Two Americans Create a Digital Drug for Second Life
The clinical test of the “psychotropic” drug will be carried out in a Los Angeles gallery and on the internet.
Are they artists or disciples of doctor Mabuse from the 21st Century? Is their creation a work of art or a new class of a digital hallucinating drug? It is certain that John Craig Freeman, a teacher of new media in the Emerson College of Boston and Will Pappenheimer, a teacher of digital art in the Pace university in New York, have converted the Fringe gallery in Los Angeles into a science fiction clinic. There they have carried out tests on Virta- Flaneurazine (VF), following statements that “a powerful drug has been designed especially for second life and that the user wonders into 3D worlds.” Naturally, it’s not a chemical drug, more a drug for the computer, which materialises into a program that permits the modification of graphic experiences and visuals of the users during the navigation of 3D worlds of Second Life.
The parody is that it’s a new level of perfection that the user can meet, not only with the physical installation but also with the web; it would be difficult to decipher the truth from simulation.
For those who cannot come to the gallery situated in the Chinese suburb in Los Angeles, can collect one of the pills on the USB key and can download a desktop pill from the web, a program from Apple Script. “At the moment it is available on Mac but the PC version is still to be released.”
Already Virta Flaneurazine has been used for Second Life; in order for it to be used it is necessary to register and to have a character in the 3D world. After you have selected your character you will have to go to the virtual headquarters, where you will be able to participate in tests in which you will have doctors’ characters, and then you will have to collect your free prescription that in reality serves as the program in a desktop pill. Moreover, the modification of the visual perception during the navigation, will automatically update some functions such as the teletransportation which moves the users around in Second Life.5
Analysis of behaviour
The objective of the project, is to launch net.art Rhizome and to find a remedy for Wanderlust Deficit Disorder (WDD), “to say that the problems caused were from a fault with the network without clear and prefixed objectives”. In reality the main interest of the makers is the analysis of the user’s behaviour (habits of users and their usual behaviour on second life) and their emotions of this simulation experience.
The collateral effects can include hallucinations, euphoria, paranoia, shock and warming up of the computer. Moreover the users can participate presently or virtually on the project, after one use you will need treatment to eliminate the addiction of Virta Flaneurazine, they note and add that in your experience you may need the antidote, although it is quicker and more effective to leave the computer and restart it.
“To study the relation between the real world and the virtual world is really important because the two are linked. What doesn’t interest us are the mirrors or the simulations. The experiences that the users have in second life are under the influence of VF are real because not only do they produce visual effects but also emotions.”
As the sponsors of the Project are from two artistic institutions, Rhizome pad and the Fringe gallery, the makers have signed all the pills and converted them into works of art. The project will continue to develop at shows and initiatives on the internet.
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