…to all my American, non-American, real and virtual friends and colleagues!
The magic shimmer
While in Italy I had an interesting conversation with SL writer Wang GuoWei about the peculiar effects of light in different European Countries.
This is my SL tribute to that LIGHT and specifically to that indescribable shimmer so specific of Venetian and Flemish oil paintings.
Breaking Forecast – New opening at UCCA
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art presents its latest collective exhibition on the new ‘Chinese Art Generation’, Breaking Forecast, 8 key Figures of China’s New Generation Artists (http://www.ucca.org.cn/portal/exhibition/index.798?op=current&menuId=19).
RMB CITY fake mountain at UCCA
SL fake mountain in RMB City
Among important names and notable voices of the young Chinese art scene, Cao Fei’s RMB City is also exhibited with a massive installation of our SL ‘fake mountain’. Inspired by artist JianJun’s original ideas on reality vs virtuality/fake/hyper-reality, RMB City erects itself in the shape of a huge fake mountain in the main hall of UCCA.
Like in a magic box, THE REAL is first represented in THE VIRTUAL world of SL (we quite obviously tend to represent what is already in our mind, what we already know and is part of our experience) and finally this new object repossesses THE REAL space of the gallery.
The work is multilayered and plays on different conceptual meanings but one thing that immediately crossed my mind while exploring new RMBCity piece is Calderón de la Barca’s play La Vida Es Sueño (http://www.enotes.com/life-dream).
What is real? Does it actually make sense to distinguish real and ‘virtual’ lives? Can human mind really perceive the limits between reality and illusion, or is maybe our life a blurred and unknowable dreamlike experience?
The idea of ‘life as a dream’ goes back to old platonic and Hindu theories of reality as illusion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_(Hinduism). And quite interesting this coincidence adds to the list of recurring connections between Hinduism and SL world (we’ve already discussed the Sanskrit meaning of the term ‘avatar’ in a previous post http://rmbcity.com/2009/05/virtual-reincarnations/).
Has virtuality become our modern way of representing an unknowable and mysterious world?
“What is life? A frenzy.
What is life? An illusion,
A shadow, a fiction,
And the greatest profit is small;
For all of life is a dream,
And dreams, are nothing but dreams.”
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, La Vida Es Sueño, Segismundo’s soliloquy
Semi-serious account of Torino trip nov-2009
Mix a bunch of 100% Chinese, some Cantonese, some half-castes, some Italians and some foreigners; place them on the most postmodern theatrical stage in the heart of ancient historical Torino, add a bit of virtuality, some superheroes and some ‘yan ban xi’ outmoded costumes and TURN ON THE FOOTLIGHTS!…
November 7, 2009, A rainy night in the Northwest of Italy
Audience: ‘RMBCity Opera’ is the only performance repeating twice in Artissima theatre program…it must be quite interesting, tough very bizarre…
RMB City: we must test the CCTV model on the Astra Theatre stage…where the bloody hell are Superman and Superwoman?…
Voice-off: …having some pizza in the nearby…
Neo: I’ve taken the red pill, Trinity, and now I think I’ve stepped out of the glass into a new vivid reality where people eat REAL food (mainly ‘spaghetti’ and ‘pizza’) and build REAL houses and monuments…
Audience: What’s this weird ballet about? They look like robots in old-fashioned military costumes…
RMB City (with trained voice): “Perhaps it was a mad dislocation of the times and the body: revolution and ballet, revolutionary model and consumption – these taught the toe love and hate”
Voice-off:…China Tracy is backstage trying to seduce some lighting technicians! Somebody go and get her!!!
Cao Fei: Here it goes again: the snobby lunatic is unleashed…no way to stop her now! Batman, go and get her with your superpower!
Voice-off: …also having some pizza in the nearby…
Cao Fei: :-@!This world is a mess! Let’s close the doors, turn off the lights and login to SL!
Audience: Bravo!
…Neo: “Whoa. Déjà vu.”
RMB City and Vitamin in Torino, Italy
China Tracy and Gianna Yebut’s photos from Artissima Art Fair and ‘RMB City Opera’, Turin, Nov 2009
What happens when a historical and ancient town in the northwest of Italy meets with China Tracy’s virtual city?
How does an empty stage look like before the frantic and mad show of an Art Fair begins?
Have a look at these pictures of our ‘Voyage to Italy’…
RL Torino
empty 'stage'
the show begins...
Italians enjoy 'Live in RMB City'
...Chinese, too!
'RMB City Opera'
