The Power of Name in Post-Pseudonymous Virtual Identity

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

From Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare

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As I was thinking earlier today about a post in Phasing Grace on Second Life culture, it occurred to me that the same sort of semiotic questions I had in the quest to identify and name a distinct virtual Second Life culture also applied to personal identity.

In the mundane view of reality, a name is merely a word we use to label the particular entity that is specified. But the deeper truth is that a name plays a role in defining and maintaining our perception of the named object. At an even more profound level, a name actually brings the named into perceptual existence by separating a particular set of attributes from the universe into a discrete object or being.

One of the things I value the most about virtual life, is its power to shed light on otherwise obscure or invisible aspects of physical life. In this case, avatar "brand names" that also have a publicly disclosed human identity bring to light the almost mystical connection between the name (signifier) and our mental concept (signified).

For instance, although I know that on one level Dusan Writer= Doug Thompson, those two names still call up different metal models. Think of all of the well-known virtual identities you know with openly connected physical identities. Then go back and forth between speaking the avatar name and the human name and see what comes to mind and how it feels.For now, I am begging the question of what is "real" and only focusing on the action of names within our consciousness. Pretty wild!

I'm not Dead, Just Semi-Retiring: In Search of SLPurpose

There's nothing I love better than to find a great novel that extends into an ongoing series. But no matter how great the initial volumes are, most serializations eventually get stale and repetitive. It's a rare fictional character who can stay fresh over the course of more than a half dozen outings. And in some cases, like the Anita Blake novels, the long tail ends up sucking the life out of a once vital character. If I were Anita Blake, I'd be wishing Ms. Hamilton had put me on ice about six books ago and only revived me when (or if) I had a fresh new purpose for existence (other than contributing to her bank account).

Over the past six months or so, I've been having a harder and harder time finding an SLPurpose. And instead of letting my character and work drift into burn-out, mediocrity, self-plagiarism or mundanity, I'm going to semi-retire for the time being and only emerge when I have something worth sharing. This will likely mean less blog posts, comics, machinima, etc. for the near future. At least until I figure out the next compelling stage of my virtual life.

It just occurred to me that this same process is true for a company. There's been a lot of fair criticism of Linden Lab recently for making changes that are moving Second Life away from the frontier-spirit of its genesis to a more controlled, family-friendly and boring version of itself. But in some sense, I think they are  trying to find their own new SLPurpose without the luxury of being able to take a time-out. Or maybe not. Interesting to consider.

Anyway, I'll still be out there most days on Twitter (@botgirlq).

iClone Avatar Builder: High Speed Video Demo

Here's a follow-up to last week's short post on iClone Avatar Builder. For this version, I recorded the entire process of creating an avatar, from uploading an image through importing into iClone and, then edited a version at 6oo%-800% realtime speed so as not to bore the crap out of you.

Oh yeah. And please check out the beta preview of my new home blog: botgirl.com

I Finally Solve My Supergirl Barbie Problem

Those of you who follow this blog know that Supergirl Barbie has been a thorn in my virtual side for a very long time. Since my human counterpart would not be swayed by my threats, I decided to take matters into my own hands by hiring a pint-sized plastic mercenary to forcibly remove the little tramp. As you can see, the kryptonite enriched sword did the trick.

Don't worry. We didn't harm a hair on her plastic head. She's in a very comfortable packing box on her way to a nice vacation in a Bangladesh orphanage.

Quick Look at New iClone Avatar Builder Site

You don't need to be Einstein to create an avatar using iClone Avatar Builder, but it's fun to play around with that idea. The new site is a private label version of Evolver, which I've reviewed here before. The unique aspect of the new version is the ability to export a complete avatar for use in iClone, which is a pretty cool 3D video making software program that has a pretty well-stocked content marketplace including avatars, props, etc. 

Here's a quick video from iclone, featuring the the avatar I created on the Avatar Builder site. I'll be following up in the next week with a step-by-step look at the avatar creation process.

Second Life Creatives as Digital Folk Artists. Plus Late Breaking Video.

Folk Art: Art and objects made by people who are not artists, using styles and materials from where they live. The Museum Network

As I was browsing through Raw Vision the other day, it occurred to me that most of us who make art in Second Life are not trained artists; and that the sculpture, machinima, images, fashion and other works we create can be classified as Folk Art or Art Brut.  Seen via this point of view, Second Life can be viewed as the largest collection of Visionary Environments in the Worlds. That's pretty darn cool!

From the very first choices one makes to name and form his or her avatar, Second Life provides an outlet for the subconscious to emerge through creative expression. Latent artistic abilities are activated through content creation tools that are integrated expressions of the physical environment. There is no separation between avatar, tool and art.

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I took a quick look at Google Buzz before hitting "Publish" for this post and saw a link from Peter Stindberg to an Alphaville Herald post about the Saga of Second Life video. I embedded it here because I think it relates directly to the question of how the changes in Second Life's direction over the last couple of years might impact its future ability to act as an artistic catalyst. What do you think?

Who is More Powerful, the User or the Profile?

South Park really nails virtual vs. physical identity friction in "You have 0 Friends".  You can watch the full episode on the South Park Website. Here's a brief clip that would fit perfectly in the Botgirl vs. Human series.

Twinity Marketing Sheds Interesting Light on Second Life

These emails from Twinity arrived at the same time this morning. The top version came to me; the second went to Fourworlds.

As you can see, they are either doing A/B mail testing (evaluating two or more versions by splitting them within a mailing list), or using different versions that target specific attributes, such as avatar gener, geography, etc. Although the body of the emails are identical, the headline and opening blocks each feature a unique offer.

These are way more mainstream-targeted than even the most "I want my avatar to look like me" advertising for Second Life:

Have more fun with your friends – with all new pair animations! For the first time we will have new animations that can be performed with another Twinizen! Let your avatar give a gift to another Twinzen and see the reaction! Meet up at a party and do a turn of the Tango together! Even for more passionate moments, we have something in stock, from just holding hands, kissing under mistletoe to even more private moments. From Twinity News

And they're billing the two-wheeled Segway as "The Evolution of Movement":

Evolution of Movement: after the ripping success of the skateboard, we upping the ante with a more modern and sophisticated form of transportation! The Zach, a self-balancing upright electro vehicle will be the whole new way to ride. Move through the city, in a regal position while enjoying the envious looks of others! From Twinity News

So for all the flack we give Linden Lab for giving up its anything-goes youth, Second Life still presents one of the most open and flexible virtual world options. For now, anyway.

Don't Ask for Whom the Punch Line Tolls...

On January 28th, I used this image of Carol Channing and her dummy as a visual punch line for the blog post headline: "The Future of Avatar Identity? Taking The Real You to its Logical Conclusion."

LOL, right?

Look what showed up on my human counterpart's desk today:

That joke is not so funny anymore.  After the months it took to finally talk sense into that other dummy, this dizzy blonde floppy-legged usurper appears on center stage trying to sit casually in my hard-earned limelight. Well, bring it on!

"Through the Looking Glass" Art Exhibition Opening in Six Countries and Second Life

"Botgirl and Monk" One of my works in the show.

The "mixed reality" portion of the multi-artist art exhibition I first wrote about back in March 2009 is finally opening April 7 in galleries in Italy, France, Holland, Germany, Brazil, the USA and Second Life. Through the Looking Glass will feature the work of more than twenty artists from around the world including comics, digital art and video from Yours Truly. 

I'll follow up later this week with details on shows outside of the United States. If you're in the Boston area, please consider attending the Grand Opening at the Harbor Gallery.

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From Impotent Pissing and Moaning to Voting With Our Virtual Feet

Linden Lab has once again exercised its right to institute sweeping unilateral changes that negatively impact the avatar community. Recent modifications of the Terms of Service and Third Party View Policy erode and constrain resident options and expand legal claims by the Lab.

I posted the image above exactly two years ago today. Since then I've watched wave after wave of unwanted policy changes burst upon our shores such as the Trademark Use Policy and OpenSpace Pricing Change. Each edict sparked a brief meaningless fury of impotent and incredulous pissing and moaning across the Second Life SocialNet and Blogosphere, shortly followed by business as usual.

The good news is that this time around things may finally be different. Emigrating pioneers such as Zonja Capalani are being followed by more avatars who have awakened to the Lie of the SLand, realized that we don't own crap in Second Life and are voting with their virtual feet by shifting to other grids:

• Educational Institutions and Initiatives such as Jokaydia are expanding outside of Second Life to alternatives such as Reaction Grid;
• Third-party Second Life client developers are limiting support of Second Life; and
• Victoriana's 13 sims are shutting down and may be reformed on an OpenSim Grid.

Even venerable musician and blogger Grace McDonnough closed her last blog post with "See you around a grid."

Once we can imagine our virtual lives extending beyond the Second Life grid, it's only a small leap to start moving our social capital and whatever digital assets we can move (by hook or by crook) to other domains.