Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Art and the Second Life..

Art will remain the most astonishing activity of mankind born out of struggle between wisdom and madness, between dream and reality in our mind. ~ Magdalena Abakanowicz


There is something to be said for the Art World. And while my Second Life has mostly become about exploring new types of music, I can never stray too far from my love of art. And while I was not successful in finding any Andy Warhol exhibitions (come on..he's AMAZING, and putting all of his artwork together in one SL venue is more than could be imagined in RL), I did fall into the Second Louvre - SL's version of the Louvre Museum. And while the art is mostly that of SL artists on the wall, it was fun.



I've always wondered why art doesn't have a bigger presence in Second Life. Is it because of copyright/ownership issues? Because people would rather share their OWN artwork than those of artists long since gone from this Earth? I've seen the Vincent Van Gogh exhibition..I've checked out Mona Lisa at the DaVinci Museum and posed with Greco/Roman statues at the Second Louvre, and I have no answer. While today's world has some of the best artists - recognized and those not so recognized, we can't possibly forget the Great Masters, can we?

As we pay homage to the great literary masters (past and present) by keeping them alive in schools (To Kill a Mockingbird, anyone ? *ahem*) and remaking the books into movies (Beowulf, anyone?), we should do the same with art. Sure. Art comes in all forms. It can inspire, it can offend, it can repulse, it can awe..but at the end of the day, art is just that. Art. It's for you to think about and discuss. Mull over. Decide what style suits you best. What colors..textures..images provoke you to think, to speak, to act. What makes art..MOVING to you.

So..if you get a chance..pop into the various museums/cultural institutions in Second Life that you may not be able to visit in Real Life.

Hey..you never know who you'll run into.. :)


P.S. - If only the Met and MOMA would make a presence here. :) Talk about bringing art to the World. Hooooooo!
Love,
B


1 comment:

bigd Flanagan said...

It kills me that during budget crunches, which are perpetual these days, they always cut art, music and other performing arts first. The ability to create and appreciate seperates from common beasts I always thought. My goal as a parent, and as a teacher, is to help engender well-rounded individuals. Who says you can't throw in the mid 90's and appreciate the French Impressionists? Sounds like a pretty cool person to me. Great blog Bliss!