Arts & Culture

'Primcutter' Show Focuses on Virtual Construction

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 3, 2009) − A virtual exhibit of master architect and musical instrument maker Oriscus "Oz" Zauberflote comes to the school's University of Ky Island in Second Life. "Primcutter: A Virtual Exhibition of the Primcutter's Art" is an exhibition of the work of Oriscus, alter ego of Dwight Newton, the public information coordinator in UK's School of Music, who prefers to go by “Oz” in the virtual world. The exhibition of virtual building models and instruments is on display in Second Life through January 2010.

A master architect and builder of musical instruments in Second Life, Oz has won praise from a global online audience. "Primcutter," which opened Nov. 23, derives its name from a Second Life building term. The basic building blocks for objects in this virtual world are called "primitive objects," commonly referred to as "prims" by virtual builders. Oz's exhibition showcases a huge number and variety of complex objects, with scale models of many of Oz's virtual buildings, including a UK medical center structure and a replica of Memorial Hall, as well as a half-scale Gutenberg-style printing press, some fine medical tools, and many musical instruments. Showcased outside the library exhibition hall is a large playable set of carillon bells. Oz refers to the exhibition as examples of "the primcutter's art."

"I’ve built musical instruments in real life. The sensual pleasures of woodworking, while great, have always been frustrating to me as I lack the temperament to do work of such precision as I would like," says Oz. "But in the virtual worlds I am able to create complex objects easily and with great precision. My best tool is Control-Z – the undo button. If something is not perfect I can adjust until it is. You can’t uncut wood. The end product is not the point, really. It’s the process of seeing and manipulating materials, understanding the real life structures well enough to make the virtual objects believable. It’s the same whether working in wood or in pixels."

"Primcutter," featuring the Second Life art of Oz, can be viewed by Second Life residents at the virtual William T. Young Library on the University of Ky Island. To see the exhibit, visit online at http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20KY/121/98/29.

Second Life is a virtual space in which resident avatars interact with each other in a totally freeform manner. It is not a "game" in the usual sense. There are no goals to accomplish. And nearly everything you see is created by the residents themselves, primarily using the tools within the program itself. UK has maintained a simulator in Second Life for nearly three years. Several classes, performances, meetings and exhibits have been held in the space. The virtual William T. Young Library is the center for many of the meetings and has presented a number of educational exhibitions, much like it does in the real world. Technical oversight of the university's space in Second Life is managed by UK's Teaching and Academic Support Center.

For more information on the "Primcutter" exhibition on the University of KY Island in Second Life, visit http://u.nu/8k6x3.