Second Life

by Alexis Frasz

Suzanne Vega recently joined a small contingent of artists who have performed live in Second Life, the much hyped virtual reality world. The show wasn't seamless. Suzanne's avatar, or virtual representation, had trouble picking up her virtual guitar and finally had to borrow one from the audience. The host of the show, John Hockenberry from the broadcast radio program Infinite Mind, disappeared at one point when he lost his internet connection (in real life). Suzanne sounded great but her avatar moved jerkily onstage and did not open its mouth to sing. Despite the glitches, the crowd of about 100 seemed to enjoy it. They (avatars controlled by people sitting at home behind their computer screens) clapped their virtual hands, danced, cheered, and asked questions, all in real time. For a newcomer to the world of virtual reality, the event was fascinating and more than a little bizarre.

Advocates of live music, usually those who have a vested interest in attracting audiences to venues, have become preoccupied with convincing the audience of the primacy of the live experience. For these people the virtual live performance will either be dismissed as an insignificant fad or defensively attacked as another example of how nothing can compare to the live experience. But is this missing the point? In our increasingly "mediatized" society, performance art critic Philip Auslander suggests in his book Liveness, the dichotomy between "live" and "recorded" experience is more ideology than reality.

Recording was intended to be a way for the user to experience live music outside of the time constraints of an event, yet quickly recorded music became a market in and of itself, and now it is seen by many music presenters as a competitor to the live experience. Now it is commonplace for artists to imitate the recorded forms (music videos, albums, etc.) or use video and other forms of media in their live performances. This suggests that the stark dichotomy between live and recorded music may be outdated — we are seeing an increasing number of permutations of ways to experience music, including the virtual live performance. Still, there is something, let's call it the "X factor" of the live experience, which is presumably why there is such an active trade in live Grateful Dead bootlegs. But just what this factor is, and in what forms it can persist, is difficult to grasp.

Instead of an inferior simulation of a real live performance for those who can't or won't get to a real show, the virtual live performance can be seen as an entirely new mode of experiencing music, and begs the question of how "live" is defined. If "liveness" is measured by the degree to which the performer and audience are co-present for the same experience, it is at least as live as a live radio performance, but not as live as attending a music venue. If "liveness" relates to the degree of interaction or connection made between audience and performer, however, then the virtual performance could be more live than a live concert because it offers more opportunity for the performer and audience member to interact. Audience members at the virtual Suzanne Vega performance, for example, were able to ask questions (fielded by a moderator) and even offer a personal guitar to the artist. The medium facilitated a level of intimacy that probably would not have been possible at a traditional "live" Vega show. Moreover, there is an additional creative component to the experience in terms of the quality and style of the animation. Although the animation in this instance was interesting, it was still rudimentary. One can imagine animation quality increasingly becoming a distinguishing feature of virtual concerts, attracting an audience distinct from that which would be interested by the music alone.

Many would criticize the Suzanne Vega virtual concert as merely a mediocre representation of a real life concert. This critique assumes, however, that the goal of the virtual live concert is to imitate as perfectly as possible the real life concert experience. In this instance it seemed to be the case, but it is not likely it will continue to be so as the medium evolves. Much as film began as a mechanism to record live theater performances and evolved into a medium with its own principles and purposes, this new format will evolve as users and creators become more familiar with its unique potential. Ideally those involved in bringing music to the consumer will investigate and embrace proactively the unique experiential opportunities provided by virtual media. If a quality music experience is viewed as the desired product, rather than particular form it takes, such as CD or concert, than the virtual live concert is not a competitor to the live experience, but rather another mechanism for making a connection between people and music.