http://slurl.com/secondlife/Los%20Altos/128/143/25
10.5 miles yesterday for a total of 168 miles so far. Heading now into the last week of the reenactment. A busy day at Eyebeam yesterday in RL, many people stopping by for a day of events surrounding the Feedback show currently on view. While I am not part of this great exhibition addressing themes of green and sustainability through artistic inventiveness, my performance set up with the treadmill and video projection of the Second Life image, fits well in this context – particularly in regard to “human power” which are words I hear hundreds of times a day from the exhibition’s video shown just adjacent to where I am walking.
I’ve been thinking much in regard to the formative concepts and historical connections to performance art. An aspect of my thinking towards developing this project is my appreciation for the durational aspects of performance works, particularly some of the seminal works of performance art in the 1970’s and 80’s. Joseph Buey’s I like America and America Likes Me of 1974, where he shut himself inside a gallery in NYC with a live coyote. Or Linda Montano’s amazing project 7 Years of Living Art and Another 7 Years of Living Art.
I’ve been performing in game spaces since 2001 – the commitment of my body towards any type of risk or exposure being primarily the result of long hours of sitting and typing extended texts into these online environments. Through this new project, where I have physically committed my body to the walking on the treadmill to “march” my avatar across second life, I hope to take online performance to a more committed position. More on this later…time to get ready to walk.
It was a pleasure to met you, Mr Gandhi!
Namaste Gandhiji,
Mai aapko milney aavoongi.
I will come to meet you.