar 28 2008

Saturday March 29 11-1pm SLT

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seventh%20Eye/6/77/48

Ars Virtua invites you to an artist’s reception for the Turbulence Mixed Realities show. We wanted to have a chance for everyone to gather in Second Life and again in the gallery space, this is a chance to meet with artists and curators in the space.

Mixed Realities is an exhibition and symposium that explores the convergence-through cyberspace-of real and synthetic places made possible by computers and networks. Mixed Realities links and overlays the Huret & Spector Gallery (Boston), Turbulence.org (Internet), and Ars Virtua (Second Life).

Second Life is a shared, synthetic, 3-D environment through which people can interact in real-time by means of a virtual self or avatar.

Audience members - who will be embodied as avatars in Second Life, browsing the works at turbulence.org, and/or be physically present in the gallery - will interact with the works and with one another. Thus, Mixed Realities will enable people who are distributed across multiple physical and virtual spaces to communicate with one another and share experiences in real time.

ARTISTS: Drew Baker, Neill Donaldson, John (Craig) Freeman, Usman Haque, Ai Hasegawa, Scott Kildall, Michael Takeo Magruder, Pierre Proske, Victoria Scott, David Steele, Georg Tremmel

world time for event

Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media

New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. commissioned five works ($5,000 each) for Mixed Realities with funds from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Hosted by Emerson College’s Huret & Spector Gallery, the exhibition and symposium are funded by Emerson College’s School of the Arts and Department of Visual and Media Arts; and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

“need”

Mar 17 2008

March 18, 7pm SLT
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seventh%20Eye/135/14/35

Ars Virtua presents an emerging artists exhibition in collaboration with the ICAM program at the University of California San Diego.

need

The idea of a separate set of needs for ones Second Life is both absurd and tantalizing. Abraham Maslow provides an interesting heirarchy that other than a few basic differences lays over the synthetic world very nicely, however avatars are not people and as such do not have the same needs.

The Virtual Environments class at UCSD takes a look at the difference and similarity in this space, this borderland between avatar and human and reflects on different aspects of need for both.

The exhibit runs the gamut from a reflection on need in classic video games to several views on identity and a left handed look at our surveillence society.

Projects also tackle loftier more abstract subjects such as the positioning of governance and faith in the synthetic realm.

Join us at 7pm SLT in http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seventh%20Eye/135/14/35 there will be a scheduled “end of life” performance at 7:30, and musical accompanyment throughout the night.

We have a limited amount of “Free Parking” available on a first come first served basis and the unusual snackbar included.

Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media.

Included works:

—

Free Parking

Description: A monstrous floating parking lot in the sky. A frivolous
structure in a world where distance and transportation are trivial,
intended to lead the viewer to think critically about distance, and the
use of space and resources in the virtual world.

-Christopher Baker

—

name_map

name_map attempts to map spatial-social relationships in accordance with Mazlow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” in which the psychological needs of humans is described as a cascading series of desires and responsibilities.

Our need to be included, recognized and gain the respect of others around us is visualized by name_map as a series of lines drawn between the members of a conversation. The lines are formed as avatars are mentioned by name in an attempt to clearly define the dynamics of the group in terms of the classical definitions of “in” and “out” . This explicit delineation between members of a particular space may lead some members to self-actualization, the next step in Mazlow’s hierarchy, as an attempt to join the “in” group as reflected by name_map. The idle state of name_map serves as a growing record of a conversation and preserves the continual evolution of social space though which the name_map object moves.

name_map is free to copy, give and edit.
Say “name_map remove” within range to remove a live name_map object.

Zomg Ogopogo aka Christopher Head

—

“R&R”

There are a lot of things that are needed to survive in the world, but these needs don’t necessarily translate in a virtual world. While the needs of real life aren’t required in the virtual world, in “Second Life,” objects are created in-game as a means of resembling what is already familiar and comfortable from the outside world. A reception is an essential part of any art gallery, because it allows the audience to socialize and discuss with one another the different artworks. The “R&R” (Restroom Reception) carries out this concept inside the virtual art gallery, but also incorporates the theme of a restroom, a place in real life that people don’t usually gather to socialize. The restroom also emphasizes objects in the “Second Life” that are not needed. There’s nothing in the world that requires the use of a restroom, just like there’s no need for refreshments and h’orderves, but it still exists.

Narddog Samtanko aka Long Huynh

—

Security Check Gate (SCG)

Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” addresses the individual’s safety needs and freedom from physical harm. This physical need for safety is manifested in forms of individual protection, social order and law enforcement.

The synthetic world does not question one’s identity and there is no need for identification check since each avatar is free form. In Second Life, identities are fluid and there is no such thing as false identity. To introduce our social need for safety in a virtual space, the Security Check Gate was created to track and log each avatar’s information. Similar to an ID check, Security Check Gate emphasizes on the concept of safety and acts as a protective measure in respect to our needs for an orderly environment. When an avatar walks through the Security Check Gate their information is recognized and maintained in a form of a list. The Security Check Gate enforces our social requirement that serves no practical purpose in a synthetic world.

-Curt Clawtooth aka Leslie Basa

—

Out of Prims

Scarcity on Earth emerges from the fact that there is a limited amount of resources that can be fabricated into a certain collection of things. According to Edward Castronova, “any human being has desires” and “these desires can never be fully satisfied with current resources.” In addition, society forces a set of rules upon its members. These regulations clearly confine the degree of freedom enjoyed by its citizens. In regard to synthetic worlds, one would assume that resources are limitless. It appears that as long there is enough available server space, anything should be possible. Moreover, the activity of forcing restrictions on the liberty of its inhabitants seems irrational. As it turns out, similar conditions persist in the synthetic world as on Earth. Those who enjoy ownership over the world’s resources impose limitations on those that want to acquire them. Within Second Life, nothing seems to demonstrate this better than the limited amount of primitive objects (“prims”) that is linked with the ownership of land. Prims are what make land valuable. ‘Out of Prims’ addresses this subject in an ironic way. The fence in this project is intended to symbolize the ownership of a parcel of land. This fence, however, in combination with other objects, including a sign post and a sad clown doll, uses up the complete amount of prims allowed for a 512 m2 land parcel. In this manner, ‘Out of Prims’ reflects the scarcity of prims as well as the constant need of Second Life residents to acquire more of these “building blocks.”

- Odette Bleriot

—

Governance Monument

I have created and self-appointed a virtual “center space” to
Second Life where all political rules and ideas can be shared and edited.
From the outside, one can see what looks to be a giant bowl shaped out of
rock, however upon closer inspection; one will notice that it’s made up of
large quartz leaf shapes that provide entry ways into the structure. On
the inside of the structure, the top has been left open to incorporate a
feeling of openness and inclusiveness, and on the bottom, a series of
rocks of increased size, lead up to a dome mahogany boulder. On top of the
boulder floats a piece of parchment paper that provides the essence of the
structure’s being; SL’s constitution. This “paper” uses a script that
activates a web browser and links to http://secondlifegov.wetpaint.com/.
This site is a user generated wiki that hopes to incorporate many
different users’ ideas about how SL is supposed to be governed.
Inspiration: My project focuses on bringing substance to the sometimes
anarchist digital play-world of Second Life. The fear is that the EULA is
not enough and if proper organizational methods are not put in place, and
properly enforced (not what this project is attempting to do), then it
shouldn’t be too strange to see outside government intervention in the
near future. Additional info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_game

-Nick Sorbell
—

A Franciscan in Azeroth

The piece is an experiment to see whether or not money and morality are a
necessity in the game of World of Warcraft. By playing through the game
while following the digital version of the Rule of Saint Francis one will
see whether or not it is possible to live a humble and moral life in the
World of Warcraft. All documentation of the journey of the player characer
Stfrancis of Demon Soul (Server) is on the blog,
http://franciscanwow.blogspot.com. All skills learned as well as all
monetary transactions are documented along with images on the blog to
reassure the viewer that Stfrancis is in no way breaking his rule.

The Rule of Saint Francis in Azeroth are as follows:
1. One shall accept no money or items of exceptional worth from anyone
other than the Church. (No fancy armor accepted from quests unless can’t
be helped.)

2. One shall carry no money or items of exceptional worth unless the
circumstances prevent one from doing so.

3. One shall not profit off of his fellow man. (No Auctionhouse)
One shall not harm his fellow man unless self-preservation is threatened.
(No PVP)

4. One shall not educate himself in the ways of the shadows (No Shadow or
non-essential spells)

5. One shall only use one’s powers to heal others or to protect oneself.

6. One shall travel in the same manner as his holy lord Jesus Christ. (No
Mount)

7. One shall offer alms to all who request.

8. One shall love other players and thine self.

9. One shall enjoy one’s time in the World of Warcraft.

10. One shall spread the word of the Holy Franciscan Order of Azeroth.

-Don Bui

—

Final Performance

“In his final and most significant performance gesture, Second Life artist
Tarantula Hawker explores the otherworldly phenomenon of death as “The
Ultimate Need”. Through willful intention alone, Hawker will succumb to
death, on stage, in front of an audience. This gesture is intended to shed
light on the under-acknowledged and exceedingly expensive costs affiliated
with a “second life”: for every lifespan-independent hour spent in Second
Life, a human-being loses one irretrievable hour of their “first life”.”

- Braden Diotte

—

The Guest Wall

The Guestwall is a “signing wall” for visitors at the gallery. Unlike guestbooks, visitors will sign with an avatar portraits of themselves rather their signatures. The avatar they create on the Guestwall will be a representation of them. My goal for this project is to have the visitors think about the way they present themselves before other individuals in a virtual world. Hence, this is the need, the ways we present our avatars which represent us and the way we want to be perceive by others.

- Agatha Man

–

Gauntlet Key

Avatars in Second Life are “born” ready to pursue higher order needs of social interaction, achievement, and creativity. The physiological and security concerns that provide our most basic motivations for cooperation and competition in the real world are notably absent in this most celebrated of the virtual. The Gauntlet Key is a playful re-introduction of these needs that hearkens back to a much older virtual world, with its own treatment of needs-driven, simultaneous cooperation and competition.

Touch the pedestal to get a Gauntlet Key, then wear it when you’re ready to face threats to sustenance and safety in Second Life.

-Daeval Kronfeld aka John Elberson

AVAIR Performance March 6 @ 11:15 am SLT

Mar 2 2008

On Thursday March 6th at 11am SLT the Ars Virtua Artist in Residency program presents Feed Lack Loop with Micheál O’Connell.

Feed Lack Loop arose out of experiments with the idea of Feedback. Using a live performer and an Avatar in the Online World Second Life, Micheál O’Connell inquires whether the concept of interactivity, so lauded in contemporary culture, is about Empowerment or possibly leads to its opposite: Control. Also the liveliness, or lack of it, in virtual space is brought into question. The event will be situated in two spaces simultaneously, Ars Virtua Gallery in Second Life and as a live projection and performance at Lighthouse. Other relevant pieces by the same artist may be incorporated or displayed.

Collaborators on the project are:
-Artist and Grey Area Curator Daniel Pryde-Jarman
-Film Director and Script Writer: Partho Sen-Gupta
-Performer: Naughty the Clown (a.k.a. Dave Thompson)
-Lighthouse Head of Media Arts: Jamie Wyld

Supported by:
-University of Brighton
-City College Brighton and Hove
-Grey Area
-Lighthouse

“AVAIR” is a 2006-2008 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from the Jerome Foundation.

Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media

1) Event on this Thursday 6th March:

http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/digiville.htm

2) Come either in Real Life or as Second Life avatar. Virtual Location:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seventh%20Eye/108/60/50

3) Time (7.00pm GMT) and for those elsewhere in the globe.