Character,+Context,+Celebrity


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AbrahamLincoln Magic's First Art Gallery Event! ** Can a historical avatar have his own art gallery opening? We we welcome you to find out by attending AbrahamLincoln Magic's first showing at the Mercyhurst College Cummings Art Gallery. See the event details below. If you miss the live event, enjoy the archival recordings.


 * "If I had two faces, would this be the one I would choose?" **
 * --Abraham Lincoln, first life**

** The Premiere of "AbrahamLincoln Magic" ** **"Character,** **Context** **& Celebrity"**


 * Join Abe in his first, live, gallery event:**

from 7pm until 9pm in the [|Mercyhurst College] [|Cummings Gallery] ** as part of the:
 * Thursday and Friday, December 4-5, 2008
 * [|Mercyhurst Faculty Art Show]**

AbrahamLincoln Magic is a collaborative installation of a 3-d avatar, involving video, 2nd life, large format output, documentation, and text. AbrahamLincoln Magic's appearance is brought to you by collaborators Camille Nischal and Mara Linaberger; Jodi S. Hopper, exhibit designer, and you, the audience.

toc =December 4th Recordings= The live faculty exhibit opening was recorded using streaming technologies available at www.justin.tv. Below are 15 minute segments from the December 4, 2008 live gallery opening at the Cummings Gallery:

Part 1: http://www.justin.tv/clip/e31377aa26ef6c4d Part 2: http://www.justin.tv/clip/dba709de98247a47 Part 3: http://www.justin.tv/clip/9cc60a4e8b594a1f Part 4: http://www.justin.tv/clip/f42a0bf0109cc78f Part 5: http://www.justin.tv/clip/ac4a1d977ca568fb Part 6: http://www.justin.tv/clip/33492593cefcb299 Part 7: http://www.justin.tv/clip/49ebab910d860ace Part 8: http://www.justin.tv/clip/9df9c6e67900dc10 Part 9: http://www.justin.tv/clip/f8a938dfbbf2996e

=December 5th, 2008= Join the stream live at the gallery night at Cummings Gallery: http://justin.tv/chischal from 7-9 PM, Friday, December 5th, 2008:

Part 1: http://www.justin.tv/clip/3d41014231b6b3cb Part 2: http://www.justin.tv/clip/121ef0d3993414b1 Part 3: http://www.justin.tv/clip/be3a898a0b736e01 Part 4: http://www.justin.tv/clip/8f8b33d5fa9f84d9

=**Exhibit Label Description #1**=

**Character: The Story Behind My Second Life**
This AbrahamLincoln Magic installation is a collaborative exhibit involving process documentation of work created at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Institute for Arts Educators in July 2008. The machinima art films, “Dear Ann” and “Panegyric” were inspired by the creation of the imagined historical persona, AbrahamLincoln Magic, an avatar in the 3D virtual world of Second Life.

**Context**
This installation focuses on the concept of viewership as it pertains to the context of the character, AbrahamLincoln Magic. Theorist Olivia Gude describes this approach to considering an art form as “gazing.” Who is looked at in this work? Who is doing the looking? The appropriation, juxtaposition, recontextualization, layering, hybridity, representations and ironic associations of postmodern inquiry have also been considered in this installation work.

Celebrity
What is the interactive nature of people, art and technology in this work? What is our relationship with AbrahamLincoln Magic as a “celebrity” or icon of the state? Is there such a thing as celebrity in a virtual world? "Has the nature of celebrity changed from Abe's First life to his Second Life and how does that effect our perception of him as celebrity?"

This project also inspired a wiki space which is a inquiry space set up for viewer collaboration:

http://abrahamlincolnmagic.wikispaces.com/


 * Olivia Gude, Postmodern Principles: In Search of a 21st Century Art Education**

=Exhibit Label Description #2= Visual Culture involves a quest for understanding the meaning behind imagery from fine and applied art through popular and mass media images. It involves studying cultural meaning through images in relation to what is and is not defined as art and aesthetic experiences. One must consider the context of images and how that in turn changes the meaning in contemporary culture. How does character, context, and celebrity contribute to our perceptions of what is real?