My friend Eric (1, 2) is currently trying to understand trust on the new web. Two days ago we had a talk about the topic and, more specifically, I told him about my experience renting Land and signing a contract in Second Life. You can listen to parts of the conversation here (39 minutes, MP3).

Eric and his partner Alex are doing a great job researching trust on the web. I found the site extremely informative and inspiring.

Technorati Tags: economy, Second Life, trust

I never had a book signed by the author in my first life so far. Yesterday I got my first book signed in Second Life. In order to get signed I had to buy it first. Instead of buying it at Amazon I had to go to a book shop in Second Life. This was quick and easy since clicking on a link on the web page where I read about “Play Money” by Julian Dibbell teleported me (that is my second me Rob Habsburg) not just to the shop, but to the right shelf. There were two offers: The Second Life Edition for 750 L$ (about 2.25 $ at current market rates) and a bundled version containing both, a Second Life and a first life edition for 6250 L$ (about 18.75 $).

First I couldn’t figure out how to read the book. Only after having taken it apart and not being able to reassemble it, I went to a help page where I found I had to sit down in order to read. Sit down before you read – that makes sense. I went to buy another copy beamed myself to a nice place, sat down and read. I expected it to be clumsy, but it was actually really nice.

So I signed up for the book-signing party. I was a bit early. A handful of people were sitting in the theatre when I arrived. Messages were scrolling across my Screen, it seemed like people knew each other. I tried to sit down near them, but those seats seemed reserved, so I sat down a bit further. In my first life prepared dinner while waiting for Julian Dibbell to appear (the book signing was at noon PST which is 9 pm in Berlin). When I got back Julian was already signing books. There was a red circle on the ground around him and chat messages reading “who’s next?”, “me me” were popping up. Being a bit shy at first I finally typed “me” and stepped in the circle and got my book signed.

There is much to be said about this event. Book-signing is quite a remarkable thing anyway: By signing an industrially produced item, it becomes unique and acquires a value for collectors. The signature gives it the aura of an original. In a digital environment of course the signature itself is only a file that can be copied infinitely and is just attached to the book. I cannot attach it myself, because I do not have the permission to do so. Just like I did not have the permission to reassemble the first copy of “Play Money” I had bought (I was a bit surprised I had the permission to take it apart in the first place).

Of course the actual book-signing is nothing but a collective pose to induce the event. Events – or should I call it collective improvised performances – are the only art form where there will always be a significant difference between the original and a reproduction (documentation or reenactment). Always is of course a risky term, but I think it is almost save to use it here. Events are real in Second Life as in first life. Signing of items that can be reproduced and copied is just a crutch in Second Life as in first life. It’s used to create an irrational value that we don’t seem to be able to do without yet.

I think the reason for this is that our economy has not adjusted to the environment that we have created during the last centuries. Going into the copy right and software / music / film pirating discussion would lead a bit far now and I frankly don’t think that I can add much to that discussion which hasn’t been said a million times, but it still is quite remarkable how much our economical leaders live in denial. And how much we’re all junkies to the fascination with the original – a belief that is usually not seen as a religion but has all elements of it. I also think that it’s effect is quite damaging to the project of civilization. That may once have been different, just like all those obscure beliefs we’re dealing with may once have had a positive impact an advancing civilization. It’s time to move on. Keyword: Attention Economy

Technorati Tags: economy, MMO, MMORPG, Play Money, Second Life

Mit zwei Freunden organisiere ich viermal im Jahr – so ist es zumindest geplant – die Pecha Kucha Nacht Berlin. Zuletzt vor knapp zwei Wochen bei Platoon in Mitte. Zu meinem Erstaunen gab es plötzlich eine Anfrage der FAZ, Bilder der Präsentationen für einen Feuilliton Artikel nutzen zu dürfen. Es gab zwar bei der ersten PK Nacht schon einen ziemlich kritischen Artikel im Onlin-Magazin der Süddeutschen Zeitung, aber dass wir vom Radar der ehrwürdigen FAZ erfasst worden waren, war schon eine Ãœberraschung.

Von dem unerwarteten Interesse auf dem falschen Fuß erwischt, mussten wir zunächst die Zustimmung der Vortragenden einholen, weil wir natürlich keine Rechte an den gezeigten Bildern haben. Während wir den Präsentatoren hinterhermailten und telefonierten, witzelten wir schon darüber, dass wir im Allerheiligsten der deutschen Kulturkritik wohl ordentlich runtergemacht werden würden. So war es dann auch.

Allerdings nutzte der Autor Klaus Ungerer die Gelegenheit auch zu einer Abrechnung mit dem aus seiner Sicht offenbar Mitte-typischen Lebensstil. Da lästert Ungerer über körperbetonende Hemden und lässig in der Frisur sitzende Sonnenbrillen, ohne den Transfer zur eigenen gockelhaft eitlen Schreibe zu bewerkstelligen oder er lässt sich über ähms und ähs in den Vorträgen aus ohne dabei an seine eigene – unfassbar unprofessionelle – Website zu denken, auf der die meisten Links ins Freenet-Nirgendwo führen (derjenige zum selbstverliebten Lebenslauf funktioniert!).

Weil es Pecha Kucha auch in anderen Städten gibt und die Idee von einem Architekturbüro in Tokyo stammt und wir das auch erwähnen, sieht Ungerer gewollte und vorgegebene Weltläufigkeit am Werk (Iepe und Luka haben die Leute von Klein Dytham kennen gelernt, als sie in im Rahmen von (Vorsicht Unwort:) Projekten in Tokyo waren).

Wir wählen die Vorträge anhand eingesandter Bilder und Erklärungen aus. Ob jemand gut vortragen kann oder nicht, wissen wir in den meisten Fällen vorher nicht. Wir freuen uns wenn ein Vortrag gelingt, wenn nicht dauert er nicht länger als 6:40. Die Möglichkeit des Scheiterns gehört dazu – also ganz in der Tradition von Karaoke. Die Verwandschaft zum guten alten Diaabend leugnen wir auch nicht. In den guten Momenten gibt es einen Vortrag wie den von Jean Ulrick Desert oder auch den von Hartmut Landauer.

Last night I found my self hanging out of the window of a car holding an italian flag. Italy was not really amongst my top 5 teams to win the football world cup.

A friend of mine is Italian and we thought we should celebrate with him. I have difficulties imagining myself with a German flag, had Germany won. First we almost had to look for other Italians, waving flags. Blowing the horn is not half the fun when you’re the only one. After having found fellow Italy supporters at Potsdamer Platz and in front of a pizza place in Friedrichstraße we headed back to Prenzlauer Berg.

When we got to stop at the intersection at Rosenthaler Platz, a girl, obviously very drunk, stormed over to our car and jumped on the hood, dancing, singing, shouting, trying to kiss everyone. Her voice sounded like cigarets and hard liquor. Her accent was strong but not italian.

After she had gotten off and we had put some distance between her and us, one of my friends (the quickest to hide when she appeared) said: “You know who that was? The ex-girlfriend of Marshmellow. Russian and completely crazy”

I would have expected no less of Marshmallow’s ex-girfriend.

Technorati Tags: Berlin, world cup

Recently (actually: quite a while ago) I saw Jonathan Meese’s “Mama Johnny” exhibition at Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. I must admit that I had not seen Meese’s work other than printed in Magazines. I had missed Meese exhibitions in Berlin as well as the theatre play “Kokain” at Voksbühne, for which Meese designed the stage.

Shortly before seeing the exhibition I had read an Interview with Meese. He claims to be “radical” in his art practice and he criticized art academies as useless and even counter productive institutions. I quite agree with the latter, my reasons are very different though.

Being radical is a boring pose in art (unlike in other fields, where being radical can be dangerous). Personally I think Meese is not even radical in his art production but actually rather conventional. At most his dedication seems to be somewhat radical. His dadaesque techniques are quite obvious and his “universe” as it is called on the web page I find neither surprising nor is it of infinite size. The corner of this little universe that kept me interested the longest was the black adidas sports jacket he seems to always wear.

I don’t think he has a contract with Adidas (which I wouldn’t mind at all), but he must have some way of getting the jackets in large quantities, since he uses real ones in some of the installations. It’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t trash one of those jackets a day, given the radical determination with which deposes large quantities of paint and other substances on canvases and whatecer is at hand. I also have difficulties imagining him putting on a white painters coat to protect the rare Adidas jacket when he is working. Creating the kind of mess he does is only half the fun when you have to put on a ridiculous coat first. I remember this from elementary school, where we had coats like that for painting.

My problem is not that I can’t tune into Johnny’s universe. It is actually quite accessible, but it leaves me indifferent. The worst are his collaborations, especially the one with Jörg Immendorf. All you see is variations of the painted name “Jörg” and the notorious “Erz”, corner stone of Meese’s vocabulary.

In 1998 Meese appeared in the german comedy “Sonnenalle” where he played a crazy artist. Very cliché. It seems like playing this role has taught him more than art school did: Being radically cliché usually is a save bet.

Technorati Tags: art, hamburg, puppy