Gracie Kendal takes her 1000 Avatars into Real Life

We’ve received a press release about an exciting development in Gracie Kendal’s 1,00o Avatar project from Nickola Martynov:

Last October, SL artist Gracie Kendal (Kristine Schomaker in RL) had an idea to photograph 100 avatars as part of The Gracie Kendal Project, an ongoing examination of identity in virtual worlds.

But these are not just shopping mall style portraits. Gracie photographed her subjects on a dark grey background and her interest is in their backs only.

“I had the idea that I wanted the avatars to be unrecognizable, their faces hidden,” said Gracie, “have the portrait express the level of anonymity we have in SL versus our real lives.”

It took less than two weeks to reach 100 portraits, but Gracie wasn’t satisfied. “It didn’t feel finished,” she said. “The more portraits I took, the more I became aware of how immensely creative and powerful this representation of ourself is and I wanted to pursue that further”

As of today, Gracie has shot 1,580 portraits and she plans to go to at least 2,000.

She has recently relocated the project to the California State University at Northridge sim. Standing on the 100sqm platform, row upon row of avatars, 400 portraits on each side, rise up 50 meters, all with their backs facing the camera. The effect is humbling.

“People coming by to have a look said they were stunned by the diversity and the creativity shown in the portraits,” said Gracie.

A few visitors were disturbed by the backs-only display. Something Gracie ponders the reasons for.

“If you look on Flickr, most people take front pictures of their avatars. They want to show them off; they want to look at themselves. So by taking pictures of the back, there is too much mystery, too much to absorb and think about…I don’t want to make it easy for them.”

Unfortunately the 1000+ Avatars project is on hold while Gracie waits to buy a new computer.  The portrait-taking overwhelmed her system and she can now only run Second Life on the lowest graphics settings, which doesn’t allow for high resolution portraits. But, that hasn’t prevented her from publishing the first of a planned two-volume set on the project.

1000 Avatars: Volume 1 opens with an essay by Dean Wilcox (Derridada Mimitech in SL), Assistant Dean at the University of North Carolina School for the Arts

“The digital figures we create exist as fantasy bodies that build on and magnify our individual hopes, desires, fears and impulses,” writes Dr. Wilcox. “They are often seen as shapes we can hide behind, anonymously interacting with others, which, ironically, allows us to reveal more of our true selves.”

Dedicated to the late Delinda Dryssen, 1000 Avatars is a 160-page softcover book, printed on premium quality paper to show the portraits to their best advantage. It will be released on May 31st.

Gracie is planning a launch bash at the project site that night from 5-8pm SLT. An autographed copy of the book can be pre-ordered until May 31st. For more information on how to order and the party, visit Gracie’s website at http://1000avatars.wordpress.com/

Pricing and shipping costs are also available on Gracie’s blog.