A swarm of virtual bees is set to take up residence in Second Life, thanks to two Aussie artists being given an AUD$30,000 (US$28,000 / £14,000) grant from the Australia Council for the Arts.
This is the second year running that Australia's arts body has stumped up a significant amount of cash to fund projects in the online world, something that - to the best of my knowledge - hasn't been matched by any other arts or research anywhere else.
Last year, AUD$20,000 was given towards the 'Babelswarm' installation - which captured chat from both Second Life avatars and a real gallery in Australia and had the words 'fall' from the sky onto the exhibit.
This year, Andrew Burrell from Sydney and Trish Adams from Brisbane will develop a swarm of virtual bees both in Second Life and in the Australian virtual world platform, Vastpark.
Entitled 'Mellifera', the virtual bees will form the centre piece of "an inter-disciplinary artwork exploring cognitive processes and bodily interaction and its relationship to virtual environments such as Second Life."
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Burrell said:
"We don't want to replicate the real world. We want to look at the environment and create something that could be native to that virtual place. They'll feed and have predators like ordinary creatures, but their behaviour will be determined by the rules of the virtual environment."
While the pair intend to start with the bees, Mellifera will eventually become an on-going research journal and centre for virtual world projects.
Though user growth has stalled in Second Life, the arts is one of four sectors that is thriving within the world, alongside business, education and health.
Originally spotted by Bettina Tizzy. Image - From Mellifera
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