The moment I received this assignment, I went ahead to watch the video Grand Theft Avatar by Second Front. To be honest, I was completely lost in the video because I could not understand what was going on in the video. Upon researching and re-watching the video a couple of times, I think I am able to gain a better understanding and appreciation towards the work. The video Grand Theft Avatar was a work created by this group called Second Front, which uses the software of a game called Second Life to create life in this virtual world. In the video, the characters mimicked members from the ‘From Cinema to Machinima’ panel, robbed the ‘Lynden Treasury’ then freed the money and left on hydrogen bombs.
Source: Grand Theft Avatar video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHctMuI_HU
Second Front wanted to explore the virtual reality of the third space and this work was an experimentation by Scott Kildall to produce a work using the Second Life software as an emerging cinematic form. I feel like in a sense it is quite interesting as the work showed the possibility of a creation of a space where different people from all around the world are able to interact online. At the same time, it also opens up a world where everything is literally possible, such as the scene where the characters sat on hydrogen bombs.
Source: Grand Theft Avatar video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHctMuI_HU
The third space is a multifarious web of connections for all who inhabit and explore and share its dimensions.
-Randall Packer, The Third Space
This proves that there are no restrictions to this third space and everything nonsensical can be explored, unlike having rules in the real world to hold us down, providing the experience of a tangible virtual world.
Considering you had some difficulty understanding the work, you did a great job describing it in all of its detail! And you made an important observation that the performers were in fact live in their various remote locations in order to interact together in Second Life. My only comment is to focus a little more on the topic of the week, in this case the third space, and explain why in fact, the third space might be less restrictive as you rightly point out. Good work!