Life to the second power http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/ On an island in SecondLife, building has commenced, a construction of traces, of remains of a past, of regenerated bodies ... en Copyright 2009 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:06:18 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Roberta Breitmore Gallery: extending the archive A gallery has been added to SHL's Second Life space, exhibiting materials from Lynn Hershman's Roberta Breitmore project. Occupying the lower terrace of the LifeSquared gallery building on SHL's Hotgates island, this exhibit uses seven projection screens to display the archival remnants of this examination of persona, identity, and physical embodiment.
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]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2007/04/roberta_breitmore_gallery_exte.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2007/04/roberta_breitmore_gallery_exte.html news Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:06:18 -0800 Strange Culture in Life Squared StrangeCulture Thomas and Tilda Tilda


Strange Culture - actors Tilda Swinton and Thomas Jay Ryan

On Monday 22 January and Wednesday 24 January our experimental facility in the online world Second Life will host the première of Lynn Hershman's new movie "Strange Culture" as part of the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2004 artist and college professor Steve Kurtz was preparing for a MASS MoCA exhibition that would let audiences test whether food has been genetically modified when, days before the opening, his wife tragically died of heart failure. Distraught, Kurtz called 911, but when medics arrived, they became suspicious of his art supplies and called the FBI. Dozens of agents in haz-mat suits sifted through his home and impounded his computers, books, cat, and even his wife's body. The government held Kurtz as a suspected bioterrorist, and, nearly three years later, the charges have not been dropped. He still faces up to 20 years in prison.

Because he is legally barred from comment, the movie uses actors as avatars to tell this story of contemporary art, science, politics and paranoia.

We have chosen to screen the movie on our island in Second Life because we are committed to exploring the intersections of the arts, humanities, science and technology, reaching out beyond the academy to address such matters of common concern.

Guests will include Lynn Hershman, Steven Kurtz and Howard Rheingold.


[Link - Sundance]

[Link - Lynn Hershman's site]

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2007/01/strange_culture_in_life_square.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2007/01/strange_culture_in_life_square.html news Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:53:30 -0800 L2 wing added to SHL's project gallery in Second Life A new wing has been added to the Humanities Lab's gallery of projects, providing background information on Life to the Second Power and its development in Second Life, and displaying content from NEWare, including Lynn's video from the HASTAC presentation.

Visit the new gallery space at Cayuga (105,122,72).

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]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/12/l2_wing_added_to_shls_inworld.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/12/l2_wing_added_to_shls_inworld.html Builds Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:09:56 -0800 Looking at Legos Today's project meeting on NEWare examined some of the building blocks we hope to employ. A scripted object here, streaming video there, some interesting approaches to linking the various pieces... A good meeting, looks like we're on our way!

Scripted objects allow tracking visitors, altering the roomscape, etc.
prequeldemo_008.jpg

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/09/looking_at_legos.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/09/looking_at_legos.html Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:37:42 -0800 Laying a foundation. Looking rather like a revealed structure at an archaeological dig, this home-made floorplan was produced by the current owners of what was once the Dante Hotel.

Floor Plan View

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/09/laying_a_foundation_1.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/09/laying_a_foundation_1.html Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:09:11 -0800 Clearing the decks in NEWare Preparatory to building the Dante Hotel and environs, some terraforming has taken place on the island...

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]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/09/clearing_the_decks_in_neware.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/09/clearing_the_decks_in_neware.html Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:33:08 -0800 Archaeology as Theatre in Second LIfe While browsing the neighborhood not too far from my own "estate" in SL, I came across this remarkable site. The pictures tell a bit of the story, and the conceit is simple enough, but really worth a visit to the Cavorite Mines and Exoarchaeological Philology Visitor Centre (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alice/102/52/77/). Imagine an abandoned "cavorite" mine, some intriguing artifacts strewn about, a great tethered iron kite... There's even an old leatherbound copy of H.G.Wells' The First Men in the Moon, unabridged.

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/06/archaeology_as_theatre_in_seco.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/06/archaeology_as_theatre_in_seco.html ambience Sun, 04 Jun 2006 19:37:41 -0800 ZeroOne & Second Life "The ZeroOne San Jose Festival will transform San Jose into the North American epicenter for the intersection of art and digital culture by showcasing the world's most innovative contemporary artists. ZeroOne San Jose is artists making art and using technology as a tool to do so. It is not technology for technology's sake. ZeroOne San Jose is a multi-dimensional, startling and brilliant audience event - with exhibits, live cinema, performances, workshops, and youth activities. All are one-of-a-kind, many never-before, only-here experiences. Here are some details about what you will find at ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge."

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/zeroone_second_life_1.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/zeroone_second_life_1.html Events Sat, 27 May 2006 13:35:23 -0800 NEWare hosts Game Culture & Technology Lab Henry and Henrik hosted a meeting of UCI's Game Culture & Technology Lab on our island this evening. Henry is a virtual resident at the Lab this quarter, as part of a quarter-long workshop funded by the UC Humanties Research Institute. The workshop includes a group of game studies scholars, artists, and others interested in exploring the possibilities of virtual collaboration around topics drawn from game culture and technology. The lab itself is described as follows:

The mission of the Game Culture & Technology Lab is to play with how game metaphors, design principles, and technologies can be utilized for alternative content and context delivery. The focus is on the next generation Internet and beyond.
]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/neware_hosts_game_culture_tech.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/neware_hosts_game_culture_tech.html Thu, 25 May 2006 20:02:40 -0800 Meeting on NEWare My oh my, such a brave new world this is. We just had a group meeting inside Second Life. There we were 6 of us on the island for one hour that saw some seriously speedy typing. You can see a transcript and the minutes in the wiki. We got through the agenda though it was a rough day to chair, but I lived to blog the tale :)

L2 meeting Monday May 22th_005.jpg

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/meeting_on_neware.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/meeting_on_neware.html Mon, 22 May 2006 17:23:51 -0800 3D Printing for Second Life Residents Gizmodo are reporting on Recursive Instruments' 3D Printing service for Second Life Residents.

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/3d_printing_for_second_life_re.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/3d_printing_for_second_life_re.html random thoughts Fri, 19 May 2006 01:18:51 -0800 See you in RL The other day I ran into Ren Reynolds inside Second Life. He is one of the authors behind the collaborative and always interesting Terra Nova blog. Ren is coming to California next month and graciously accepted our invitation to come visit us at campus. He’ll be here Monday the 5th of June at 10 and share his musings on digital identity and property and then we’ll have a conversation. If you’re interested feel very free to join us, just drop us a line for the details.

Ren_Reynolds_SL.jpg

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/see_you_in_rl.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/see_you_in_rl.html contacts Wed, 17 May 2006 10:25:23 -0800 Streaming video on NEWare If you visit our little island then you can see streaming video right there inside Second Life. I thought the “Chronicles of Narnia” trailer would be a good place holder for now, but lets get Lynn’s stuff up there first chance we get.

Streaming video_NEWare.jpg

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/streaming_video_on_neware.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/streaming_video_on_neware.html news Tue, 16 May 2006 16:31:07 -0800 What are we doing here? After the good news of our funding the anticipation around this has been replaced by a more reflective mood in me. We started this project with a sense of excitement arising from the potential of the digital achieve to change how art is created and experienced. The scarcity effects of yesterday relating to money and finite spaces to display art are fading fast. Massively multiplayer games have taught us that highly social persistent spaces are accessible to people with a decent computer hooked up to a broadband internet connection. These worlds’ yield creative synchronous rich experiences that was impossible in yesterday’s world. But we know all this now, this can’t keep being news! What do we actually do with this and what are the challenges?

This got me thinking about precedence. After a while I ended up at cinema. When the ability to create two dimensional moving pictures was first discovered the potential was also obvious. You could make theatre available to a much wider percent of the population, so at first film was all about filming plays. Luckily this medium was further developed into the precious medium it is today. I believe that this is the task we have ahead of us. Let us try to do one better than merely translating Lynn’s art into something virtual. Let us discuss and investigate how we may come with a suggestion for a new language for art in virtual space. Because art that is native to this new medium deserves the respect its own language implies. This is what I believe we should be doing here.

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/what_are_we_doing_here.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/what_are_we_doing_here.html random thoughts Fri, 12 May 2006 22:51:40 -0800 Random Thoughts In a sense, the digital self sees itself not in opposition to such a thing as a “real self”, but as an extension of our “first life”, that is, our existence in tangible, offline worlds. But our second life - the set of activities and practices that our avatar performs in digital spaces - requires by definition the previous one. Thus, one must not forget that there is a third life, which is the combination of the first and second lives. [yes, I am still thinking about Here, There, Noware]

]]> http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/random_thoughts.html http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/2006/05/random_thoughts.html random thoughts Thu, 11 May 2006 15:19:24 -0800