A VIDEO AND A VIRTUAL INSTALLATION IN SECOND LIFE 2007-2009.
Kerava Art Museum in Finland 2009, Kuala Lumpur Triennial 2009, Forum Box in Helsinki 2011. In the video and virtual installation in Second Life, I explore the relationship between the newly independent post-colonial state of East Timor and the activists who fought for its independence. East Timor gained a virtual independence in 1996 prior to its actual independence recognised by the international community in 2002.
In my discussion of virtual reality, I use the distinction between postmodernity and modernity presented by Tuija Pulkkinen. Pulkkinen suggests that modernity seeks to reveal the core of things by peeling away layers, while postmodernity focuses instead on the layers themselves. The attitude of postmodern allows us to examine the constructed nature of sites and identities, and the role of stories in the retelling of identities.
The issues raised by the video and virtual installation involve the construction of identity. The core idea is to explore the production of identity through stories involving space and the presentation of those stories. The work seeks to examine how a spatially fixed identity can also be a political issue, and how this politics of identity is implemented using cinematic and representational means.
