Thoughts About Immersion

Artée (Artistide Despres) and Eupalinos Ugajin are 2 of my favorite artists in Second Life. Not only because both are nice and well-educated people which are always a pleasure to talk with, but mainly because their art is always intelligent, thoughtful and surprising. I already expected something special from the current installation on split screen but my expectations were even exceeded. And although Artée showed me her work some time ago and Eupalinos on Thursday, I still do find it very difficult to write anything adequate.

Many artists claim to make immersive art in Second Life. What is that actually? From Wikipedia: “Immersion is the state of consciousness where an immersant's awareness of physical self is diminished or lost by being surrounded in an engrossing total environment; often artificial. This mental state is frequently accompanied with spatial excess, intense focus, a distorted sense of time, and effortless action. The term is widely used for describing immersive virtual reality,..” That simply means you get LOST in the installation, become part of it and dive into a new dimension. This experience is what me flashes here in SL and I choose mainly places in my travelogues where you can get this feeling. I refer in that context to my article about virtual and real perception. From RL uploaded works hanging on virtual walls are for me just a pale reflection of reality.

Artée and Eupalinos offer true immersion in their installations, combined with serious content that comes more subconscious. And that as intelligent as complex that it is worth to get more than just some short words. And yesterday night, the LEA Full Sim 6 has opened with Haveit Neox’ installation and it also belongs to this group of immersive installations. Because this travelogue shall not come out in a week, I have to accept, that my next 3 posts are just a pale reflection of these great works.

Go, loose yourself and enjoy it!