By Bixyl Shuftan
On Sunday October 20th, Gracie Kendel, known as Kristine Schomaker in real-life, ended her "Binge and Purge" art exhibition. Originally done for artistic reasons, with the Terms of Service controversy, the exhibit was taking a new meaning. It could also very well be Gracie's last exhibit within Second Life.
The event for the exhibit's close
was announced on her blog for 10 AM. At the time, a number of residents dropped in at the LEA16 sim where "Binge and Purge" was. Gracie was in her "painted maniquen" skin which she started wearing when her "This is Not a Painting" exhibit was up. Among those attending were Any1 Gynoid, Crap Mariner, Fuchsia Nightfire, and Tuna Oddfellow, whom earlier had made news by moving his "Odd Ball" performance from Second Life to Inworldz. Without terrain, the sim was just open ocean with a barrier for walking on, and of course Gracie's inventory.
Not all of her inventory was rezzed. Landmarks and notecards, which often make more than half a resident's inventory, of course could not be brought out into the open. She would delete those last. But her list of friends, she would certainly not erase. She also planned on keeping her skin, shape, and AO.
What was in her inventory? Much of it was what one would expect in that of most resident's, vehicles such as a dune buggy and a place, Christmas decorations, furniture, etc. But there was some Relay for Life related items, and an award given to her. Among those objects she considered important, one was from the late Artistic Fimicloud, a pink foxgirl known for her work with the Relay for Life.
For a while, we hung around with her as she went around deleting objects. There was something odd going on at first as only those near us could be seen, even if we extend our range. Someone poked fun at Crap Mariner's name, by joking Gracie was eliminating the "crap" from hers, which got chuckles all around.
I had to leave before long, but came back a few hours later to see everyone but Gracie was gone, and she was still getting rid of her inventory. She explained she was still rezzing items, and it could take many hours before only Landmarks and notecards were left.
Gracie explained this art project started out as a statement about consumerism and dieting, hence the name "binge and purge." But after Linden Lab's recent moves, It became a statement against the TOS. This was the last exhibit she was planning to do within Second Life until Linen Lab changed their Terms of Service to remove the language content creators found objectionable.
Gracie explained she was standing up to support fellow artists whom had taken actions in protest. But she had some genuine concerns as she worked in Second Life as well as real life. Could the Lab sue her for duplicating content in real life? Maybe not, but she didn't want to take chances.
So what would get her to do another performance? Linden Lab would have to change it's terms. While They did issue a statement, it wasn't legally binding. Would she move to InWorldz? Gracie answered she had no plans to make performances there, as that alternative world lacked the history Second Life did, "I've been where for seven years. I love Second Life. … I'll come in socially, but I won't be creating in Second Life any more."
Before I left, Gracie expressed hope the Lab would change it's mind, "I hope they realize content creators are the ones who make Second Life what it is, and they're just shooting themselves in the foot.."
On her blog post for October 24,
Gracie announced the job was done, her inventory was finally empty, aside from what she planned to save. "It was a rather liberating feeling letting go of all the stuff," she wrote, "I felt like I did when I had my hair shaved off. I felt free." But looking back at old photos, she felt sad about some things what were gone.
And so, Gracie Kendel joins the list of those making a statement against Linden Lab's new Terms of Service. Will the Lindens be persuaded to change? Time will tell
Bixyl Shuftan
I have been working as a ranger on the playa at Burn2 for several weeks now
, helping builders get settled and assisting with any problems. Since the gates
opened to the public I have been even more busy, too busy to write much and
left that to the other reporters. One build that has intrigued me for weeks ,and
I find myself going back to it over and over is that of Ub Yifu in the sim Frog
Pond. Cargo Cult is the theme of the Burn2 in real life and in SL this year. But
this is a unique interpretation from many of the others on the playa. The name
of the plot and the build is “Flesh Dreams.” For a while I had a hard time
deciphering the meaning of it all.
The description by Ub finally gave me the
meaning, “My vision of the cargo cult but from another point of view..... Here
on Earth in 3247 humankind is no more than a dream in survivors mind: the
robots we built. Humans have been gone a very long time, and our machines
survived as they could without us. But, now wishing for our return, they build
human-like figures with the rare memory they have of us to convince their
creators to come back.” 
The sad machines lie in a set of destruction in the
are future as you can see. You can become part of their dreams by finding a
place to sit . The strange robots circle the human creature they are trying to
create. The devestation all around shows the remnants of our demise. I wonder
why we are gone? So many images for thought. 
