Serpentine Gallery: Cao Fei: RMB City

Cao Fei: RMB City

After much anticipation, RMB City opened to full public access in January, following construction since the summer of 2008. RMB City is an art community in the 3-D virtual world of Second Life and was realised by Beijing-based artist Cao Fei as a public platform for creativity.

Second Life is as an online platform that has amassed 14 million registered users. Participants create a parallel reality in which to live out their dreams. Each user is represented by an avatar, a digital figure that they can customise and control. Cao Fei has constructed a virtual city that will continue to grow and change over its two-year run with the participation and support of leading international art institutions and creative practitioners.

The project explores the potential of an online art community, seeking to create the conditions for an expansive discourse about art, urbanism, economy, imagination and freedom.

One of the first art projects taking place in RMB City is Master Q’s Guide to Virtual Feng Shui by Huang He, a young artist who brings the ancient Chinese spatial methodology into the new virtual metaverse of RMB City.

Reflecting on China’s recent urban and cultural explosion, the architecture of RMB City is an amalgam of ancient and modern Chinese icons from the panda to the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.

The Serpentine Gallery commissioned the artist to present RMB City in the Gallery’s Lobby and via the Serpentine Gallery website.

About Second Life:

Second Life was conceived as an online platform for participants to create a parallel reality in which to live out their dreams and has 14 million registered users. Each user is represented by an avatar, a digital figure that they can customise and control. Cao Fei, as her avatar, China Tracy, has constructed a virtual city that will continue to grow and change over its two-year run with the participation and support of leading international art institutions and networks.

About Cao Fei (Second Life: China Tracy)

Born 1978, Guangzhou. Lives and works in Beijing, China.
Known for her multimedia installations and videos, Cao Fei is acknowledged as one of the key young artists emerging from Mainland China. She mixes social commentary, popular aesthetics, Surrealism, and documentary conventions in her films and installations. Her works comment on the rapid and chaotic changes that are occurring in all facets of Chinese society.

To visit RMB City:

Join Second Life for free here then click here for link directly into RMB City.

Developer of RMB City: Cao Fei and Vitamin Creative Space
Facilitator: Uli Sigg
Public Presenter: Serpentine Gallery
Chief Engineer: Avatrian

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