Second Life project showcases the best in new Art and Design
A group of Art and Design students at the University of Chester is exhibiting its latest creations virtually – with viewers able to see its work from the comfort of their own homes.
Posted on
June 3, 2019
The six students will be showing their skills in graphic design, illustration and photography in the virtual world of Second Life, enabling them to share their work with more people than ever before. The exhibition has been designed as part of a five week work experience placement, which involved researching the world of Second Life – a virtual platform, which enables people to be creative and ambitious in a way that would seem impossible in the real world.
During their research, the students created a virtual exhibition and a virtual tour of the Kingsway Campus in Newton, Chester. A digital version of the Campus has been made on the Second Life platform, where student artwork and exhibitions will be displayed including work from third year students, where the group have virtually recreated the real life exhibition as it stands in Kingsway. The virtual reconstruction will also be used as a tour of the Campus for the University website, offering potential new students the chance to view Kingsway if they are unable to attend in person.
They also looked at the ways in which Second Life could be used in teaching and learning within the University and their findings will be looked at by the University to see if and any of their ideas can be implemented.
The exhibition called Khayalan (Malaysian for Fantasy) takes place on Thursday, June 6 at 10pm. To view the work, participants need to download the free Second Life software and create an avatar before June 4. Once in Second Life, search for University of Chester and viewers will be able to access the site from 10pm on the evening of the launch. To see the exhibition without setting up an account, you can follow the live stream.
The Virtual Curation team includes students Adam Elson, Barry Edwards, Kris Patten, Kuang Mei Wen, Paris Sinclair and Sarah Thornton.
Sarah, who is in her second year of a Photography (BA Hons) degree, said: “Virtual technology is now more affordable and accessible to many than it has ever been before and it provides risk free ways to explore and be creative. In a world where health and safety concerns can become a problem and prevent people from realising their full potential, virtual technology can overcome this obstacle and provide fresh, new and contemporary solutions. Using Second Life, we have been provided with the opportunity to test ideas, configuration, scale and the display of our own work.
“Through this project we have gained experience in designing, building and curating an exhibition of our own work and although in virtual reality, these experiences can be carried over into the real world and will put us in a good position for when we reach our final year exhibition.”
Chris Millward, a Technical Demonstrator in the Department of Art and Design and supervisor of the placement, said: “The virtual world continues to fascinate us, despite having become more popular and familiar over recent years. With physical space often in high demand, sometimes it can be difficult for students and staff to experiment with artistic ideas or push the realms of what is possible. The virtual campus that we are creating allows us to explore ideas without “real life” costs or demands on limited space. This project focusses on visualising space and virtually curating exhibitions, but we will hopefully extend the facility and technology to other areas of the Art and Design provision in the near future.”
