Second Life, photo Lythe Witte (Christy Dena) |
The event was the opening of an installation by SL resident JC Fremont, an artist and academic who goes by the name John Craig Freeman in real life. In Imaging Place SL: US/Mexico Border, Fremont explores the notion of political and artistic borders with a two-part installation that includes a large border fence. Second Front (www.slfront.blogspot.com), apparently the first dedicated performance art group in SL, were commissioned by Ars Virtua Gallery (www.arsvirtua.com) curator Rubaiyat Shatner to create a performance for the opening held January 5, 2007. Second Front actors, attired as virtual helicopters and inspectors, cast all the guests at the opening as illegal immigrants and proceeded to interrogate and harass them. The drama escalated when Second Front showered the border with barricades and set the place on fireāsome people in power think the only solution to dealing with border crossers is to blow them up. CD
RealTime issue #77 Feb-March 2007 pg. 29
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