Through the Virtual Looking Glass" Brings Online Art to UMass Boston's Harbor Gallery"

An exciting international multimedia art show opened in the U.S. last Wednesday at the UMass Boston Harbor Gallery, and I headed over to take some photos - since, fair disclosure, I'm part of the Caerleon Sims/Virtual Art Initiative group staging the event (although I have no work on display). According to lead organizer Prof. Gary Zabel of UMB, "Through the Virtual Looking Glass is the collective name for exhibitions of virtual art that are taking place in April 2010 in five real world galleries and other spaces in as many countries, specifically, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, and the United States. Australia will also participate in the April events virtually, while hosting a real world exhibition at a time later this year."

Photos from the "Through the Virtual Looking Glass" Opening at UMass Boston's Harbor Gallery on April 7, 2010. Photo set by Jason Pramas.

Organizers of the exhibition in each country have chosen content and methods of display which include interactive artworks from the virtual worlds Second Life and OpenSim, images and machinimas (virtual world videos) shown on plasma screens and digital frames, prints of virtual artworks, physical sculptures and paintings inspired by virtual art, some with embedded electronic components, and literary readings and musical performances occurring in the real world exhibition spaces and streamed live into Second Life and OpenSim.

Through the Virtual Looking Glass is organized and presented by a network of international groups, all of them leaders in the field of virtual art, including the Caerleon Sims/Virtual Art Initiative, Cybernetic Art Research Project/Diablous, Pirats, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Western Australia.

The exhibition will be open to the public at Harbor Gallery until April 30th. For gallery hours, check their website.