ARE 494 Digital Ethnography Amy Pate

Falling vs. Flying
Digital Ethnography in
Virtual Worlds:
What does the future hold
for Second Life
Amy Pate
Seeking Vision, azpate

Table of Contents
a) Definition of Digital Ethnography and Stages
a) Research Questions for interviews
b) Describe Context and Atmosphere
a) Coppelia Artists Co-Op
c) Data Collection: Interview Artists
a) MarzipanMacBeth
b) Bryn Oh
c) FreeWee Ling
d) Content Analysis
a) Chart and Themes
e) Comparative Analysis
and Conclusion

a) Definitions
• Ethnography is the study of a culture by
researchers who live in a specific culture they
are studying. It involves observation and
participation in cultural events and everyday
activities. They also make connections with
members of the society in order to better
understand the society.
• It is immersive, and ‘holistic’, focused on in
depth research from an ‘insiders’ perspective.

a) Definitions
• Digital Ethnography is the study of a virtual
world.
• Virtual worlds are defined by Boellstorff as
having “object-rich environments” where
participants interact and travel. They must
support multi-users, and continue to exist and
change even when a participant is absent.
Finally, there are avatars which allow
participants to “embody themselves.”

a) Stages of Ethnography
• Data Collection- This should include formal and informal
interviews with informants/participants, observations and
in depth descriptive field notes. It can also include
photography and video recording of the virtual world, and
research in outside resources including blogs, websites and
journals.
• Content Analysis- This stage allows a researcher to go
through the various pieces of data and begin categorizing,
connecting ideas, and finding common themes.
• Comparative Analysis- This final stage is when the
ethnographer looks for differences and similarities
between their findings and external literature on the
subject. These comparisons may be made with experts in
the subject, or current models to explain findings.

a) Research Questions
• Questions:
– Are you working in both SL and RL? Why?
– Do you work with others, or alone? (collaboration)
– What do you see as the future of SL for artists?
• Semi-structured Interviews with targeted
questions
• Participation and observation in cultural
activities including, gallery walks, dancing,
exploring, searching, prim building

b) Context and Atmosphere
Initial Avatar Development
• Level 1: Confusion
– Newbie orientation, frustration
with technology
– Uncertainty of expectations, isolation,
not “fitting in” forced a focus
on self image
• Level 2: Clarity
– Caledon- safety & support of a community
– Comfort asking questions, reaching out for contacts
• Level 3: Fearlessness
– Exploration without concern
– Back up plan- teleport home

Exploration of Coppelia Artists Co-Op
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coppelia/119
/127/22
• Location Description
– Landed on airport runways, with strange
disconnected objects that resembled machines,
body parts, and stark barren trees. There was
water under the runway, and gray mesh landscape.
– There was electronic music streaming from the
building, that felt like disconnected sounds of
machines, a cat and voices. You could also hear
water.
– The Coppelia gallery was a giant twisting building
that housed FreeWee Ling’s work. It played off of
the Guggenheim, but taller and skinnier. A fabulous
machine that created a rainbow like a bubble
wand, showed the entrance to the gallery. Walking
through the gallery was a continual twisted climb
to the open top, approximately 7 floors.

• Reason for Choosing:
– I had been given FreeWee Ling’s contact
through a chat with a friend in Caledon.
When researching her blog and website,
I found a link to this location.
– FreeWee later explained that it was a co-
op with multiple artists who shared
expenses, and meant mostly as a
working studio, rather than display
gallery.
– FreeWee had planned to dismantle the
exhibit soon, and was pleased I had a
chance to view it.

• Community Profile:
Owned and controlled by
FreeWee Ling, but current
members are:
• Serra Qendra
• Philodemus (Dave Searby
Mason)
• Eifachfilm Vacirca
• Jo Ellsmere
• Glyph Graves
• Stelarc
• Oberon Onmura
• Artee Despres
• Pol Jarvinen
• FreeWee Ling
• These artists vary in
ethnicity and styles,
but include a lot of
prim builders and
inworld photography
• Some of them live
and work in Australia,
or have an association
with the University of
Western Australia,
others live in NY and
KY.

Teaching Opportunities
• Lots of space for gathering,
and could easily meet up
with an artist in the co-op to
discuss work.
• Ever changing work could be
visited often for updates,
and interactive work is ‘fun’.
• The artwork in the
“Surrealistic Guggenheim” is
interactive and good for
discussions, although it
would be difficult to get very
many people in the narrow
hallways.
• I also liked how simple prims
could have multiple uses
Learning Climate
• Because so many objects
move, it ‘begs’ to be
explored.
• It feels barren, until you get
up and explore the spaces.
• Very relaxing, but might be
perceived as boring for
younger kids

c) Data Collection: Artist Interviews
• MarzipanMacBeth- given contact through a
conversation with Martini and LouzyLou
(greeters for newbies) in Caledon
• Bryn Oh- contacted through IM after viewing
work in the Natural History Museum in SL
• FreeWee Ling- given contact from
conversation with JayJay at the University of
Western Australia gallery. She is the curator,
and artist of some of the work.

MarzipanMacbeth
Avatar:
– Gold colored cat, who
lives in SL and writes
stories
– Looks very feminine with
flowers, and curly hair
Marzipan is owned by Jessica
MacBeth who writes children’s
stories about Marzipa in RL.
The illustrations in the stories are
done as photography in SL. Jessica
builds all the environments and
“stages” the Marzipan avatar.
Coming from an advertising
background, and having always
thought about writing a children’s
book, I thought this use of SL
photography was really
interesting . It also appealed to
the business side of me.

MarzipanMacbeth
Word Cloud Analysis of Key Words

MarzipanMacbeth
Transcript of Interview:
• “Art is *always* therapy, both for the artist and for the
viewer. And living is art. Art isn't just something you look
at and walk away from -- it can be your experience.”
• “Do things you've never done before. Break lose from
thinking within RL limits like gravity and ordinary light
and conventional form. If you can conceive of it, chances
are you can create it. In SL art truly can be interactive.
Everything you create there, including the environment
around it, is from your own creativity -- or there with
your consent. When you walk around in some one else's
space, you are in their mind.”

MarzipanMacbeth
Review of Specific Work:
• All the work portrayed are “Selfies”, showing Marzipan
the cat doing various things in SL
• The environment is
somewhat realistic,
with the cat looking
three dimensional, and
moving and interacting
in the scene.
• The character of
Marzipan has a fully furnished
home and lives in SL “between the Outer Hebrides of
Scotland and the faery lands of Tir na'n Og”

Bryn Oh
• Currently working with
machinima and producing
videos, but has a variety of SL
work in photography and 3-D
modeling.
• The 3D work had a sense of
humor that I liked, but her
Webpage had a darker side that
seemed to have deep mysterious
symbols
• Her interviews reflected on
classical art theory, and were
very thoughtful. Her recent blog
post talks about how personal
her work is, almost like a diary or
reflection on events of her life.
• Avatar:
– Elusive and
unknown?
– Artistic and Fantasy
based
– Continually evolving

Bryn Oh

Bryn Oh
Transcript of Interview:
• “The ones (artists) remembered are often those who
are there at the onset of these movements and right
now I believe that what some of us do in virtual worlds
now and in the future could be considered a new
movement.”
• “A virtual work can keep the viewer engrossed for a
longer period and perhaps this is because the viewer is
actively experiencing the artwork. I have said in the
past that I think of my artwork here in virtual worlds
almost as paintings you can enter and explore.”

Bryn Oh
• “Elliot Amber”
• http://youtu.be/30Ec6vZqhTw?list=UUI7NrJQ5vpg2Pm
VQKpwXSbw
• This is a recent video posted, which gives the viewer a
sense of who Elliot is, and his very odd and lonely life.
The images are dark and mysterious, but reminds me
of The Addams Family. It is creepy, but shows the sense
of humor and connection to insects that I saw in her exhibit at the Natural History museum.
She also uses music to set the mood.
• The spotlight is used in many of her videos to lead the viewer through the story. It also adds to
the dark atmosphere of the video. There is a sense that this is a moment in time, frozen except
for a few insects.
• The work highlights a child, which seems to be a theme that reappears regularly in her work.
She says that her work is often very personal, and comes from her real life, like a diary.
• Teaching with this work could be a fantastic way to get students to talk about what might
happen next, based on the details in the environment. I can also see this connecting with
character development in an English class. I think it might be too dark for younger students.

FreeWee Ling
• FreeWee Ling works strictly in
SL, and builds single art pieces
and full sims, most recently a
full sim of Men in Black
Aliens. Her work is often
interactive with the viewer,
animates the avatar, or allows
avatar to control it.
• I was interested not only in
her work, but also in the way
she lived in KY and
collaborated with the
University of Western
Australia. She talked about
working odd hours in order to
have synchronous meetings.
• I was also interested in her
being a curator of a couple of
galleries, and focused on
promoting the work of other
artists over her own work.
Avatar:
– Tough and Smart
– Edgy clothing, leather boots
– Stood impatiently and
works constantly, even
started building prims
during our interview

FreeWee Ling

FreeWee Ling
Transcript from Interviews:
• “I'm not really a artist. More like a kid in God's Legoland. I'm an
idea manipulator. A conceptual cubist. Most of my work is clearly
derivative. I see something interesting and I want to know how it
works, so I deconstruct or reconstruct the idea or combine it with
some tangential idea to make something new. I am often working
on some random project with no particular purpose in mind.”
• “That's a good question. People have been saying that for years
and it's still here. But it's old technology now. Linden Lab is working
on the next generation. I think it will be around for a few more
years at least. The technology is becoming more complicated. You
have to have higher levels of skills to work here. Basic prim building
doesn't really cut it anymore. But prim building is really easy and
fun, so that's what gets people started.

FreeWee Ling
• Title: Constrained by Art
• http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coppelia/40/133/49?sourceid=slshare_photo
&utm_source=flickr&utm_medium=photo&utm_campaign=slshare
• The piece is hanging on a wall in the Surrealistic
Guggenheim. It looks like a simple prim picture
frame, and when you touch it, it “breaks” the glass,
and animates your avatar into the frame. The avatar
then moves around and tries to get out.
• I loved the sense of humor, but also how it made me
really think about what it was trying to express
about art.
• The broken window, I think is the symbol of how traditional art is breaking out in
SL. It is no longer about just looking at a picture of art in a book or gallery. It isn’t
even about showing art from RL in SL. I think it is about going to the next step
which is engaging with art to the point of actually being part of it
• I think it is very empowering for artists to have this immersive way to get their
“vision” across.

d) Content Analysis
Question Oh Ling Marzipan
Why show/do
art in SL?
Completely
immersive
Full Sims to surround
viewer and immerse
them in environment
Complete sims are used
to create an
environment for avatar,
which is then
photographed for RL
book illustrations
How do you
collaborate in SL
with other
artists?
Endless
possibilities
with global
connections
Global connections,
but somewhat
difficult to coordinate
Unknown, but felt it
was important to
experiment, take
classes and see what
other artists have done
is SL
What do you
believe is the
Future of SL?
Beginning of a
new movement
Transition from old
technology to new
Powerful tool that has
endless possibilities for
creating new ideas
Thematic wordsRepeated Words

e) Comparative Analysis & Conclusion
• My title “Falling vs. Flying” is a nod to both
the initial highs and lows of being a “newbie”
in Second Life, and the uncertainty of what
the future holds for artists in Second Life.
• For me, that was the most important question
during the interviews. The answers were
similar to what one might hear asking the
same question in real life. It depends on who
you ask, but generally it is hopeful.

Falling:
• Falling is often seen as deadly, or at the least uncomfortable, and
having a loss of control over a situation. This connection can be see
in SL in a number of ways.
– Sanchez confirms that the initial reaction to SL is often frustration by
students due to lack of direction and information.
– The interviewed artists agreed that SL has challenges, but the
interesting aspect of “falling” is that it is completely safe. Therefore,
the fear of failure is gone, and empowers the artist to try new things
and experiement.
– The future of SL is also “falling”, as more artists leave the technology,
and remaining artists realize that what they create today, will not be
around in the new version of SL coming in 2015. This makes work
temporary and in flux.
– Draxtor from the NPC Meeting said “Youth think of SL as a chat room
for old people,” showing the fall of SL’s popularity. It is important to
“come out of the virtual closet” and get RL people aware of the
opportunities in SL.

Flying:
• Flying is considered exhilarating, dangerous, and allows one to see
a bigger view. This connection to SL can be seen in a number of
ways.
– Sanchez mentions the feeling of unlimited creativity, and that was
echoed by all the artists interviews. They emphasized the ability to
experiment with new media and push the comfort level of the viewer
to fully immerse themselves in the work.
– Bryn Oh talked about the start of a new movement, or flying into a
new world with the new version of SL that will free people from
screens and keyboards, and be truly immersive.
– Newbies often fly into things, and get lost flying through worlds, but
there is also an excitement when they are able to first build with
prims, or manage to get their avatars to dance.
– Even though the media attention has moved away from SL, the
residents (insiders) are continuing to build and create, and are still
doing some amazing creative work, especially in the Japanese SL.

e) Conclusion
• Reflection: I can see a number of things I’d do differently.
– Organization: It was very tempting to just randomly explore worlds, and I felt unfocused
when it came to compiling everything. There was visual and data overload.
– Connecting to artists took awhile, until I built a support group of people that trusted me
and were willing to share and recommend people. Once that faucet was opened, I
couldn’t shut it off. The connections and “friends” grew almost too quickly.
• I was most impressed with the immersive quality of the art, and being
inside the artists’ mind. I was also impressed with the ability to learn by
doing and how “scary’, but empowering that could be.
• Future research- I studied the Global Mindset Inventory when at
Thunderbird School of Global Management, and we learned how to
survive in foreign countries. We had a set of skills that qualified people as
those most likely to succeed as an expat. I’m curious if those skills are also
needed in a virtual world. There were certainly some similarities between
being a SL Newbie, and flying to Lima, Peru to find contacts for developing
a new business school.

References
• Boellstorff, T. (2012). Ethnography and virtual worlds: a handbook of
method. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Stokrocki, M. (2010-05-25). Art and Spirituality on Second Life: A
Participant Observation and Digital Quest for Meaning. Journal of
alternative perspectives in the social sciences, 2(1), 182-197.
• Hoey, Brian A. (2014-06). A Simple Introduction to the Practice of
Ethnography and Guide to Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Marshall University
• Stokrocki, Mary (2011). Art Education Qualitative Research in Cyberspace.
Published in Miraga, C., & Smilan, C. (In Press). Inquiry in Action:
Paradigms, Methodologies and Perspectives in Art Education Research.
Reston, VA: NAEA
• Oh, Bryn (August 2, 2014). Blog: http://www.brynoh.blogspot.com/
• Non-Profit Commons Meeting (August 8, 2014, 9:30am). Guest Lecturer
Draxtor Despres

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