A Lazy Tuesday

Yesterday I was tired, lazy and lonely. I called out to my friends and they came to sit with me and cheer me up with a bit of inspired trash talk.

The laird in the role of "The Dying Dandy"

Guyke as "The Flemish Farmer Boy" and Butch as "The Dutch Pin Cushion"

Close up of the sweet Butch's punctured face

Ziggy as "The Canadian Stallion"

Do Avatars Die?

"Den döende dandyn" (The Dying Dandy) (1918), by Nils von Dardel

I seem to recall my buddy sirhc DeSantis-McMillan once posing the question, on his blog or somewhere else, "What do we mean when we say that an avatar dies?" At the time I did not know what to respond to his question, but now perhaps I have an inkling.

My own gut response would be to say that avatars cannot die because they themselves have not had life. The life they seem to have comes from their handlers, i.e. the persons behind the avatars.

However, handlers can stop logging into SecondLife for various reasons except their dying. They could simply lose interest or they could even choose to delete their account altogether. In those cases I don´t believe we would use "died" to describe what occurred to the avatar, but rather "they left" or just "they don´t log in anymore".

In my experience, we use the expression that "an avatar has died" only in those circumstances when we know - or believe - that the handler has in fact passed away. So in that sence I would say that avatars can - and do - die.

Now tell me what you think and what your experience is of the vernacular among residents of SecondLife in these matters?

"von Dardelesque"

As part of the New Years Day histrionics my blog was referred to as being "von Dardelesque". I did not understand what the blogger meant at the time.

The way my mind works, is if I don´t understand something I return to the mystery over and over and over again to grasp the meaning. I cannot put something behind me entirely until I have in someway - at least for myself - found a satisfactory explanation.

Yesterday (I am very slow sometimes) I think I reached an explanation to the expression that was used. I believe the blogger was referring to this beautiful piece of art by the Swedish post-impressionist painter Nils von Dardel (1888-1943).

"Den döende dandyn" (The Dying Dandy) (1918), by Nils von Dardel

The work is a part of the permanent collection of Moderna Muséet (The Swedish National Museum of Modern Art). On its website I found the following analysis of the painting.

"A young man lies surrounded by mourning friends, with a look of suffering on his face. The mirror in his hand enhances the impression that he remains self-centered up to his last moment. The Dying Dandy is one of Dardel's most famous paintings. Although the subject appears straight-forward, this is nevertheless a work that continues to daunt viewers. Is it an allegory about the trials of creativity? Or could Dardel even be portraying unlawful homosexuality? The intensity of the colors and the billowing lines are obvious influences from French artists such as Matisse. Yet Dardel manages to create his very own atmosphere and mood, where sorrow goes hand in hand with the mottled-blue background." 

There, that conundrum is solved as far as I am concerned. I understand and am rather happy the blogger was thinking of me in such a beautiful context. I can now put that to rest.

Onwards now, dear friends, onwards and upwards!