Comments on Explore "Construct", the Latest Second Life Installation by Duchamp-Influenced Conceptual Artist Selavy Oh [SLANE]Selavy Oh's "Construct" in Second Life (HUMLab sim) is a skybox made of 75 cublcles, each one a virtual artwork realized during the artist's 75-day "performance" which began in February, 2011 and was completed May 1. The cubicles (or "days" as the artist calls them) are more than simple display boxes. Most of them are interactive with visiting avatars, and many of them switch places and otherwise confound their visitors in mysterious ways.<br/>
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As I write this, I should say up front that, in my mind, in terms of creating art in Second Life, there is Selavy Oh and then there is everyone else. Selavy is among the very few artists working with this "new medium" who fully explores its conceptual space. Her resulting artworks, over the past few years, have consistently shown the rest of us how to expand the boundaries, exploit the resources, examine expectations - in short, she shows us what it means to make art in a 3D virtual environment that is very definitely not "real life." Also, just so everyone is clear, her work has been an important influence on me as I struggle to figure out how to make art in SL.<br/>
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The artist refers to "Construct" not so much as an installation or a piece of art, but rather as a "dialog" or "diary" of the conceptual ideas she experienced each day during the performance. Each cubicle "day" is an expression of the artist's mood, ideas, inspiration, questions of that day. Since the rooms occasionally swap places, your arrival point in the skybox can be a bit ... unpredictable. So I suggest that after you land, cam out and pan around to get oriented. Then, to go from room to room, use your viewer's TP-to-cam function. Even then, you may end up falling through the floor, or getting squeezed between moving walls, or finding yourself, as I did, walled up in a windowless space.<br/>
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Selavy Oh, as you might suspect from the name she chose, is strongly influenced by Marcel Duchamp, the early 20th century French Dadaist who (not incidentally) shattered the accepted notions of "art" in his day, and whose influence the art world continues to feel even today. Much of her work directly or indirectly reflects this influence, such as the "Nude Descending a Staircase" reference, except that the nude is one of Eadweard Muybridge's subjects brought alive in an animated texture.<br/>
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Oberon Onmura (about.me/Oberon.O) is an artist in the virtual world, Second Life.<br/>
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Oberon Onmura is a member of SLANE, a group of dedicated writers and everyday SL users here to provide you with interesting and informative articles on the people, places and things in Second Life that we love most.<br/>
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<a style="display: inline;" href="http://nwn.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341bf74053ef0154321403ab970c-pi"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341bf74053ef0154321403ab970c" alt="Selavy_003" title="Selavy_003" src="https://nwn.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341bf74053ef0154321403ab970c-800wi" border="0" /></a> <br />TypePad2011-05-02T19:02:24ZSLHamlethttps://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/05/second-life-artist-selavy-oh/comments/atom.xml/selavy oh commented on 'Explore "Construct", the Latest Second Life Installation by Duchamp-Influenced Conceptual Artist Selavy Oh [SLANE]'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef014e885cb48f970d2011-05-11T10:09:01Z2011-05-11T10:09:01Zselavy ohhttp://ohselavy.blogspot.com/thanks a lot Oberon! the material part is opening today at HUMLab, Umea, Sweden. see http://ohselavy.blogspot.com/2011/05/construct-humlab.html.<p>thanks a lot Oberon!<br />
the material part is opening today at HUMLab, Umea, Sweden. see <a href="http://ohselavy.blogspot.com/2011/05/construct-humlab.html." rel="nofollow">http://ohselavy.blogspot.com/2011/05/construct-humlab.html.</a><br />
</p>Mab MacMoragh commented on 'Explore "Construct", the Latest Second Life Installation by Duchamp-Influenced Conceptual Artist Selavy Oh [SLANE]'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef014e8841cacb970d2011-05-05T13:22:49Z2011-05-05T13:22:49ZMab MacMoraghhttp://soup-spoon.blogspot.com/Great writeup Oberon and Hamlet! If you haven't seen it, I had a dream dialogue about construct not too long...<p>Great writeup Oberon and Hamlet! </p>
<p>If you haven't seen it, I had a dream dialogue about <i>construct</i> not too long ago, <a href="http://soup-spoon.blogspot.com/2011/05/selavy-ohs-construct-dream-dialogue.html" rel="nofollow">written down here</a></p>
<p>Though now that I think of it, it's more like Plato's caves in a labyrinth that moves like Rubik's cube inside Selavy's head</p>
<p>Arahan Claveau will have an interview with Selavy Oh on the new May schedule of <a href="http://soupradio.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-2011-schedule.html" rel="nofollow">Soup Radio that begins this Saturday</a></p>Cole Marie commented on 'Explore "Construct", the Latest Second Life Installation by Duchamp-Influenced Conceptual Artist Selavy Oh [SLANE]'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef0154321ec0d1970c2011-05-05T00:08:07Z2011-05-05T00:08:07ZCole MarieVery well written mister Oberon.<p>Very well written mister Oberon.</p>Pathfinder commented on 'Explore "Construct", the Latest Second Life Installation by Duchamp-Influenced Conceptual Artist Selavy Oh [SLANE]'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef014e883e3cbc970d2011-05-04T18:13:15Z2011-05-04T18:13:15ZPathfinderhttp://becunningandfulloftricks.comVery cool. I felt it was appropriate to visit this place while wearing my "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2"...<p>Very cool. </p>
<p>I felt it was appropriate to visit this place while wearing my "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" avatar. <a href="http://bit.ly/iQ3Rgh" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/iQ3Rgh</a></p>