The above platform is described as :
Suburban Seastead, Virtual Property (Futuristic throwback), Second Life. Price: $1 Million Linden (most recent exchange value in U.S. dollars accepted). Will not last long. This impressive monument to housing everywhere is single-handedly responsible for upholding the impressive home values of this neighborhood. Calling it a house does not do it justice, mostly because it is in fact a giant virtual platform, situated in the ocean right off the coast of a fantastic and family friendly suburb.
The build is the work of artist Andreas Angelidakis and is part of an Intangibles collection for The Walker Art Gallery in Minneapolis. The build appears to be a somewhat tongue in cheek sale :
Greek architect Andreas Angelidakis is not serious unless YOU are serious and his agent’s motivation can only be described as “cautiously optimistic.”
I stumbled across this via an article in the New York Times by Melena Ryzik : For the Walker Art Center, a Shop That Peddles Evanescence. The article is in some ways odd, especially the part about Second Life :
But the rules of Second Life mean that buyers cannot simply enter the house; Mr. Angelidakis has to log on to show them around. “It’s almost like being a real estate agent,” he said, albeit for “an object and a price that is virtual even to the Internet.”
If you want to buy the item inworld, then you can buy it now, it’s set for sale, although I would certainly advise anyone to have a serious look at it before taking such a large plunge!
The Surburban Seastead is part of a mix of items, some priced to sell, others a collection of artwork from The Walker Art Gallery. The concepts are odd, to me anyway. For example photographer Alec Soth will send people images on snapchat which are designed to disappear shortly later.
The New York Times article goes into a lot of detail about the ideas behind Intangibles. However what of the Surburban Seastead? I mean there must be more to this than meets the eye? Maybe. Andreas Angelidakis describes Second Life as a “Ghost Town” these days, but he also suggests that there may be more for sale than the Suburban Seastead :
Mr. Angelidakis said he would like to take his concept, and his relationship with the buyer, further. “Ideally,” he said, “I would like to sell my own account in Second Life, so they could maybe just become me.” He has not yet settled on a price for that.
I would ensure anyone considering this pays special attention to Linden Lab’s terms of service! It’s a tad difficult to judge just how far Andreas Angelidakis has his tongue in his cheek with this. However I’ll leave you a video about the Suburban Seastead.