shoot the shooters

The German cultural theorist, Walter Benjamin, once wrote:

Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.

He believed that an indispensable part of the authenticity and meaning of an artwork was its connection to the location in which it was originally produced.

Even in a virtual space such as Second Life, we can still develop attachments to place and location. I have learned this at Furillen. It is a sim that has come to mean quite a lot to some of the regular visitors.

One of the most striking aspects of Furillen is the art produced there. The images – and videos – that have emerged from the sim have been displayed on its flickr stream, and in this blog. It is a remarkable testimony to the creativity and imagination of visitors.

Partly with Benjamin’s thoughts about authenticity in mind, the logical next step is to put some of this art on display at the sim itself. This has already happened with the competition winner, which is on show in the hotel reception.

And now …

… Furillen will host its first exhibition.

Next weekend, 30-31 January 2016, I will be showing series of portraits by a fine Second Life photographer, Moon Edenbaum.

These striking portraits are of eminent Second Life photographers. They were all taken at Furillen, in the same room, using the same set.

We will be displaying these works in a way that draws them right inside the Furillen setting. I won’t say any more about this; you will just have to come and see for yourself.

This exhibition will be quite special – and not only because it is Furillen’s first. It will be a social event that celebrates Second Life art through portraits of the artists themselves, displayed in the very setting in which they were produced – with as many of those artists present as we can manage.

Moon has been making portraits at Furillen for quite some weeks now, posting them in series of three. For those of you who are not familiar with his flickr stream, here are some examples of his outstanding work.

We hope you can find the time to witness, and participate in, Furillen’s first art event.