Gene Ware's artist talk on NEWare ISLAND...

Here I am at the official opening event for Gene Ware's L2 Complex and there she was in "person". I was able to recognize her avatar after seeing her on the large(r) screen ;-) At this point, I sat myself down and checked out the movie presentation... Here is the 12+ minute video clip with audio:


If you do not see the above video, click here.

This video is 12 minutes because I also tagged on some Q&A footage where you get to watch and hear Gene Ware answer my questions directly. My questions for Gene were based on an interview I gave with her in our 1st Lives in around the year 1998. I asked her to recall her Frankenstein/Biotech analogy and wondered if she still makes this analogy almost a decade later and whether or not this applied to avatar worlds such as Second Life as well as the emerging Biotech world. For me, avatar worlds address Utopian concerns and the tale of Frankenstein always conjured more pessimistic associations. Well, if you can watch the above video, you will be able to hear her thoughts on this question.

Generally speaking, I think if you watch this embedded video before reading more text below, it will be easier to absorb the full implications of this event but I must say that Posthumanism and other such topics were referenced.


Here is another pic this time with Ware's on-screen avatar turning her back to the voyeuristic audience. I recognize this corridor as belonging to the 2nd Dante Hotel...

I recognized this corridor because the L2 archivist and curator, Lys Ware (seen directly behind me) gave me a guided tour a few days ago.

I wish to take the opportunity now to thank Gene and Lys for adding my blog to their event's wiki.


Also, check out their official snapshots. I am only in the third pic from the top though as I had to leave to edit and render the video clip.

Scroll down this blog to read more about my guided tour...