1. Art, yes.
Worth L$1999, probably not.

Minimalist art is still art of a sort, though many might disagree. I think the medium is very important to consider in this question, as well. If this same shape were made of metal and placed in an art gallery, it would probably get more looks and discussion than it would in SL, and might even be worth a lot. Who hasn't accidentally mangled a torus and ended up with something like this?

Posted at 3:51AM on Aug 17th 2006 by Laser Pascal

2. I think all things have the potential to be art. It's all a matter of how we experience it and how it moves us. This means objects in one context could be art, and in another, not so much art.

Not too long ago I was dealing with a RL client who was unfamiliar with Second Life. While building an object for her, I rezzed a cube, which naturally featured the default plywood texture. She immediately exclaimed how pretty she thought the texture was!

From my perspective, the default plywood texture represents an unfinished, poorly made build. But then again, who am *I* to tell her that her aesthetic judgement was wrong?! She didn't have the same negative core experiences with that texture and so if she thought it was pretty, it was pretty! The bottom line is that art is subjective and will be successful or unsucessful depending on the core experiences and perceptions of the viewer.

So back to original sculpture mentioned in this blog. I think the shared experience of most SLers will likely find a curled torus and cube base to be too common to move a viewer in any meaningful way. It's not a technical feat, and while it may have a nice aesthetic composition, it's just too common to generate interest.

So, like the default wood texture, I would not consider this art. But also like the default wood texture...who am I to say what art is or isn't?

Posted at 4:14AM on Aug 17th 2006 by Aimee Weber

3. It's a beautiful piece to my eyes.

Clearly this is a gimmick tho. The $1999 figure makes that plain.

Still it raises interesting questions about art valuation and how that translates to digital spaces, where reproduction, distribution and scarcity principles are all out-the-window.

Posted at 1:14PM on Aug 17th 2006 by Rik Riel

4. I agree with Aimee's SL based comments here. There's a bit of 'jeesh even I could make that' about it. But in reality, of our RL's, I have seen a whole lot worse presented in RL public spaces as 'modern art' - probably paid for from the 'public purse'. So if the artist can get L$1999 for it good luck to 'em. Who coined 'in the eye of the beholder'?

Posted at 1:29PM on Aug 17th 2006 by Sunny Leafblower