2ND LIVE programme
Exeter Phoenix (UK) and Second Life, 2007-2008.
2ND LIVE was a programme of Arts Council England funded commissions and 'Scratch' events exploring space and event in the Second Life® environment. I acted as curator, creative producer and mentor for the programme, which attempted to unpack two questions. What can be learnt through the transference of Real Life performance practices into a Second Life context? And, how can we construct space and event in order to exploit the potential of the virtual environment, rather than attempting to mimic everyday dynamics?
The four commissioned works were:
• Third Life with live artist Richard DeDomenici, a two-day marathon during which Richard worked with participants to realise a number of previously infeasible Real Life projects in Second Life;
• Viral Duets with choreographer Niki McCretton and the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, a series of intimate, one-to-one exchanges that drew on Real Life motion capture sequences;
• A Study in Reflexive Architecture with virtual and real life architect Jon Brouchoud, the building of a complex virtual structure that responded fluidly and dynamically to avatar movements within it;
• The Second Death of Caspar Helendale with computer games researcher Dan Pinchbeck and composer Jessica Curry, the preparation for, and conducting of, a funeral service and requiem mass in a bespoke mausoleum, after which Caspar relinquished his second life (restaged at the Royal Opera House in 2009).
• Third Life with live artist Richard DeDomenici, a two-day marathon during which Richard worked with participants to realise a number of previously infeasible Real Life projects in Second Life;
• Viral Duets with choreographer Niki McCretton and the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, a series of intimate, one-to-one exchanges that drew on Real Life motion capture sequences;
• A Study in Reflexive Architecture with virtual and real life architect Jon Brouchoud, the building of a complex virtual structure that responded fluidly and dynamically to avatar movements within it;
• The Second Death of Caspar Helendale with computer games researcher Dan Pinchbeck and composer Jessica Curry, the preparation for, and conducting of, a funeral service and requiem mass in a bespoke mausoleum, after which Caspar relinquished his second life (restaged at the Royal Opera House in 2009).
Images: Stephen Hodge, Jon Brouchoud, Yiannis Katsaris.
Commission #1 publicity
The virtual World Trade Centre jump
A sandbox experiment (the 'Terrolympics' rings)
Richard straddling Real Life and Second Life
Commission #2 publicity
Niki in the NCCA motion capture suite
A bird's eye view of the performance dome
An avatar duet
Commission #3 publicity
The work under construction
A public 3D space scripting workshop
The opening of the work
Commission #4 publicity
Caspar preparing for his service in the mausoleum
Caspar's funeral service in progress (Second Life)
Caspar's funeral service in progress (Real Life)
The new Royal Opera House mausoleum
The ROH funeral service in progress (Second Life)
The ROH funeral service in progress (Real Life)
2ND LIVE curator Drifter Rhode pays his respects
Dissemination
Between 2008-2011, seven related papers were delivered at: PSi#14: Interregnum, University of Copenhagen; Site - Art - Audience, Tramway, Glasgow; Performing Presence, University of Exeter; Theatre and Performance Research Association Conference, University of Plymouth; International Conference on Adaptive Architecture, Building Centre, London; From Black Box to Second Life: Theatre and Performance in Virtual Worlds, University of Hull; Symposium on the Dramaturgies of Telematic Theatre, Central School of Speech and Drama, London.
The text of an article published in issue 20:2 of Contemporary Theatre Review (Routledge, 2010) can be downloaded below.
Avatartist 2.0
Exeter (UK) and Second Life, 2008.
Supported as part of DIY 5: 2008, a Live Art Development Agency initiative developed in collaboration with Arnolfini and Theatre Bristol.
Avatartist 2.0 was an intensive introduction to the Second Life world, one of eleven projects that comprised the 2008 DIY programme, an opportunity for artists working in Live Art to conceive and run professional development projects for other artists. Through a series of in-world practical exercises, exploratory journeys, encounters with existing artist-avatars, realisations of impossible architectures, and artist-specific experiments, this three-day workshop aimed to: familiarise participants with some of the skills needed to kick-start a Second Life; demonstrate how Real Life and Second Life practices may support each other; and facilitate dialogue and artistic exchange between participants.
Images: Stephen Hodge, Holly Bodmer, Ilana Mitchell, Tekla Wozniak.
Keaton Axelbrad (a.k.a. Holly Bodmer) exercising
Deskspace Hermit (a.k.a. Ilana Mitchell) hovering
Paul Grimmer + Francesca Steele in a workshop
Attending a Lynn Hershman Lesson installation
Exploring impossible architectures
An 'in-world' lunchtime picnic
Meeting Richard Dedomenici in a workshop
Reflecting on our dual lives in the final workshop
SLaaristokaupunki
Kuopio (Finland) and Second Life, 2009.
Commissioned by ANTI Festival.
In Second Life, the 3D online digital archipelago, space is discontinuous and walking is anachronistic. For ANTI Festival 2009, I invited participants to join me on a short 'meatspace' walk to an intimate space, looking over Lake Kallavesi towards the archipelago of Saaristokaupunki. Here, my avatar Drifter Rhode accompanied participants on a second walk, this time through a virtual landscape, where together we searched for connections back to the Real Life Kuopio. SLaaristokaupunki was for one person at a time, and previous experience in the Second Life environment was not required.
Images: Stephen Hodge, ANTI Festival, Pekka Mäkinen, Finnish Tourist Association.
ANTI Festival 2009 brochure cover
Slaaristokaupunki brochure entry
Lake Kallavesi and part of its archipelago
A walk-and-talk alongside the lake in Real Life
A map of Kuopio's Real Life urban grid structure
A map of Second Life's island grid structure
Spanning a Second Life walk and a Real Life view
