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VISIONS OF GLOBAL JUSTICE

Artists from four continents are represented in a strong exhibition celebrating the opening of Justice Commons.
[opened March 19, 2008]


Above: DanCoyote Antonelli included a one-minute documentary of his real world performance at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005

You can easily spend an hour or more exploring this exhibition, curated by In Kenzo with co-curators Bettina Tizzy and Delia Lake. Don't just stand in one spot and explore with the camera controls-some of the art is interactive and reacts to the proximity of your avatar.

Filthy Fluno created a drawing based on words that relate to the root causes of global injustice. He exhibits a slide show of 39 stages in the evolution of this work, titled Voice for the Voiceless. You can see a few of the images here, but this is no substitute for the impact of seeing all 39 and being able to zoom in on details. It is a superb view into the creative process as well as a thought-provoking and emotionally charged experience.

Not all the artwork is at ground level. DanCoyote's Crystalline Monolith is 800 meters tall. I couldn't quite figure out what it had to do with the theme of Global Justice, but it certainly dominates the exhibition. More on target for this show, though not exactly SL art, is DC's presentation of a one minute documentary about his 2005 performance AbuGitmo as his real life avatar DC Spensley (photo above). Bound hand and foot, in an orange jumpsuit and black hood, he subjected himself to patriotic American music blasted at painful volume. It's reminiscent of Chris Burden's works of the 1970's. Be sure to watch this when you visit the exhibition.

If you fly up to about 550 meters there are several works worth visiting.  Chance Abattoir exhibits Justice with a sword. The sword has just been hurled through the air, the scales of justice behind the thrower appear to be in a No Entry zone. Will justice find its mark? 


Above: Another view of Chance Abattoir's sculpture Justice with a sword
Behind it is the installation by Josina Burgess, Junivers Stockholm, Velazquez Bonetto


Above: One of 39 stages in the evolution of
Filthy Fluno's Voice for the Voiceless
click the image to see a few more and the final picture

It was nice to see the Teen Grid represented in this exhibition, with several works by winners of an art competition about Visions of Global Justice. I may have missed some, as they were not mapped on the notecard that was given to me on arrival, which did help in finding the works by the artists in this review.

Notecards are dispensed by many of the works in this show, with artists' statements, and that includes the teens. I thought Take My Hand by Barbara99 Spitteler was about a poor or homeless person reaching out for help. 

But the notecard tells me not to judge her by appearances, and that she is reaching out to help me. "She may look different and weird on the outside but she is willing to help anyone in need. Don't discriminate, judge, or hurt her."

It may be an imported 2D drawing, and a low-resolution image that's blurry and hard to see, but it does convey an on-target message and it's good to see teens reaching a global audience through Second Life.

Other subjects addressed by teens include Taliban women in Afghanistan and the Ku Klux Klan.

more on this show and teleport link... 

©2009 Richard Minsky