So here I am on a scavenger hunt (part of assignment for CyberOne class). I am writing this as I go along, toggling the Word document with the SL screen- it is not as inconvenient as I expected it to be.
CRESCENT MOON MUSEUM– As my first destination, I have chosen the Crescent Moon Museum. There is a bleeding heart in front of the door. The heart, stabbed onto a marble base with a long sword, is truly bleeding. The blood is trickling off the base into a pool at the bottom. I try to remind myself that it is not only modern art that is gory- why Renaissance paintings were filled with bloodshed. But somehow, the freshness of the blood nauseates me. I can almost smell it.
I perch myself up on the base, feeling the warm bloom soak my already-crimson plaid skirt. The pattering sound of the blood drops falling on the sand is strangely soothing. I know I am letting my imagination get away with me, but am I really sensing these emotions (through my brain) because of the presence of my cyber avatar? It is a scary question.
I wander around the rest of the museum, impressed by some of the other artwork and the scripting involved to achieve it, but cyber art in SL cannot never beat going to the MET or MOMA. Some things can never be entirely rebuilt in the context of cyberspace, and the appreciation of true art is one of them. Why would people go to museums when most painting can be viewed online? Clearly it is the entire experience and interacting face to face with a painting or sculpture that is so intriguing.
There are several buildings next to the main Crescent Moon Museum building, and I trespass on some property, and sit down on someone’s couch for some rest. Some of the houses are very nice. One day, maybe I will have a house of my own.
MIDNIGHT CITY– My second stop is Midnight City. Teleporting to Midnight City, I arrive in a phone booth, like in the Matrix. It is a cute detail.
The city certainly lives up to its name. It is dark, studded with glowing streetlights, and almost deserted. The shops shine brightly with clothes, wigs, poses, and skins. I look at all of the clothes and skins and their price tags and feel somewhat depressed that even in SL I have to spend money to look good. And what exactly is “good?” Who set the good-looking standards in SL? Naturally the people who play. And those people inevitably bring into the game their offline desires and prejudices and preconceptions of beauty. Although it may feel real, SL can never be an independent world because SL does not exist without FL.
My criticism of society’s crave on a standard ideal for beauty, however, is only in theory. I have fun browsing and trying on some outfits at stores that let you try things on. I finally end up buying some buns for my hair. When attached to my head, I look like the cartoon character Pucca.
I love cities- the beautiful modern architecture, the busy atmosphere and all the crowds (though not the shoving and pushing)- but somehow Midnight City doesn’t live up to my expectations, or rather standards, of what a good city should be.
The Lost Gardens of Apollo – After Midnight City, I decided I wanted to go to a more classic area, and chose the Gardens of Apollo. When I arrived on the island, a couple was sprawled in front of a fire, probably whispering to each other because I could not hear their voices. It was like being transported back into time, and I felt terribly out of place, wearing a red plaid skirt and black shirt. I quickly made a dress with a huge balloon skirt and an off-the-shoulder top, and tied my hair up into knots on top of my head (thanks to those new buns I bought at Midnight City!) Although I could never look Grecian because of my Asian features, I felt a little more in place as I walked between the white pillars and admired exotic dresses made of filmy chiffon-like textures.
Admiring the beautiful sunset, I was joined by a man from New Zealand, or so he claimed. He did not wear a shirt, revealing a great tattoo of a tiger on his chest.
“Is that a tiger on your chest?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Do you like tigers?”
“I think it would depend on whether it was a friendly tiger,” I said.
“Aye, it is a very righteous tiger,” he said.
We sat for some time by the sea, gazing at the sun, which hovered over the horizon but never disappeared over the edge. The beauty of cyberspace. I later excused myself and told my new friend that I wished to explore more of other worlds, and took a short excursion in one of the boats, just to remember the soft red rays of this place.
Free Swimsuit Event– Because we had to attend one event, and because I am interested in clothes (as anyone reading my blog will undoubtedly have noticed by now) I chose an event where they said they would be handing out free swimsuits. I should have gotten my cue from the number of participants in the event that it wasn’t the most popular around. When I teleported to the location, there was no one in sight. Noting two green blobs on my mini map, I flew over to a beach area, where I found a couple dancing and making out in the rushes (the woman was even making appropriate noises). I pretended to ignore them, but actually was very distracted (because of the noises).
After doing some exploring and riding around on a dolphin, I found out that the towels spread out on the beach were supplied with some nice script poses. I proceeded to undress on the beach, making up a new bikini by scratch, and was distracted again by the woman, who laughed. It may or may not have been at me, but suddenly I felt self-conscious, although I knew that my SL character had a very fit figure, unlike my RL self.
I liked two poses in particular, but unable to get both of them into the same screenshot (duh) I cut out one image of me from one of the screenshots and pasted it in the other with Photoshop. In the end, it offered a form of pseudo satisfaction. You see, until now, I have never worn a bikini and unless a miracle happens with my body, probably never will for the rest of my life.
Lessons that I learned
The scavenger hunt experience of week two proved to be an example of how cyberspace, in its encouragement of democracy, allows itself to run on capitalistic values, which, ironically, turns up confining a person to certain values without necessarily having created any laws.
Although people are allowed to have freedom in how they look, it has almost become somewhat of a consensus that those who want better looks have to spend money to buy new skin and clothes, since certain contours and textures cannot be achieved with the default settings.
It is funny how people in the ‘real’ world say that the media is responsible for broadcasting images of super-skinny models or creating a “norm” for what is considered beautiful and what is not. However, in the world that Linden has created, there is no such media, and people are not pressured to look a certain way; nor are their any health hazards in being obese or dyeing one’s hair every day and so on.
Yet the people playing in SL cannot detach themsevles from the values or mindset which they have developed in the real world, which gets reflected in what is expensive and what not in virtual SL. Because of these characteristics, SL – for all its characteristics which include an independent currency system and free market – can never be truly independent, at least in an emotional context.
Arriving on Berkman Island, I met some people who were not enrolled in the CyberOne class. They were just standing around, talking, and did not seem offended that I asked a lot of stupid questions about how to play the game. One of the girls offered me some free clothes, which I gratefully accepted. The package included some cute items, like a “wet” T-shirt that reveals the breasts and a diamond ring.
Although this is taking place on a cyber platform, I feel there should be a certain level of decorum, but I don’t know what that level should be. Also, it seems that the senior and junior Nesson, at least, are more liberal-minded that I am, so perhaps they do not care about those kind of formalities. It is strange how some societies work very hard to establish such cultures and some already have it but don’t know how precious it is. For instance, when a professor walks into a classroom, in the past, the students stood up, like when the judge enters a courtroom. These days, however, students don’t even stop talking even when the professor is standing at the podium.