Bettina Tizzy has just announced she's suspending her NPIRL blog, the leading voice for art created in Second Life and other immersive virtual worlds. She is not departing from SL or her role as metaverse art maven, however, just reportedly devoting her energies elsewhere.
"It's bittersweet, Hammy," she tells me, when I ask her how she feels to do so. "Delicious to have a soapbox from which to highlight and discuss both the good and the worrisome about virtual worlds. I can remember worrying that I'd run out of things to say, content to feature, and great content creators to interview. Ha! My only regret is that I never wrote about some of the best, and there are so many new talents coming on board now. Simply not enough time in the day."
While praising the blog's collaborators, especially Turkish designer Alpha Auer, she also hinted at what's to come: "I am not going away. The Not Possible IRL working group and the in-world Impossible IRL group remain. As for a hint to what I'll be doing next, I'm looking at Google Wave as as way to encourage discussion and collaboration, as well as other web platforms and worlds, and I'm taking on a few projects which I'll talk about soon enough."
Good to know Ms. Tizzy will still be around. Still, losing the blog is a sharp blow to the evolution of metaverse-based art. Image credit: Bettina Tizzy in 2007, showing me one of AM Radio's first SL art installations, based on "The Death of Marat".
http://www.alphaauer.com/?p=1294
Posted by: Alpha Auer | Tuesday, November 03, 2009 at 02:26 PM