I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine in SL, Scott Kildall, who is famous for his eccentric performance arts based in SL. Some of you SLers may have heard of his 28 Avatars Later where SL Zombies went through the grid, in various bars and locales, and infected other residents. This Zombie attack was documented as machinima. It turns out that he is embarking in a new project to build viruses and he is seeking funding for it. As his previous projects, this one is equally interesting. Here’s his description:

This is a huge endeavor, which began in Second Life and is culminating in a new artwork: a 13-foot high trojan horse which will be stuffed with paper virus sculptures. These will include real viruses such as rabies and smallpox and imaginary viruses such as the Andromeda Strain and Snow Crash.

We are presenting the work at the 01SJ Biennial in early September and here we will be conducting workshops for 2 weeks on how viruses work, how to build papercraft models and also on sustainable construction techniques for large-scale sculptures.

We have received partial funding but have to raise more to complete the project. We are fundraising through Kickstarter and if nothing else, I’d encourage you to watch the video and learn more about the project.

Why is this an important project? We are doing something unique in terms of technology, namely using a computer-controlled shopbot to build out a wood armature from a Sketchup model and using printing directly onto a recycled compressed bio-board to make this physical sculpture look like a 3D model. This type of project has never been done before and will hopefully inspire others to use similar techniques instead of messy and dirty ones. We will be sharing our techniques with the public.

Also, we will be teaching people how to make 3D paper objects in an burgeoning papercraft movement which encourages use of ones hands in an increasing digital age in a gesture to bring people together in real space.

Thank you for considering this and we appreciate any support you might be able to give,
Scott and Victoria

One of my favorite conferences is coming up this week. Regrettably, since I am currently out of the country I won’t be making it this year. This is a great gathering to meet so many interesting people: gamers, scholars, game designers, and people from the industry etc.  Those who participate not only get to play games but also attend some cool panels (here is the schedule) and hear some cool people talk  about designing experiences, games, and transmedia storytelling. This year’s keynote speaker is NoMime’s Media‘s Maureen McHugh who also became a friend over the last several years. Of particular interest to me is the City Gaming & Public Art panel sponsored by Nonchalance, an innovative experience design company that has worked wonders with their game the Jejune Institute. Because it is a game build around San Francisco, players discover things that they had never paid attention to about the city itself.  Panel organizers, Peggy Weil’s description of the panel is as follows:

ARGs are not only transmedia, they are TransGenre. Games in general, and city games in particular, have “crossed over” from the cult/gamer and commercial/marketing sectors as celebrated innovations in public art. International art festivals from the Venice Biennale to San Jose’s ZeroOne are commissioning game designers to create site-specific artworks transforming the urban landscape into urban gamescape.

While urban game designers are tech-savvy and urban gamers find themselves in virtual and augmented realities – required to take full advantage of mobile/social networks – games as public art have theatrical roots, particularly in street theater, improv, performance art, club culture and literature.

This panel will address the intersection of city gaming as public art identifying both precedents and opportunities for game designers to create work for public spaces.

The details for the rest of the panels are in the schedule, feel free to check it out.