What we wear and how we look is our only way to communicate who we are to people without dialogue. Clothes are indicators of our personalities, likes, values and subcultures we may be a part of. We are in a constant stage of reflecting our identity and the only way we can do that in the physical world is through our bodies. Our bodies are physical representations for defining how we choose to be perceived as individuals.
Second Life is a place where the physical world limitations open doors for imagination and creative approaches, and new possibilities in an alternative physical world, where we have more choices on how to be perceived. Imagine if what you wore told a story about who you are based on what you've experienced. How can fashion become a closer representation of who we are? How can we track our experience in an avatar "fashion"?
I see the body as a medium.
If the body is perceived as a medium to communicate identity through experiences, we can begin to see how our memories play an integral role for who we really are and how we define reality. Memory is visually documented through photographs, writing, art, video and audio. To bring memory into visual form has been the reason we exist. So, why can this medium of our bodies not be a vehicle for documentation and communication along with aesthetic appeal?
These are my thoughts for creating an avatar and hopefully I'll be coming up with examples of how I can achieve this with Second Life.
2 comments:
I love the idea of affixing photos, documentation and other such elements from experience as textures on our avatars. This recreates fashion into something more like screen space - the body and fashion become means to both project and reflect our histories and experiences. I agree -- SL is a good medium to explore these possibilities and avatar extensions. I look forward to seeing what you are able to make, and to helping provide the necessary tech info to realize the concept.
Another thought -- you need a mutable avatar, one that changes at different points in time, days, moods etc -- so I encourage you to consider time, how your avatar will be mutable in its documentation potential, how and when its wardrobe of images and traces will morph and change. Think time, when to remember, when to forget - change temporal outfits.
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