ARE 494 Digital Ethnography

1. Second Life: A Virtual Playground
ARE 494 Ethnography in Virtual Worlds 4/27/2017
For Professor Mary Stokrocki
By Jennifer Montreuil

2. Digital Ethnography
The qualitative study of
people, social systems,
communities or events
found in digital
environments, such as
online games, virtual
worlds, etc. (Stokrocki,
2014)
Three stages –
• Data Collection: Interviews,
observation notes, photographs,
video or audio recordings.
• Content Analysis: Analyzing data
and arranging it according to
recurring patterns or themes.
Record of Findings: Presenting the
data and analysis. This can be a
written, video or audio
presentation.
• Comparative Analysis: Compare
and contrast the results of the
study with that of similar studies to
find emerging themes and ideas
within the field.

3. Antenna Rae Fine Art -
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tabula%20rasa/200/106/25
• I chose this specific gallery as Antenna Rae once had a gallery with me at a sim called Studio Genre. Antenna’s intuitive use of color
in her water color paintings, has always drawn me in. Her images are peaceful and soothing and her color choice, style and
execution, is nothing short of incredible. This building has been one of my favorite structures in SL for a long time.
• Located on Tabula Rasa, a sim that is part of Avalon Town, a simulation dedicated to the arts. The Antenna Rae Gallery is nestled in
between two other contemporary artist’s virtual galleries. The sim is modelled after Real Life New England and the environment
changes seasons accordingly.
• This gallery has a simple square floor plan and is textured elegantly. It is modelled after a vacant warehouse with stone and glass
textures throughout. The space is open and airy due to the high ceilings and absence of interior walls. The second floor has a cutout
in the center, allowing you to see paintings on both the first and second floors, also contributing to the airy light feeling of the build.
The roof top has been converted to a deck, left bare, with a rectangular arched glass dome that allows you to see into the gallery
and down through the two floors below. . The stairs to the second floor and roof top deck are located outside the gallery. At the
base there is a back deck with swings and a fire to sit in peaceful contemplation.
• Since in her real life Antenna, is an art teacher, the layout of her SL gallery lends itself as a soothing learning environment. This is a
place where a student could peacefully study color theory.

4. Avatar Interviews -
Maximillion Kleene –
• Second Life Live Musician
• I’ve known Max since 2009 and have painted live to his music in SL many times.
• Styles his avatar in a grunge look but stays close to his RL appearance as he feels he “throws his RL persona
out there a lot.”
• His group is Rhythm Collective, one of the largest and longest running musician groups in SL Uses it to stay in
touch with his fan base and send notices about shows
Van Caerndow –
• Second Life painter
• I met Van in 2009 and we occupied an art Sim together for 2 years.
• Styles his avatar as a gentleman or a cowboy, depends on his mood.
• Group name is Van Caerndow’s Art he uses it to send notices of opening and closing SL exhibits.
Antenna Rea –
• Second Life Painter
• I met Antenna in 2009 and we occupied an art Sim together for 2 years.
• Always an elegantly dressed lady, Antenna feels that her avatar is an extension of her self so closely models
her own appearance.
• Her group is Antenna Rea Fine Art. She uses this to extend invitations to exhibitions.

5. Contemplation of a Good Idea, by Antenna Rea –
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tabula%20rasa/213/100/25
• I focused on this particular water color painting by Antenna for a few reasons. It is an excellent example of her unique painting
style and it is also her personal favorite as it is the first painting she did in this style.
• The wet on wet technique blends the colors used on the paper or clayboard creating beautiful gradiation.
• This is an excellent example of Antenna’s Innate sense of color harmony and eye for balance in the picture plane.
• [17:36] Antenna Rae: I paint mostly abstract watercolors wet on wet. I use both paper and clay boards, I like both.
• [17:38] Antenna Rae: It's the perfect painting style for someone who got burned out on painting trompe l'oeil in theater- too many french
countryside backdrops : )
• [17:38] Antenna Rae: I like the way colors interact so the wet watercolor is really exciting for me.

6. Content Analysis -
Avatar Name How long have
you been in
Second Life?
What is the
style of your
avatar?
What kind of art do you
make in Second life?
What kind of artist are you in
RL?
How has you SL art
experience affected your
RL art experience?
How do you collaborate in SL?
Antenna Rea 8 yrs. Classic Import RL Water color
paintings
Scenic Artist and Props
Person. Second Life gave me
the opportunity to exhibit in
galleries. I have never liked
the gallery scene much in rl
it's connected me to
other artists.
it has always been fun to work with other artists,
being in an artistic community here is the best
Van Cearndow 8 yrs. Classic Import RL glass portrait
paintings of avatars from
2009 – 2014
From 2014 on bring in
small abstracts.
An emerging artist in RL. Second Life gave me the
courage to show in RL
galleries. I had barely
shown my work
anywhere before SL
I work from photos taken in here
Maximillian Kleene 11 yrs. Grunge Music. No originals I do all
covers.
A hobbyist in RL. I think it allows us to
make connections with
people we otherwise
wouldn't right?
we relay stream. 1 musician starts out, playing and singing, sends it to the
next.. they add their part, then so on
we have to add our parts one by one instead of all together

7. Comparative Analysis -
• The discoveries through my ethnographic
adventure coincide with a few different studies.
• First, my search, interview and data analysis was
done in a similar way to Mary Stokrocki’s students
in her paper Art Treasure Quests in Second Life: A
Multi-Literacy Adventure, 2014.
• I was actively engaging in “participatory culture,”
using new and some old skills such as play,
performance, simulation, appropriation,
multitasking, distributed cognition, collective
intelligence, judgement, transmedia navigation,
networking, negotiation, and visualization. All
paraphrased from Confronting the Challenges of
Participatory Culture: Media Education for the
21st Century By New Media Literacies.
• The above mentioned papers discuss the need for
students to connect with new media and media
platforms in way that actively engage learning
skills and better prepare students for a web 2.0
world.

8. Virtual Possibilities:
• I have been exploring Second Life and creating ethnographic images of avatars and their true
life selves since 2009.
• Watching the evolution of not only the platform but the avatars themselves, throughout their
virtual journeys, has been an enigmatic hobby for some time.
• Learning how to properly document and interpret the data collection I have already been doing
has been enlightening and I hope to continue to develop my paintings and studies on future
platforms, such as Linden Lab’s upcoming release of Sansar, and other VR platforms.
• I have always been concerned with the direction of VR and Internet simulation. These
programs, though social, can disconnect users from reality. Though it broadens their social
network virtually, the time consumed using the platforms shrink RL interaction.
• My studies have impressed upon me the need to keep these platforms social. The intermingling
of real life experience and the virtual experience, being the optimum application.
• Watching the evolution of VR and simulated realities is very exciting. It will be interesting to see
what the future holds for the avatar.

9. Citations -