Article
by Neuron Bandit

The definition of ‘Art’ is in itself is a rather complex, personal and debatable issue. My personal reflection of the word in its simplest of terms would be…

‘Art is the expression of thought, emotion, opinion and observation, by stimulating one or more of the five senses in order to communicate these experiences to another.’

We have five senses in which to interpret our environment and communicate with each other. We can express ourselves in many ways including music / singing, writing / poetry, imagery / video, dance and sculpture.

There are many ways to create a picture, or to compose music, even the choice of words in our writing, expresses the mood, personality and education of the author.

Ok so where am I going with this?

Second life is a virtual, digital reality that runs in parallel with our everyday lives.
This is a great platform to meet, socialise and express ourselves with people that in all likelihood we would never have the opportunity to befriend. A consequence of this flexible system, it brings a great many people closer together. Closing the boundaries set in place by physical constraints, we can meet people from all nations within a few virtual footsteps, and maybe a TP ;)

This system (being internet hosted) maintains a separation from reality and creates some very important changes to the way we communicate to each other. We only have two of our senses within the realms of our sl. ‘Voice chat’ is now a popular tool to communicate, however this is a relatively new feature and many residents still choose not to use it including myself. My point being it is one thing to read discussions in your chat bar, but quite another to sense the tone in which it was said. This highlights that our communication options are limited from our everyday existence and sl citizens have adapted to accommodate these limitations.

Second life stimulates the creative sparks / motivations within us, whether in our imaginations, the objects we build / texture or the avatars we shape and dress. We are from conception expressing ourselves by designing our appearance and the very environment that we live in.
More so than in our real lives, having been given the power by God (Lindens), to have a full body make over, (change species in some cases) Fly down to the nearest B&Q, buy bits to make your house, TP back to your land, instantly erect your new home, just in time for your ‘best in neko’ disco party at 8pm ;)
Situations that simply couldn’t exist in our reality are readily created, further increasing artistic potential.

I am an artist myself, and I look around sl appreciating an environment saturated with creative and artistic self expression.
Stop for a few moments and think about what you are experiencing. Everything has taken thought, consideration and time to bring it into existence.
The construction of a building or the texture applied to its walls, it says something about the creator, or their intention for presenting it this way.

Here are two contrasting ways that residents have chosen to present their locations, both creating different atmospheres and for very different purposes.

An aerial photograph of Svarga shows off the majestic structure that dominates high up, on this beautiful nature reserve.


This shot from the crack den contrasts that of Svarga in atmosphere and mood, not quite my holiday preference; having said this beauty is not the purpose of this location.

We cannot even take the natural for granted, landscapes, trees, grasses, lakes and skies are all creations from our fellow residents.

The Lindens created the canvas and supplied us the tools to paint our picture. Many of us have our own small piece of the larger picture, those places we call home. It is here we personalise our piece of the jigsaw. We design the homes we’ve dreamt of, then decorate and furnish; making them our comfortable space :) Just like the real world we all have varying likes and dislikes and so the final painting continues to expand.

Creativity is such a fundamental part of our sl, that without it there would be no second life to live.

For us to use it we must first build it!
For us to enjoy it we must texture and script it!
Only then can it be appreciated!

The key that unlocks the gates to the vast, rich content flowing over the grid is in the minds and imaginations of those of us that call it our home.