Part 1:
Statement: This victory lap of a final was meant to create a digital representation of oneself through Second Life. Part 1 entailed creating an avatar and having it as close as a representation of my real self. To do this, I first picked an image of myself to base my avatar off of. I always enjoyed the look of being in a suit, so I chose one of those - my avatar indifferently donning fancy pants wear as well. On a side note, trying to find fitting hair was a lot more difficult than I thought. From what I could tell, a good majority of the apparel and accessories on second life cater especially to the extravagant, so finding something closer to the typical of real life was a lot more irritating than I hoped. Additionally, the market seems flooded with scams as well. A good majority of the less expensive goods were not exactly the same as advertised.
Part 2:
Statement: For the second part, we had the chance to create an alternate persona. These fantasy selves would be a representation of our inner selves - someone who is not bound by social constraints and a self that would express some aspect of our inner desires. For my fantasy self, I chose this handsome face.
I thought this nightmare inducing monstrosity would be a unique representation of an already unique individual. This creation started from a simple thought. Many of my friends also describe me as someone who always puts strong effort towards anything that I take interest in. I like to think of myself as a multifaceted individual, and I like don't like to half ass anything I find enjoyable. So I took this thinking and integrated it into the customization options in Second Life. I wouldn't "half ass" anything, so all the sliders for customization where put at the extreme ends. I thought this was a rather nice representation of a fantasy self. Additionally, while I was doing this I couldn't help but feel that my avatar was making a social commentary about online personas. I feel that every persona, but online and not, is some sort of manipulation or exaggeration of existing traits of the origin. However, many times these manipulations or exaggerations are contorted and twisted into something that would never be accepted properly in mainstream society - trolling, bullying, furry fandom, etc.
But in any regards, both my real avatar and fantasy avatar show their disapproval over how much of a creepy wreck the fantasy avatar turned out.
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