Digital Ethnography in Virtual Worlds

Caleb Kilian

Definition and Stages

• Ethnography: Systematic study of immersive human societies embedded in the Internet, mainly on Second Life, including such proficiencies as collaborative principles, communication & interaction, cultural studies, discourse analysis, storing and retrieving content, writing research.

• Stages:

• Data collection: a process of recording an event and gathering pertinent information. Following are some suggestions for collecting data.

• Content analysis: a search for conceptual themes or patterns of meaning both scientific and emerging. Content analysis also entails writing data summaries, clustering data to form relationships, condensing information to the most significant meanings, and writing stories (Huberman & Miles, 1994, p. 429).

• Comparative analysis: a process of interrelating findings or explanations in one class session or several class sessions to form [suppositions] propositional insights. Interrelation consists of both internal analysis (within your own study) and external analysis (comparisons with other cases and the related literature).      

Real Life• Forth Year

Undergrad Student at ASU

•Digital Culture Major

• Focused in movement and dance based sound manipulation.

Kilian2013

CalebKilian

Previous Works

•Motion and Music

•Demonstrated the interaction between technology and movement

• Stress

• A piece that shows the physical movements of emotion and how these emotions can be demonstrated sonically.

Transformation

First Impressions I will be the First to admit that I was not thrilled to be taking

part in a virtual world, “second life” kind of

atmosphere. Before this class, I have had no experience with

Sim environments and had only heard the horror stories

of these environments.

A New LookAfter participating in Dr. Mary Stokrocki’s Virtual Ethnography class, I quickly came

to appreciate the artistic freedom that was encouraged. Second Life gives artists

a creative way to develop and market there work without going through the

barriers that real life requires. As Bonafide Aries said in our interview,

“there is more instant gratification and critique in SL and less time between

creation and public display.” (Aries) I feel that this allows the artist to get a better feel for how people react to his or her work and can push their future works

even further. It was this notion that lead to me to discover all the avenues that SL

gave for artistic expression

Research Questions

•What promoted you to paint and primarily paint about Jazz?

•What inspires you to paint?

•What advantages does Second Life offer that you can’t find in the real word?

Nat’s Jazz Club

I choose Nat’s Jazz Club as my spot to spend most of my time. The atmosphere was so fun and relaxing and it had everything

that I was looking for. Jazz, dancing, wonderful art, it was all here. Nat’s is where I found

the avatar that I wanted to interview and was the place

that I played my first piano. It was a great learning ground to learn how to use SL and and

also discover some great new art.

I love Nat’s!

Interview with Bonafide Aries

Bonafide Aries is a digital painter in SL who’s primary

content focuses around jazz and the musical concepts that are

supported throughout the genre. The most interesting

conversation that we had in our interview was when I asked him

what inspired him to make these pieces? We started to talk

about Thelonius Monk, a legendary jazz pianist, and he

said, “He plays around the melody, kind of the way I like to put things in negative space.” This idea just blew me away. Such a simple idea and yet so complex of an idea. Negative space is the area of a piece

where nothing is going on. The parts supporting the melody in music can be thought of in the

same way. Thelonius Monk used this space as the centerpiece

for his music and with the same idea Bona does the same in his art work. Collaboration between the arts is something I strive to have in my art and I have never thought of music and painting in this since. It has given me a new way of looking at my art

form.

[17:07] Bonafide Aries: also there is more instant gratification and critique in SL..[17:07] Bonafide Aries: there is less time between creation and public dispay[17:07] Bonafide Aries: the nasty part of being in artists is . for some artists, marketing [17:08] Kilian2013: So most of this work is specific to SL and isn't available in RL[17:08] Bonafide Aries: I am fascinated with marketing from the stand point of human motivators[17:09] Bonafide Aries: most of it is yes.... I do have some available through a site called Fine Arts America. where digital prints can be rendered and printed as acrylic on canvas, or as printed posters or greeting cards[17:10] Kilian2013: That is so cool.[17:11] Kilian2013: So you said before that you like to listen to Jazz when you are creating. Is there any other method that inspires you to create like you do???[17:12] Bonafide Aries: Stories.. a lot of my earlier works were based on myths, fables, tall tales, or just funky questions[17:12] Bonafide Aries: Like . what was it like when time began .. not creation but time.. [17:12] Bonafide Aries: I did seven paintings on that question and called it the chronos series[17:13] Bonafide Aries: the postulation that is .. If the life and all was going so good.. it had to really piss folks off when chronos started TIME[17:13] Bonafide Aries: then came deadlines, and lateness[17:14] Bonafide Aries: good songs ended[17:14] Bonafide Aries: people started rushing[17:14] Bonafide Aries: had to piss of a lot of folks[17:14] Kilian2013: I have never thought of that..... there is so much truth in that[17:14] Bonafide Aries: that is one of the chronos pieces[17:15] Bonafide Aries: the spark was that I did this in the begining as pure sl

• Melody

• Blow counter

• Weave

• Negative Space

Chat Analysis

Saxman

In studying Bona’s interview, I saw no real patterns in his speech or anything that I

thought was worth analysis. This was before I was able to speak to my father about this project and Bona’s pieces. My father is a professional Jazz bass player and I have

been blessed enough to live in that artistic community my whole life. It was my dad who told me, “ don’t look at the pattens

within his speech, look at the way in which he speaks.” The Jazz community’s speech behavior is like non I have ever seen. They

use phrases like “brother,” “ya dig,” and my favorite “ya got to groove.” I quickly realized

that Bona was no different. His speech indicates both artist and musician. To the

right are some words that Bona used in his chat that, I felt, showed the true artistry

within his speech. All of these words can be used in both music and painting. Artists,

whether it’s music, painting, or any other art form, have a language that goes with it.

People can observe these speech patterns from the outside of that art community but, I feel, that you can not truly understand these art communities until you emerse yourself within them. Even I, who has been in the

music community his whole life, had trouble truly understanding Bona’s language

because I do not live in a painters world.

Interview Location: Bona (Bona’s Art Gallery)

Chat Samples

[16:59] Bonafide Aries: Specifially the works of thelonius monk[16:59] Bonafide Aries: I like his math[16:59] Kilian2013: O man I agree. definitely an artist I grew up listening to.[16:59] Bonafide Aries: He plays around the melody . kind of the way I like to put things in negative space[17:00] Kilian2013: negitive space? can you elaborate a little more???[17:00] Bonafide Aries: I'm not much on smoothe jazz. I like straight ahead bop .. closest I get to smoothe for any duration is Miles[17:02] Bonafide Aries: sorry about that.. got called away[17:02] Kilian2013: quite alright[17:02] Bonafide Aries: NEgative space is that area of a visual piece where Nothing goes on[17:02] Bonafide Aries: its not a focal point[17:03] Bonafide Aries: its background[17:03] Kilian2013: Awww ok that makes more sense.[17:03] Bonafide Aries: and effectively it helps frame the central object or message of a work

[17:03] Bonafide Aries: like music[17:04] Bonafide Aries: you can harmonize with it, Blow counter to it[17:04] Bonafide Aries: weave with it[17:05] Kilian2013: Ok.... I think I can get that.[17:05] Kilian2013: I can see the collaboration between the music and piece much better now[17:05] Kilian2013: Now what are the advantages for you as an artist to use second life. [17:06] Bonafide Aries: I can paint digitally[17:06] Bonafide Aries: my skills with canvas have not caught up yet[17:06] Bonafide Aries: canvas is less forgiving[17:07] Bonafide Aries: also there is more instant gratification and critique in SL..[17:07] Bonafide Aries: there is less time between creation and public dispay[17:07] Bonafide Aries: the nasty part of being in artists is . for some artists, marketing [17:08] Kilian2013: So most of this work is specific to SL and isn't available in RL[17:08] Bonafide Aries: I am fascinated with marketing from the stand point of human motivators

[17:11] Kilian2013: So you said before that you like to listen to Jazz when you are creating. Is there any other method that inspires you to create like you do???[17:12] Bonafide Aries: Stories.. a lot of my earlier works were based on myths, fables, tall tales, or just funky questions[17:12] Bonafide Aries: Like . what was it like when time began .. not creation but time.. [17:12] Bonafide Aries: I did seven paintings on that question and called it the chronos series[17:13] Bonafide Aries: the postulation that is .. If the life and all was going so good.. it had to really piss folks off when chronos started TIME[17:13] Bonafide Aries: then came deadlines, and lateness[17:14] Bonafide Aries: good songs ended[17:14] Bonafide Aries: people started rushing[17:14] Bonafide Aries: had to piss of a lot of folks[17:14] Kilian2013: I have never thought of that..... there is so much truth in that[17:14] Bonafide Aries: that is one of the chronos pieces[17:15] Bonafide Aries: the spark was that I did this in the begining as pure sl photography[17:15] Bonafide Aries: I sculpted the horn looking shape[17:15] Bonafide Aries: and then set it in motion with a script[17:15] Bonafide Aries: But I had to wait to get the shots I really really wanted[17:15] Bonafide Aries: so time kept bugging me[17:16] Bonafide Aries: thus[17:16] Bonafide Aries: Chronos

Comparative Analysis Joe Sanchez of School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin wrote an article

named, “Second Life: An Interactive Qualitative Analysis. In this article he talks about his

studies with students inside of the Second Life realm. He created a secluded island that only the students had access to and they did there work there, with no interaction with the rest of Second Life. Sanchez talks about the struggles

and frustrations the students had with the environment wanted to know if Second Life had any place in the teaching world. Unfortunately

“students did not understand the purpose of their Second Life activity. They had a difficult time relating the activity of building in Second Life to the course material, “Why are we doing this in a world lit class” they asked. Students

failed to make connections between Second life activities and their traditional course

work.”(Sanchez p.2) Our class experienced many of these same problems. We were unsure

of some things whether the assignment was unclear or we as students second guessed the content, I continually found myself wondering

am I doing this correctly. In most cases students will blame these problems directly at the on the professor, but in these classes I can not say that I would agree with that. Second

Life gives you the creativity and freedom that any artist longs for in a space. They want place

that they can make whatever it is that they want to make. Sanchez’s “students felt the

Second Life environment perpetuated a sense of creativity.” (Sanchez p.3)

Because we, as students, have been conditioned to create and do every piece of work by the standards

of others, we cut ourselves short of our own creativity. We constantly question the purpose of the work that we are doing rather than to enjoy what is right in front of us. I constantly caught myself asking, “is this what Mary would want”

rather than to sit back and enjoy the beautiful piece of art that is right in front of my eyes. That same

struggle within Second Life is also it’s greatest gift. Sanchez’s class, along with myself, stated that they constantly asked what is the purpose of doing this?

The gift of Second Life is that the same question can asked when looking at the work in front of you.

What was their purpose?

Bill Evans

Conclusion

“I say, play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you’re doing? even if it does take them fifteen, twenty years.” (Thelonious Monk)

When I started this course I was unsure whether I was going to be able to take anything back to help my own art form. I didn’t see how interacting with avatars could really help in my real world endeavors. Surprisingly enough, I am able to take a lot back.

Second Life is not just a SIM game that a bunch of people can get on and take through some cool looking character but instead it is way for people to express themselves fully to people from all over the world. People coming together to dance and look at beautiful

pieces of art, play music, or just be plan

silly and ride jet skis through a courtyard. People are free to express who they are or who they would like

to be. I for one will forever be changed because of the interview with Bonafide Aries. He has helped me see new and innovative ways to

see cohesion between art forms. Second Life is a true world of art and I feel that every artist should come

and see what Second Life has to offer.

References  Stokrocki, M. (1997). Qualitative forms of research methods. In S. D. La Pierre, & E. Zimmerman (Eds.). Research methods and methodologies for art education (pp. 33-56). Reston, VA: NAEA.   

Sweeny, Bob.  (Ed.). (2010).  Empowering the disenfranchised: Explorations in building sites and futures in Second Life. Digital Visual Culture: Intersections and Interactions in 21st century art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. Cutting edge research and community outreach which is an ASU priority. NAEA Visual Culture Blog: http://naea.typepad.com/dvc/

Sanchez, J. (2007). Second Life: An Interactive Qualitative Analysis. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2007 (pp. 1240-1243). Chesapeake, VA: AACE