Stephanie Rothenberg and Jeffery Crouse's "Invisible Threads" installation promises to let audiences buy a pair of designer blue jeans online and walk away with them on the spot. As part of the installation, they will introduce a sweatshop factory in Second Life, and avatars who work there will be rewarded with virtual land.
The way the artists explain it, "as Second Life becomes more 'populated,' the price of virtual land has increased exponentially and has become the game's idealized virtual commodity, further replicating real-world economies." This so-called "cyberneurial venture" is meant to emphasize the relationship between real dollars and virtual assets.
Jeans styles for sale include boot cut, skinny leg, flare, and "boyfriend trousers"--and all profits will be used to maintain the Second Life factory and pay for workers' land.
Rothenberg is an assistant professor of visual studies at SUNY Buffalo, and Crouse is an artist who uses Web technologies to create social software, generative projects, and the like.
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