The document outlines criteria for critiquing and making virtual art: 1) It must be virtual 2) Be formally intriguing 3) Be self-reflexive 4) Be immersive 5) Be interactive. It discusses Walter Benjamin's concept of the aura of a work of art and how time spent in virtual worlds can create an aura for one's avatar as a virtual subject. Experiencing immersive and interactive virtual art is suggested as one way to generate virtual aura.

2. MY CRITERIA FOR CRITIQUING & MAKING VIRTUAL ART Is it . . . 1. VIRTUAL? 2. FORMALLY INTRIGUING? 3. SELF-REFLEXIVE? 4. IMMERSIVE? 5. INTERACTIVE?

3. VIRTUAL Tower of Light , DanCoyote Antonelli/DC Spensley BIW Year One 30 Best, KU Art

4. FORMALLY INTRIGUING Beacon , Oberon Onmura BIW Year One 30 Best, KU Art

5. SELF-REFLEXIVE Spiral & Attractive Object , Selavy Oh BIW Year One 30 Best, KU Art

6. IMMERSIVE Desert Places , L1Aura Loire Future of Virtual Subjectivity, or From the Gloom Meteor, Fiteiro Cultural, Casa Millagrosa

7. INTERACTIVE Irrecovably , Bryn Oh BIW Year One 30 Best, KU Art

8. WALTER BENJAMIN & AURA In "The Work of Art & the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” (1936) Benjamin proclaims, "that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.” He defines the aura of a natural object as "the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be." In later writings, Benjamin continued to explore the idea of aura, explaining, “To experience the aura of a phenomenon we look at means to invest it with the ability to look back at us.”

9. After a year of studying virtual subjectivity in Second Life, I have come to the following conclusions: Over time, as we develop our relationship with our own avatar, we invest it with that ability to look back at us; we give it aura. Virtual art creates virtual aura.

10. Experiencing immersive & interactive virtual art is one of the ways we create virtual aura. Immersive Scale At Greenies

11. The paradox of closeness & distance in a virtual world creates new conditions for aura, for looking & looking back, for experience, subjectivity, identity, community, meaning, & art.