Saturday, August 23, 2008

Arahan Claveau to show at the Australian Centre of Photography; Arthole Season 2

Brit Arahan Claveau will be taking part in a month-long show opening on September 5th at the Australian Centre for Photography in Paddington, Australia called Avatar. Thirty six of his photographs of avatars from Second Life® will be shown alongside images from WoW, Sims 2 and other virtual worlds. The ACP mounted the show, because "Being yourself just isn't quite enough any more." In addition, a talk will be held on September 6 to discuss the possibilities and the pitfalls of being superhuman; whether through celebrity, performance enhancing drugs or a virtual alter-ego.

Arahan said to me, "I agreed to it because the focus is not so much about the actual photography which, as you know, I quit a while back, but more about the politics of being an avatar. I think it’s a fascinating area for discussion; raises all sorts of interesting questions."

We've had a number of discussions, Arahan and I, regarding his decision to quit photography in Second Life and delete his stellar Flickr account, which I took pleasure in and referred to frequently as a solid resource. I still maintain that it is a historical loss, as he had documented many exhibits and activities that no one else had, to my knowledge. His photography (and the production and art direction for it) was exceptional, and most of that body of work has been wiped from our art map as well, although some can be viewed on his website.

The following interview is about two years old, but Arahan still feels the same way about most of it. "Probably less positive about the concept of mind uploading," he added.



Fortunately, Arahan is still making Machinima.

Meanwhile, season 2 of Arthole, his collaboration space with Nebulosus Severine who recently gave us Chasm, will relaunch on Sunday, August 31 with new works by these two on second level, and Ichibot Nishi and Selavy Oh on the third.

5 comments:

Nebulosus said...

Hooray Arahan!

I must mention one thing, though; unfortunately, Ichibot Nishi has decided to withdraw from the exhibition, so Selavy Oh will have Arthole Level 3 to herself.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this Bettina.

I just found out that the new work by Selavy Oh on Level 3 of Arthole will be called spaces.

Anonymous said...

YAY! Congrats, Arahan!

Aww about Ichibot withdrawing, well, hope next time Ichi will be there. And Selavy Oh.... :D let's see what he/she show us

Anonymous said...

Hey Raul,

Ichibot is a unique talent and we will miss him terribly.

I can tell you Selavy has created something rather extraordinary on Level 3, it is going to surprise and captivate visitors.

See you on the 31st!

Anonymous said...

Just an update -

On Sunday 31st August from 1.00PM SLT/PST we reopen Arthole to reveal the new Season 2 work. The three levels in the gallery will feature -

LEVEL 1 WEST WING - PARANOIA, Watching the Skies for Planes - New version of Burning Life 2006 installation by Nebulosus Severine.

LEVEL 1 EAST WING - Injustice - An extended chance to see this work by Arahan Claveau, originally part of his super fun happy club and The love that dare not speak its name for KunstVlaii.

LEVEL 2 - XXX PRIVATE SHOW - Arahan Claveau & Nebulosus Severine have together created a disorienting, unsettling environment, incorporating audio and video into the experience.

LEVEL 3 - systems of reference - The smart talent of Selavy takes over Level 3 from Ichibot Nishi and begins residence as our new guest artist for Season 2.