Cao Fei: Avatars | Art21 "Exclusive"

Episode #088: In her Beijing studio, Cao Fei reflects on the behavior of avatars in the digital environment of Second Life and the motivations behind people who explore and inhabit virtual worlds. The video showcases Cao's project "RMB City" and the many avatars that frequent it, including the artist's own avatar China Tracy.

Cao's work reflects the fluidity of a world in which cultures have mixed and diverged in rapid evolution. Her video installations and new media works explore perception and reality in places as diverse as a Chinese factory and the virtual world of Second Life. Depictions of Chinese architecture and landscape abound in scenes of hyper-capitalistic Pearl River Delta development, in images that echo traditional Chinese painting, and in the design of her own virtual utopia, "RMB City." Fascinated by the world of Second Life, Cao Fei has created several works in which she is both participant and observer through her Second Life avatar, China Tracy, who acts as a guide, philosopher, and tourist.

Cao Fei is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode "Fantasy" of the "Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century" television series on PBS.

Learn more about Cao Fei: http://www.art21.org/artists/cao-fei

VIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview & Translation: Phil Tinari & Xiaotong Wang. Camera: Takahisa Araki & Frank Dellario. Editor: Paulo Padilha & Mark Sutton. Voiceover: Clara S. Jo. Artwork Courtesy: Cao Fei.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• art
• artist
• contemporary
• visual
• cao fei
• avatar
• second life
• china tracy
• virtual

[sclapione]

@ANDPRY Obvious things went past your head

[mickcleere]

a computer game dose this alot better

[ANDPRY]

Wow! This is just so profound! These comments are so specially meaningful & deep- spoken with such seriousness- not at all obvious nonsense...

What great art this is -

[ScrapedfromSealings]

it's funny that human corruption exists even in an arena where we can BE anything. Projection is an interesting thing.

[lacedout]

Interesting...

[charloot12]

im going to link this to my freind :)

[appledecca]

Thanx that was excellent... I wanna be an avatar now! I used to get dissed by some old hats when I got excited about the possibilites for theatre in interspace...they hated the idea of avatar theatre because it was not live.. But your open minded observations . . . Gives hope to the dying Theatre & the chance to regain itz power and touch more people ( Instead of borrowing power from theatrical performance found in some music, song,performance & stagecraft )Theatre might get real again!