Georgia Museum of Art | New Media

NEW MEDIA

Georgia Museum of Art in Second Life

Second Life is a 3D Internet-based virtual world created by millions of people from around the globe. This cyberspace community was started by a small California-based company known as Linden Lab and founded in 1998 by Philip Rosedale, former chief technical officer of RealNetworks. Since its launch in 2003, Second Life has welcomed more than 8 million visitors, each of whom has the opportunity to create a new life, a "second life." Users design a virtual body or "avatar," that can look any way they want and can teleport or fly from place to place within Second Life. Once logged in, they can have real-time conversations by typing with fellow Second Lifers. This virtual world has the potential to be anything its residents can dream up as it is entirely constructed by its users.

The idea of creating a Second Life version of GMOA came from museum preparator Lanora Pierce and assistant business manager Erika Lee, avid Second Lifers, who brought it to the attention of the communications department as a way of maintaining interest during the closing. Many universities use Second Life as an educational tool, and both the University of Georgia's New Media Institute (NMI) and Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) have ongoing projects in Second Life. Museums, galleries and other arts-related venues are also among the institutions gaining international exposure through this new media outlet.

In recent months, GMOA has partnered with UGA's CTL to create a virtual replica of the museum. In the Second Life GMOA, visitors will be able to roam virtual galleries filled with digital images of works in the museum's permanent collection and hear commentary on them by the museum's curators. The virtual museum, which is located on the UGA CTL Island, can be found in Second Life by searching "Georgia Museum of Art" or using the coordinates UGA CTL 143, 29, 60.

"Second Life is important because it's providing new ways for educators to reach their students," said Carrie Bishop, CTL's multimedia project manager. "It's a platform with so many possibilities, and as a developer, it's been an exciting challenge to create engaging content and useful spaces in a virtual world."

The project team, which is led by museum media relations coordinator Jenny Williams, Bishop and David Noah, coordinator of emerging technologies at CTL, hopes to complete the virtual museum at the end of 2008 to coincide with the closing of the real-life museum building. Also working on the project are CTL's Daisyane Barreto and Jin Tang, both graduate assistants at the University of Georgia. GMOA's Erika Perry and Tolu Ogbechie, communications intern, have also worked on developing the virtual museum. GMOA Second Life is funded by a Museum Assessment Program grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

"A presence in Second Life will help the Georgia Museum of Art reach new audiences and provide an alternate location for visitors while the museum is undergoing construction," said Bishop. "It's also an opportunity to think about art in different ways. The rules of the real world don't apply in Second Life - for example, your avatar can fly. So, we can create a space that is innovative and interactive for visitors in a different way than the real museum. It is definitely an opportunity for a new and different crowd to learn about the Georgia Museum of Art."