Just saw an article RMB City in Second Life VintFalken.com, a website offers news of games about sanpshotting, building and designing.
I was fascinated by the polaroid-esque pictures they took inside RMB City, and their understanding about city – “fragments of lives”, more than a whole set concrete blocks mass-produced by some famous architects.
Writer/ critic/ designer Hrag Vartanian wrote an interesting article aboout Prosepct New Orleans, the biggest among the art biennales that have taken place in the United States. Starting with Mark Bradford’s piece – an ark called “Mithra” (2008), Vartanian commenced his journey of wandering amongst the art pieces in the post-Katrina New Orleans.
Hrag talked about NO LAB, RMB City’s project collaborating with MAP OFFICE , after his encounter with the paper-cut-out Obama in the virtual New Orleans in NO LAB, Hrag commented “It occurred to me that we will realize soon enough how well-placed our hope in him really is.”
To read the article, press here
“飞鸟入林知有爱，人困夕阳城寨。”
“人民城寨依然是，只有向来须鬓非。”
“城寨建业楼，山尽沧海头。”
“城，黑云压城城欲摧，甲光向日金鳞开。”
“城寨萝茑合，表里无寸土。但闻鸟啼声，不见鸟啼处。”
(remixed and quoted from chinese poem)
Since our opening, many avatars are making the trip to RMB City – no entry visa required!
Over at Virtual Underworld, one such traveler has recently posted about RMB City, saying: “Its not a ‘mirror world’, and truthfully it is hard to describe.” All in all, we’d have to agree – descriptions are difficult, best you visit for yourself… (read more)
Sometimes things just connect. The other day I was reminded of this line from part of T.S. Eliot‘s Four Quartets:
“the still point of the turning world”
I have always been particularly drawn to the People’s Observation Wheel in RMB City, and when I thought about this phrase again it clicked for me. Though the City Hall appears to be the main center for RMB City, it seems the wheel might be an important fulcrum as well. I then remembered the phrase “Axis Mundi”, and how nearly all world cultures have their own version of this. The still point that connects heaven and earth. The eternal, unchanging center of a swirling chaos.
The first mayor of RMB City Ulisigg Cisse (RL: ULi Sigg) gave RMB ‘s citizens his first value, this mayor who claimed that “I would certainly be an excellent mayor, but I am born lazy” and thinks that an Utopia should be “Sinoswisszurichbeijing – situated in the Alps but with Chinese food, and no avatar with more than one vote”, surely will make alterations to RMB. It is exciting to see what RMB City will look like after his three-month term of office. This value is a little step for the changes of our city, what ‘s up next?
As one of the RMB members, I am expecting our mayors to fulfil his/her responsobility (probably in a way that I have never seen, although repetition is a mutation too):
– Hold a “Town Hall Meeting” in City Hall on a monthly basis, listen to the needs from the RMB citizens
– Select two noteworthy residents and visitors of RMB City as “Honored Citizens” every month
– Make a new rule for his/ her successor
– Make a visit to a specific venue in RMB City and make an offering there that will be kept through his/ her term of office
– Arrange at least one event at the place where SL feng shui master Huang He (SL: Queenshoe Voom) suggested
Mayor! Jia You!
After his interesting speech at the People’s Hall on Jan 16 2009, UliSigg Cisse (RL: Uli Sigg) officially commenced his term of office, this week, he gave his value “Do not do anything that I wouldn’t do”.
What will he do? What you will do?
NO LAB in RMB City, originally created for Prospect.1 New Orleans by Cao Fei+MAP OFFICE, is being presented “on tour” in Lacoste, France at the Galerie Pfriem du SCAD from Jan 17-Mar 15, 2009.
NO LAB: Cao Fei and MAP office
Galerie Pfriem du SCAD, Lacoste, France
Vernissage, 17 Janvier. 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
NO LAB in Second Life, landmark: RMB City 2 (96, 170, 31)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/RMB City 2/96/170/31/
Learn more about NO LAB:
Cao Fei (SL: China Tracy) ‘s blog post on NO LAB in LACOSTE, SCAD, FRANCE
NO LAB on Youtube
NO LAB on Tour.1 (SCAD/Lacoste, France)
RMB City: NO LAB, New Orleans Biennale Preview Day 1
NO LAB, New Hope—by James Au
NO LAB opening in Real Life New Orleans & Second Life RMB City
RMB City: New Orleans Biennale coming soon, 1st, Nov
RMB City Opeing AD in CHINA TOWN
http://slurl.com/secondlife/China%20Town/138/93/29
Our first life is aleady full of commecial info, you can barely get way from them even you
don’t want them at all. You might encounter with them in an elevator, in a cab or whatever
place you can image.. For me, secondlife is also a visual leading world at least for now,everything
is visual,so why not placing our AD board in other islands or sims,we do things the same in our first
life, i mean, why not?
Again,Ranking systerm is another systerm for our modern people.
we choose best seller for books/CDs/Films..ect. You don’t even to have
a second thought,so, just believe it!
Just a reminder ,RMB CIty is in the 3rd
place of Seconldlife SEARCH-SHOWCASE:-)
RMB City AD in CHINA
http://slurl.com/secondlife/China/128/128/7
RMB City in SL SEARCH-SHOWCASE
明和电机发明的乐器
好几年前明和电机出品的Knockman，一个不断敲打自己的头的小机器人，迷倒香港众多潮人，当时本人作为一位大龄文艺青年，对各种潮物敬而远之，Knockman和其背后的明和电机都没有深究，只视之为时尚玩具制造商， 殊不知明和电机实为艺术家。
明和电机，听起来是做电器之类的公司，实际上，明和电机确实曾经是经营电机／机械生意， 在某博客搜到 明和“前身是土佐阪市创业于1968年的一间制造石，生产早期飞机零件，1979年因为财务的原因结业”。当时社长的两个儿子土佐正道 (社长) 及土佐信道 (副社长)在1993年东山再起，飞机零件不做了，明和电机摇身一变成为结合机械和思维的艺术公司。
明和电机的产品，有三条主线：三条生产线：鱼器系列（Naki）、筑波音乐（Tsukuba）和Edelweiss系列。 当中最“有用”的只有一样：鱼骨形电线， 其它的呢，均被定义为“没用”， 例如鱼器Naki系列的“圣鱼车”， 是以车中的圣鱼游动的方向来确定车的行走方向， 很多时车只会在原地打转。
结合科技／新媒体与艺术，明和当然不是第一人，也不会是最后。当别的艺术家把科技用于艺术，明和电机却透过技术诘问“用处”，这让我想起最近有人问起RMB City 的用途是什么，是居住用途？还是装饰呢？到底我们怎样界定“用”呢？然后就会发展到怎样求界定建筑和栖居（可参考海德格尔德文章筑，居，思／ Building, Dwelling, Thinking）。到底什么是有用 － 这个资本主义体系的中心－ 是生产剩余价值，还是生产剩余快感？还是巴塔耶所讲的（萨德式的）使用价值？
此乃圣鱼车
最近突然又对浮世绘感兴趣，因为月斋芳年的无惨绘。
很多人以为浮世绘必然是木版画，其实当中也有些手绘的， 大部分是版画倒是事实， 所以浮世绘大多线条硬朗干净， 不管世山峦，楼阁，桃树（梵高就曾经临摹过）还是艺妓的肌肤。但是越是干净越是歌舞升平，就更让人想气底下的尘埃，污水和意难平。
浮世浮世，我们以为自己在看画，自己的处境却处在画中人的凝视下。
身处虚拟世界，一如置身浮世绘，繁花似锦，海上波光潋滟，连性都那么干脆利落，一click 完事，然后，再来，追求jouissance极乐再不受肉体羁绊，貌似自由自在。可是，SL 这个可视性极高的空间，就是一个环形监狱，你的一举一动被安插在别人和自己的注视下， 而且不管事实上有没有人在看，只要你相信有人在某个角落某个时间以某种理由看着你，你无疑就是任由大他者目光的宰割。
这种凝视绝不是“你站在桥上看风景，看风景的人在楼上看你”。
China Tracy appeared on Tonight Live, a SLCN talk show hosted by Paisley Beebe, talked about RMB City.
To watch the show: http://slcn.tv/tonight-live-paisley-beebe-11jan09
Four Yip, a Second Life artist from the Netherlands, is famous for his painting of various SL avatars.
Cao Fei (SL: China Tracy), just like other avatars that Four Yip illustrated, has never met the painter in real life. After talking to China Tracy, Four Yip started to delineate his own China Tracy according to her temperament, interests which he grasped in the conversation.
In her blog, Cao Fei commented that Four Yip’s China Tracy possess a unique, sentimental, illusionary aura that is not expressed in her real self nor her SL avatar.
original post on Four Yip’s China Tracy painting (on Cao fei’s blog)
It’s interesting to think about the difference between the different layers of:
– the real
– the virtual
– the fictional
If the virtual is a copy of the real – maybe the fictional is even more real, as it acknowledges the presence of its own “illusory” qualities.
It seems especially relevant to the next phase of RMB City – as an open city. How will these layers intertwine in the development to come?
(Note on this picture: taken yesterday morning, just past dawn, in RMB City – I like how the strange light seems to flatten the buildings and my body into one plane, a smoother cartoon version of RMB’s virtual “reality”, somehow more fully “fleshed out,” similar to Four Yip‘s portraits… this is how I imagine RMB City when I close my eyes)
