Second Front is a performance art group that performs in the virtual space Second Life, consisting of 7 members; Gazira Babeli, Fau Ferdinand, Great Escape, Bibbe Oh, Lizsolo Mathilde, Man Michinaga, and Tran Spire. Each member is represented as an avatar in Second Life, an alter-ego per say.
While reading an interview with Domenico Quaranta and members of Second Front, it was interesting to see how avatars in simulation games were used to make performances. The concept of Second Life reminded me a lot about Sims (which I used to play quite often as a child), but with much more players involved. Just as it was entertaining to make your Sim avatar do ridiculous things in the Sim world, the Second Front members also perform things unimaginable in real world, and make it a performance art piece. An example would be how they robbed the bank in the Second Life – this is only cheered on and respected because it is in the game world.
Second Front robbing the bank performance art screenshot
I also saw Second Front performances as a parallel to how accomplishments in games are being celebrated with more values in recent days. Of course, there are online game YouTube streamers that have millions of viewers, but there are also game players who earn respect from building a certain graphic aesthetic in a game such as Minecraft.
Minecraft Screenshot by Iskillia
I would also like to bring attention to the fact that all the performers of Second Front comes from an art background. Second Front exists because artists who were using other mediums decided to come together and create art within the virtual space. I think there is increasing attention to cultural value of artifacts within virtual space in recent days, and I am excited to see how far more it will develop especially with advancement of technologies such as VR.