20/21 Gallery – Process

20/21 | Collection | Conversation | Process

Call for Artists

We are excited to announce the Spencer’s first ever Second Life juried art shows, “Virtual World/Natural Responses” and “A Prim Life: Photographs from the Virtual World.” The deadline for entry is May 1, 2009 and show dates run mid-May through mid-June on the Spencer Art Museum Island.

Virtual World/Natural Responses (90 KB)
A Prim Life: Photographs from the Virtual World (83 KB)

Discover the Spencer’s Second Life^® Island

January 24, 2009 – Summer 2009

20/21 Gallery Process Space

The Spencer’s island, Spencer Museum of Art Island, is a changing exhibition in itself. Drawing on topics explored in the real-life museum’s exhibitions, international trans-disciplinary artist Stacey Fox designs and builds the island to expand upon the current exhibition. Currently, the island is using Climate Change at the Poles and Trees & Other Ramifications as a jumping off point. In order to provide a space for people to interact with an icy setting, Fox flooded the 16 virtual acres of land and layered in floating icebergs textured with web links, videos of Antarctica, and echograms of glacier data. A large globe hangs above the sea (try flying into it!) and a massive floating tree provides space for classes to meet. Avatars visiting the island can fly a replica plane like CReSIS scientists use in their research, paddle a kayak through frozen icebergs like the Inuit hunters did a century ago, or walk through recreations of sapling sculptures by artist Patrick Dougherty.

Fox, a visiting assistant professor in KU’s Department of Art, is working with Museum staff and student assistant Sandra Ristovska in designing the island. The Spencer’s Second Life^® island was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency.

How to visit our island...

Want to visit our island? Create an avatar, download the Second Life^® viewer and get started!

Download instructions (347 KB)
Teleport Now!

What is Second Life^®?

In conjunction with the Second Life project, the 20/21 Gallery’s Conversation Wall explores the idea of “Alternate Realities” as evidenced by works from the Museum’s permanent collection.

Second Life^® (SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003 by media-technology pioneer Linden Lab. Second Life^® is a vast digital continent teeming with people, experiences, and opportunity. The program immerses participants in an electronic world of their own making, and a growing number of educators and youth organizations are adopting SL as an educational vehicle. In 2006, more than 60 schools and educational organizations set up shop in Second Life^®. In October 2006, the resident SL population was 1,000,000; the population now exceeds 9,000,000, with residents from more than 100 different countries and a participating population of about 30,000 at any given time. A free, downloadable client program called the “Second Life Viewer” enables users known as residents to interact with each other through the characters they create, known as avatars. Individuals or organizations can purchase islands, where they can build a structure (such as a campus). There, people can meet, interact, attend classes, view or create art, and participate in activities. Property owners can restrict access or make their islands available to all. This is a world in which people can “teleport” instantaneously from one site to another—or sprout wings and fly.

Creating Spencer Art Island in Second Life

Schedule a Tour

Public Programs in Conjuction with the Exhibition

3.12: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 10 AM - 11 AM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
3.13: Tour: Second Life Island tour; 1 PM / Spencer Art Museum Island in Second Life; Join Spencer Staff Member Jessica Lea Johnson (SL: Beacon Wirefly) on a tour of the Museum’s Second Life Island. Teleport now.
3.24: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 11 AM - 12 PM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
3.26: Tour: Second Life Island tour; 11 AM / Spencer Art Museum Island in Second Life; Join Spencer Staff Member Jessica Lea Johnson (SL: Beacon Wirefly) on a tour of the Museum’s Second Life Island. Teleport now.
3.28: Workshop: Second Life Basics Training; 9 AM - 12 PM / Budig Hall iMac Lab; Join Spencer Art Museum creator Stacey Fox as she teaches Second Life for beginners. Create and design your avatar, learn the basics of Second Life navigation and explore the Spencer’s Second Life Island. Space is limited. Please contact Jessica Lea Johnson to register.
4.1: Workshop: Building in Second Life; 12 PM - 1 PM / Spencer Art Museum Island in Second Life; Learn how to create works of art and more in Second Life. Join the Spencer Art Museum Island’s creator Stacey Fox as she teaches building basics. Teleport Now.
4.4: Workshop: Second Life Basics Training; 9 AM - 12 PM / Budig Hall iMac Lab; Join Spencer Art Museum creator Stacey Fox as she teaches Second Life for beginners. Create and design your avatar, learn the basics of Second Life navigation and explore the Spencer’s Second Life Island. Space is limited. Please contact Jessica Lea Johnson to register.
4.6: Workshop: Building in Second Life; 12 PM - 1 PM / Spencer Art Museum Island in Second Life; Learn how to create works of art and more in Second Life. Join the Spencer Art Museum Island’s creator Stacey Fox as she teaches building basics. Teleport Now.
4.7: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 10AM - 11AM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
4.8: Tour: Second Life Island tour; 11AM / Spencer Art Museum Island in Second Life; Join Spencer Staff Member Jessica Lea Johnson (SL: Beacon Wirefly) on a tour of the Museum’s Second Life Island. Teleport Now.
4.14: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 11 AM 12 PM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
4.16: Lecture: Mirko Dreiling; 4:30 PM 2:30 PM SLT / Spencer Art Museum Second Life Island and 20/21 Gallery Process Space; Join German filmmaker Mirko Dreiling as he discusses his latest film project, Carteret Now!, an exploration of the Cararet islanders as their island home is engulfed by rising sea levels. He’ll be speaking on the Spencer’s Second Life Island and the event will be viewable from Second Life or in the Museum’s 20/21 Gallery Process Space.
4.21: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 10AM - 11AM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
4.23: Tour: Second Life Island tour; 11 AM / Spencer Art Museum Island in Second Life; Join Spencer Staff Member Jessica Lea Johnson (SL: Beacon Wirefly) on a tour of the Museum’s Second Life Island. Teleport Now.
4.25: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 12PM - 1PM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
5.5: Panel presentation: The making of Where Words Touch the Earth; 3 PM / North Balcony; Director Carol Burns is working with her film students at Haskell Indian Nations University to create the collaborative documentary Where Words Touch the Earth, a look at how climate change is affecting Native cultures.
5.7: Lecture: A science teacher in Antarctica; Postponed. New time TBA. / SMA Second Life Island and Process Space; Olathe High School Science Teacher Brandon Gillette was one of 15 teachers nationwide selected to participate in PolarTREC, an educational research project that allows teachers to experience scientific research first-hand in some of the most remote locations on earth. Gillette will speak in Second Life. and the presentation will also be broadcast at the Museum’s Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery.
5.8: Jury panel discussion: Virtual World/Natural Responses; 11 AM / 20/21 Gallery Process Space; Join Spencer Curator Kris Ercums, Second Life Artist Stacey Fox and Computer Science Professor James Miller, as they discuss and evaluate submissions for Virtual World/Natural Responses, a Second Life juried exhibition of works inspired by the real life exhibitions Climate Change at the Poles and Trees & Other Ramifications.
5.16: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 11AM - 12PM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
5.23: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 11AM - 12PM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.
5.30: Gallery Attendant: Second Life; 11AM - 12PM / Process Space 20/21 Gallery; An SMA staff member will be on hand at the Second Life installation in the 20/21 Gallery to talk with visitors and answer questions.