I’m still catching up with the end of 2013, such is life. Episode 15 of The Drax Files aired on December 27th, complete with the traditional theme tune and opening credits. I’ll embed the video at the end of the post, as usual.
This episode features an artist and a tiny otter, whom happen to be one and the same being in the shape and form of Second Life’s Scottius Polke, AKA Scott Rolfe. Art in Second Life is quite popular, the platform lends itself to the artistic and in this episode we can see why. Scottius discovered Second Life in 2008, he was at this stage already an artist. Therefore he saw the opportunity to create virtual world art based on his real world art, by using the building tools available within Second Life. Scottius also spotted the potential to use scripts to add something to his virtual world art.
What this episode manages to capture so very well is how art within the virtual world becomes part of the scenery, as opposed to when you walk into an art gallery say, where art is on the walls but might not grasp the visitor’s attention. The way Second Life is constructed lends itself to artists being able to make their art very immersive, making the world that the avatar is within a strong focus.
This episode also captures so very well the collaboration that is possible via Second Life. Scottius talks of working with an artist from Paris and a scripter. Then there are outside of Second Life ventures based on the work of the artist, a short story, a poem, a piece of machinima, all based on this virtual world art, which is based on real world art! This sort of global collaboration is one of the strongest points of virtual worlds.
Scottius also talks of how Second Life compliments the real world, it’s not an either or choice and this episode demonstrates oh so very well how art can cross the boundary between virtual and real with stunning results.
This is what Drax does so well with these episodes, in five short minutes he manages to grab plenty of information and demonstrate how well virtual worlds can enhance, rather than hamper, someone’s overall experience. Scott’s work fits well inside and outside of the virtual world, they compliment each other so very well.
Another excellent episode which demonstrates another strong use case for Second Life, or other virtual worlds for that matter.
Scott’s Wesbsite : http://srolfe.com/
SLURL to Avalon Town Centre Gallery : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tabula%20rasa/187/78/25
SLURL to mushROOM at Gallery Graine : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blue%20Curacao/186/55/2008