Subjects of the Virtual

Our identity straddles many places, and many spaces.

“It is often difficult for the public to understand that all these acts are real - part of the artists life – and mimetic – having little to do with the conduct of that life outside of the aesthetic frame of art. In these ways performance has constrained mimeses, employing the interstitial continuum of the metonymical connection to deconstruct traditional metaphysical representation.” by Kristine Stiles on page 91 chapter 6 ‘Performance’ from Critical terms for art history; second edition. Ed. Robert, s, Nelson and Richard Shiff.

Mimeses as a concept applied to performance art holds true for the way we identify our actions in virtual spaces, especially if we look at digital or virtual space being an augmentation of real space.

An avatar is a form that digital identity takes; the avatar acts to represent or reproduce an active presence in a virtual space. In practice this ‘reproduction’ stands in for a user and represents their presence and participation in examples that range from virtual performance spaces or art spaces, to video games or social networking websites.