Just in time for the holidays, acclaimed Second Life artist Bryn Oh is selling an illustrated book version of "The Rabbicorn", an immersive installation originally created in Second Life, then described as "poetic narrative, subtle ambient sound and beautiful visual artistry, part Gorey, part Poe, part Velveteen Rabbit", on indie book publishing site Blurb.com. (Price starts at $25, not a bad deal at all for a coffee table book with such beautifully composed set pieces.) "[A]s Christmas is coming," Bryn explains on her blog, "I decided to try and warp my niece's mind with the 'gift' of the Rabbicorn story. She is admittedly only 3 years old and won't really understand it, but I am hoping as years go by she will appreciate it on deeper levels." Great idea for her niece, for her many fans, and just as key, for all the people who might be interested in the concept of Second Life art, but do not yet have the time or inclination to get past SL's high barrier to entry, to experience it first hand. Many metaverse artists and their supporters bemoan the lack of wider recognition their often awesome works garner from the art world, and I feel their pain. But until Second Life becomes a truly mass market medium, I think the only viable solution is to bring the SL art out of the world -- via machinima, or in a tangible form such as Ms. Oh is offering now.
Hat tip: Andrew Sempere.
I'm obliged to mention Rita J. King's Second Life graphic novel, "Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds," an art project in and of itself, which I contributed to, chronicling our ethnography of Second Life, available for free here (http://dancinginkproductions.com/projects/understanding-islam-through-virtual-worlds/) and on flickr here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingink/sets/72157622048427128/). Hardcopies can be ordered at cost on Blurb.com.
Posted by: Schmilsson Nilsson (aka Joshua Fouts) | Monday, November 23, 2009 at 08:15 PM