Interesting article on how some artists, which can include Visual Artists, are using Cyberspace to touch their audiences.  Suzanne Vega recently performed in SecondLife to an audience of 100 fans according to the Washington Post. 

The Aug. 3 event, organized by a public radio program, was one of the first attempts by a major artist to interact with fans in a completely computer-fabricated world.

“With the help of some programmers, Vega created a 3D animated image of herself, called an avatar, and she recently performed inside a world accessible only through a Web site, where other people represented by avatars attended the concert, streamed live to computers all over the globe.

As Vega strummed her guitar inside a real studio, about 100 lucky fans sat at their computers and guided their avatars into the online scene of an outdoor amphitheater, where Vega’s avatar — youthful-looking with short hair and bangs — appeared on stage. When the real-world artist played and sang, her online alter ego did the same — though the avatar’s lips did not move. Fans heard the concert on their computer speakers and commanded their avatars to smile or move to the music.”

The performance appears to have been very effective……

“The response was terrific!! I am still hearing from people who were in the ‘room,’ friends of friends and people all over the world who were ‘there,’ ” Vega said in an e-mail, noting that she took an active role in picking out the maroon blouse, black cardigan and white tennis shoes her avatar wore.

Maybe we’ll be doing virtual paintings in NYC in Second Life too….. Seems more and more like The Matrix to me.