I was curious about Second Life like most people at first. I figured out that I could have fun with a character like Filthy Fluno after a few months of meeting people and uploading my art. In-world galleries started giving me shows and people started requesting the RL originals of my work. I started to also get RL exhibitions in Europe and across the US so I knew I had to start taking this seriously as a career.” Art that exists in two places – it appears to be a recurring theme in the work of Lipsky / Fluno. At a time when many Second Life artists create works that are purely digital (and more often than not interactive), Lipsky firmly believes in making art the old fashioned way. “It’s hard to have a good understanding of my work without being able to hold it.” according to Lipsky. Visitors of his gallery can buy one of his “counterpART” works in-world and have a signed and numbered reproduction delivered to their real life doorsteps. A neat concept that Fluno now takes one step further still. Lipsky runs a physical gallery in Lowell MA, aptly named “counterpART Gallery”. Here he also displays work of Second Life artists. But why mix real and virtual artwork? “They are counterparts of one another in many ways.” said Lipsky. “Just in the last few weeks we've been exhibiting Emilie Cryotank, Juria Yoshikawa, Elros Tuomen and Esch Snoats. They are exhibiting alongside real life artworks from local artists and it’s important for these works to be in the same space and complementing each other.” |
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