The Avatar as Communication

The Avatar as Communication Dr Angela Thomas | Anya Ixchel

What Counts as Communication? Living Texts of the Body and Image
“ there is no outside the text” (Derrida)
Corporeal semantics: the body as a text
How do we interpret and construct the body as a text?
We communicate through a textual and corporeal dialogism
An expansive definition of communication incorporating visual texts :
photographs
moving images
maps
digital game worlds
representations of the body (raced, gendered, lifestlyed)
body art
avatars
How might avatars be ‘read’ institutionally in ways that grant or deny access to particular forms of communication over others.

Communicating the Self: identities / bodies / texts
… performance grounded in its theatrical senses…may need to be brought together with performativity in trying to deal with the complex ways in which bodies and texts fold into one another , crafting and shaping the materiality of texts and of bodies.
(Threadgold, 2003: 30)
… the body is “a point of overlapping between the physical, the symbolic, and the sociological”. Braidotti (1994: 4)

The Avatar: Desire, pleasure and the conventions of cultural production and reception
Second Life avatar practices has its own set of conventions, norms and values which are part of the predictable pleasures its citizens have come to expect.
Enhancement of Self
Fantasy
Glamour
Playfulness

‘ I think I’m in love with him, and I’m terrified in case he thinks I’m not perfect … you should see what I’m like round him — its like — I wear little outfits. I’m not like me. Sexy Carrie. Casual Carrie. Sometimes I catch myself actually posing — its exhausting!’
- The gaze of the other - The spectacle of the taut Caucasian body – shiny hair and flawless make-up

The Avatar as a Form of Fun and Empowerment
Attitude of many female SL residents about the fashioning of their avatars neatly exemplifies post-modernist feminist thinking within contemporary academic discussions of fashion
‘ dressing up equals fun, and fun equals empowerment’ (König, 2004: 140)

Semiotic and Psychoanalytic Analyses of Avatars
“ The avatar is a direct telephone line to the soul”
(Aimee Weber, in an interview with Dell Wilberg for Slatenight 1.3)
Describe the semiotic resources you deliberately inscribed into your avatar and how you think they construct a sense of “self” you want to project to others
Explain why you made these choices from a psychoanalytic perspective

“ I made Julia tall, thin and reasonably well proportioned… enhancements which deviate from my own likeness, creating a more hybrid visual appearance as I wrestle with emotions about body image as a post-pregnant mother”
Symbolic representations of my personality: ethereal, romantic, whimsical: Botticelli’s Venus-like braids and a goddess gown in shades of cream and peach
Yet the “bling” in my necklace is reflective of a more contemporary edge to my personality as a confident modern women
I have faced sadness and grief in my life recently so in my animations I deliberately avert my gaze from others – I spend a lot of time on my own in spaces which reflect nature as I deal with this grief – my offline emotions translated into my avatar and in how I relate (or not) to others in SL

My avatar predominantly reflects my inner self and therefore has high modality to me
The outer layer of my real body does not represent myself as much as my avatar does – my avatar has a personality, and is real, and it is me, the real me
The most salient aspect of my avatar for me is my black glasses, a symbolic attribute of intellect, and combined with her smart clothes, gives me a sophisticated look
Yet underneath, my shoes bling and give off particle effects, reflecting an inner sense of fun which I think best defines me
My close friend and colleague thinks that since starting this course and spending time as Denver (my avatar), I have “blossomed” offline. My entire identity has changed – my perceptions about who I am, the way I think and interact, and the way I see the world now - has changed as a consequence of the journey Angela has encouraged us to take

Progressive Stages of the Avatar?
Ego: free: me me me
Original choice: realistic or fantasy?
Refining: aestheticisation and enhancement of the self
Accountability: Developing friendships, doing business, teaching your students

Self-censoring, justifications, guilty pleasures, alts “ I am a real life male”
I suddenly found myself hanging out and socialising with people that were becoming friends, but did not really know much about me. Most disturbingly, I now had friends that had only ever seen me as a female and I am worried about them finding out I am a 34yo father of 2.
Above my worries about disappointing a friend, was a curiosity about how I managed to get into this situation and what it reflected about me, and about online identity in general
Is there a point in the development of the online relationship then, where it is necessary to be honest about the real you?
This suggested to me that there was a time when I should have told them the truth, and that I had missed it. Are my concerns naiveté? Is this the new reality that is secondlife? Or have I been Machiavellian, and must now deal with an awkward situation?
Captain Goodfellow (Slatenight 1.3)

Reader Responses to the Avatar
“ When I first saw Seven I was scared. Her hair was purple, and she stood with her hands on her hips, staring at me. She had a studded collar around her neck and a tattoo on her left arm. My heart started beating fast and all I could see was the giant red word SLUT emblazoned on her t-shirt. I was shocked. These were markers of identity that were not to my liking. Why anybody would choose to advertise such a thing is beneath me”
“ When Angela turned into her “granny” av and started moving around and speaking in her granny voice, I suddenly felt embarrassed at my skimpy attire. I also felt an urge to run over to her and try to help her move better”

A “new gender regime”
Relations of power are indeed made and re-made within texts of enjoyment and rituals of relaxation and abandonment.
A new ‘ethics of freedom’: freedom of choice

Interrogating the Avatar: Issues of Equality and Social Justice
For whom are literacies of the body and image “alive” or accessible?
Whom do such literacies serve?
How do literacies of the body and image interrupt or reproduced social inequities?

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The Avatar as Communication

by Angela Thomas

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