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SLART(TM) : Art in Second Life a presentation by Richard Minsky

In Second Life there is a virtual art world where Artists, dealers, curators, collectors and critics are represented by “avatars,” animated characters which can look like anything from realistic humans or animals to cartoons or geometrical objects. At any given time 25-35,000 people are simultaneously occupying this Metaverse. There are over 500 art galleries, and the range of art varies from shopping mall kitsch to huge animated sculptural installations that defy the laws of terrestrial physics. In this world you ARE art.

Artist and entrepreneur Richard Minsky started a website and blog titled SLART (TM), a critical review and journal of art in Second Life. Now he is planning to issue SLART as a paper magazine, beginning with a summer 2007 issue. During his presentation at Location One, Minsky will be navigating in Second Life under his in-world identity to show us some of the variety of artists, art galleries, museums, artists’ studios and university galleries there. These locations can disappear as rapidly as they appear, when owners change their mind about what they are doing, or don’t pay the rent.

Richard Minsky is the Founder of The Center for Book Arts, which was the first not-for-profit organization in the USA dedicated to advancing the art of the book through exhibitions, classes and studios. A graduate in Economics at Brown University and The New School, Minsky has participated regularly in the Art & Cognition symposia as a member of the Guest Panel [see http://interdisciplines.org/artcog and http://interdisciplines.org/artcognition ]. Richard’s work is on the web at http://minsky.com. Last year he published American Decorated Publishers’ Bindings 1872-1929, a profusely illustrated catalog and analysis of his collection, which was recently acquired by the university of Alabama.