NMC Campus Observer

Ars Virtua Conference on NMC Campus

CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine) : Apr 26, 2007 09:51am

Starting today, Ars Virtua is holding a three day conference on Borders, Boundaries & Liminal States — this will be taking place at NMC Campus at the amphitheater on Learning (see location details)

“Borders, Boundaries & Liminal States”, a three day conference in Second Life, will explore divisions and shed light on these ideas and on the nature of the synthetic environment.

Borders are frequently under contention; they are regions that neatly separate two entities and enable a form of deconstruction. However, the distinctions formed by borders are not sufficient and we realize that often the border begins to represent a third region and generates more contentious borders.

It is truly difficult to discern the breadth a border, an indeterminate space, and it’s depth is dependent on the sphere, there is a point when you can cross into the “other.” Borders would be impossible to cross if this was false and the liminal space would disappear.

It is our assertion that the synthetic world is a fundamentally liminal space. This is not because it is functionally transitional, except perhaps that it is not a destination, but that it functions parallel to ‘real’ space and remains temporary in its occupancy.

Our interest lies in both the synthetic and the terrestrial world though fundamentally one is a subset of the other. A Venn diagram may hold visual information about this relationship, but it misses the point. There is a functional liminal space that exists outside the terrestrial. We want to emphasize that while there is a relationship here the liminal space that is created synthetically doesn’t exist in a terrestrial sense. So the atoms and the electrons are terrestrial and represented by our friend Venn, the intellectual space is not however anything but contained by materials and represents a different space.

To that end we are considering sessions relating to gender/sexuality, race, architecture, body/technology, body/digital image, life/non-life, transgenics, and game/environment.

Program: http://arsvirtua.com/bordersprog.php
Location: Amphitheater on Learning (169,171,26) map url

Ars Virtua is a new media center and gallery located in the synthetic world of Second Life. It is a new type of space that leverages the tension between 3-D rendered game space and terrestrial reality, between simulated and simulation. Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media.

Story filed under: Arts, Campus Headlines, What's Happening

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