Explaining RL Art with SL References

The New York Times writes about this project, The abode of chaos, that is outside of Lyon, France (caution, this is a link to a .kmz file and will attempt to open Googe Earth, so don’t click if you don’t want to do this). Not to take away from the considerable energy it takes to pull something like this off… But, given its self-proclaimed context as a contemporary œuvre of art, it’s pretty banal stuff, déjà vu, especially when you look closely. So why bring it up at all? Somehow, as I look at this project from the perspective of Second Life (SL), I begin to understand its formal context much better. Through its use of simple, disposable and seemingly un-physically bound objects, juxtaposed though not quite chaotic enough, it becomes a material simulation of SL’s lack of physical and conceptual restraints; an embodiment of its immateriality. In fact, I find the SL take on chaos and immateriality much more coherent.

[The Manor Meta Project SLurl] click to zoom