Art in Brooklyn/Art in SL

Jay Newt - aka Jay Van Buren - is an artist currently navigating between a RL art gallery in Brooklyn, NY called Jack The Pelican Presents and a gallery in SL, suggesting what art movements in the virtual community may look like in the future. The event, called Brooklyn Is Watching, runs until March of 2009.

People who enter the RL gallery can navigate through his avatar in RL. Podcasts will be broadcast and a blog will keep track of events in the galleries.

Visual artists deal with sensation, among other things. What is great about Jay Newt’s idea is that it is not restricted to SL but branches out into RL. Says Newt:

“It is an artwork, an entertainment product, a venue for critical dialog and a marketing vehicle. It also will be a hell of a lot of fun.”

He further explains his goal:

“I’m convinced that Second Life is the future. So what is “fun” to me is to create a venue where people can show their stuff and have an audience that will take them seriously and help “break” Second Life to the wider world, especially the NY art scene.”

Newt is also friends with Amy Wilson, who has made the very real book Postcards From Second Life that contains watercolor paintings of SL scenes. This should grab your attention, because it casts the pixelations of SL in an unexpected medium: paint.