The Alan Sondheim Mail Archive

i apologize for my arrogance.


Liminal, slow


There are liminal moments when real and virtual intersect in a contrary
and wayward matter, when Second Life, or any other program, isn't quite
loaded, is only half present. Like the older work of jodi.org, the user's
attention turns half towards immersion, and half towards anomaly -
simultaneous tacit knowledge and paradox. Usually these moments are quick;
sometimes they are slow, even permanent. There are also liminal spaces,
which might be defined as equivalent, but there are also liminal spaces at
game's edge, whether formed by island or height. Again, anomaly occurs;
everything is problematic.

As I type this, I look out the window; there are light cumulus clouds in
the dusk sky, reminiscent of Second Life dusk - but only if the Quality
and Performance slider is set high; otherwise, the sky is blank, tawdry,
unreal in any life. Here is yet another limit, and there are similar
limits built into the software itself - details aren't all that fine, but
as usual with avatars and landscapes, blank out into pixel-mania, no
matter what the bandwidth. (And dreams? How are these configured; if one
spends hours in Second Life, what happens then, if anything?)

Below are some images recorded on the Asus pc EEE 701, which loads and
renders slow.

http://www.alansondheim.org/ slow jpgs

( Again, go to www.alansondheim.org; click on Last Modified twice, and
the most recent files are at the top. And again - to access the Odyssey
exhibition The Accidental Artist, sign up on Second Life and go to
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Odyssey/48/12/22 .)