Conversaciones Con El Arte

Second Life has created an environment where artists can display their works to an audience across the world. This has created an entire artistic culture where many residents display art in the museums, galleries and homes they can buy or build using Second Life's powerful tools. Gallery openings even allow art patrons to "meet" and socialize with exhibiting artists and has even led to many real life sales.

Numerous art gallery simulations (called "sims") abound in Second Life. Among the most notable of these was the art gallery sim Cetus Gallery District, the world's first virtual online urban arts district. Cetus was modeled on real world analogs such as New York's Chelsea gallery district as a mixed-use arts community of virtual galleries, offices, loft apartments, and coffee houses. Its many tenant-run businesses featured weekly live music performances, gallery openings, and literary events such as the virtual book launch for "Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human," by Tom Boellstorf (Princeton University Press; 2008). Cetus was chosen Best Cultural Site in Second Life in 2007, and its creator avatar Xander Ruttan (real world arts professional Aaron Collins of California) was among the most influential art world avatars in SL. Cetus resulted in many ongoing collaborative efforts among the SL community of artists, designers, writers, and virtual builders from across the real and virtual worlds. (Cetus was later bought by virtual artist DB Bailey and converted into a personal art project).