(Art:21) Performative Interventions: The Progression of 4D Art in a Virtual 3D World

Eva & Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.org Pseudo-Futurist Video Game Improvisation Extravaganza Odyssey 16 Nov 2009

Second Life artists are exploring how to captivate, or use the element of time to interact with an active audience. They have abandoned strict adherence to traditional hierarchies of art and embraced the virtual. In the past fifty years especially, ideas about time have shifted from passive to interactive and, currently, to perceptually immersive, via filmmaking and animation, the theatricality of performance, and virtual reality.

Nettrice Gaskins touches on Fluxus, Second Front, ZeroG Skydancers, RMB City, Bibbe Oh, Cao Fei, ColeMarie Soleil, DanCoyote Antonelli, Man Michinaga, Azdel Slade, echolalia Azalee, Stelarc, CARP, José den Burger, Velazquez Bonetto, Eva and Franco Mattes (among others!)

Read lots lots more on Art:21 (link)

Art:21 Fantasy Episode tonight

Fantasy presents four artists whose works or personal stories transport viewers to imaginary worlds and altered states of consciousness. With works that seem at times hallucinatory, irreverent, and sublime, each of these artists pursues a vision first held in the mind’s eye.

Art:21-Art in the Twenty-First Century tonight on PBS 10:00 ET Fantasy episode with Jeff Koons, Mary Heilmann, Florian Maier-Aichen, and Cao Fei, who identifies herself as the avatar of SL artist China Tracy:

Through a blend of documentary and magical realism, the artist investigates various aspects of role play: costumed youth and their families, workers’ dreams come to life at a Siemens light factory, and the simulated romance between avatars. The segment culminates in the artist’s ongoing project, "RMB City," an artificial island built in the 3D virtual world of Second Life that resembles a postmodern collage of landmarks, urban over-development, and Chinese landscape painting.

Read more (link)

Cao Fei biography (link)

Art21 Season 5 and SL's China Tracy

China Tracy's i.Mirror part 1 (2007), part of the China Tracy Pavilion Project, exhibited in China Pavilion, 52nd Venice Biennale 2007

Today's Art:21 blog (link) featured a screenshot from Cao Fei's RMB CITY. Known as China Tracy in Second Life®, Cao Fei will be spotlighted in Art:21 Season 5 in the upcoming Fantasy episode along with Jeff Koons, Mary Heilmann, and Florian Maier-Aichen. The episode will air Wednesday 14 October 10PM (ET) on PBS.

Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century is the Peabody Award-winning series produced by contemporary art organization Art21. From the press release:

In its most international season to date, Art21’s four-part series reveals artists’ perspectives on current affairs, politics, economics, history and popular culture, as well as showcases the artists’ working processes and their studios. For the first time ever, the series is presented in high definition and made available, beyond broadcast, in its entirety on-line via Hulu, iTunes and other digital platforms. (more)

art:21's Youtube channel (link)

About Cao Fei (link)

China Tracy's RMB City on Youtube (link)

Art21 Season 5 Trailer: Sneak Peek