Pelton: I would like to start by thanking you so very much for letting me having this interview.
Josina Burgess: These 9 questions should, in fact, also be asked to Velazquez Bonetto. We are a team since the beginning. Diabolus is him and me. And he did a lot of the technical stuff... He is a professor, engineer, master programmer and architect.
Pelton: Well that is a little hard of course, because the questions are only put to one person, but I can ask the reader to keep this in mind while they read the article.
1. Why did you choose THAT name for your avatar? And can you enclose a Newbee pic of yourself?
Josina Burgess: I chose this name because its my Real Life name as well, my birthname, after my grandmother.
Pelton: But surely your last name was chosen from the SL site , wasn't it ?
Josina Burgess: Yes it was, but I took a name that was as close to my RL lastname as was possible :)
2. How long were you in SL before you felt you could function and enjoy SL to its full (at least the basics)?
Josina Burgess: Well, I went to Second Life just to see what happened here with ART and I saw there was a lot of that going on! Galleries, musea, exhibitions and so on...So I got into contact with a gallery and 2 weeks later I had my first exhibition of images of my RL paintings here on Second Life :) I am a painter, you see ?!
And just like everybody, I got this newbie shape and started to modify it untill I got the looks closest to myself, well as much as possible of course... and younger :)
3. What was the most embarassing moment in SL to date?
Josina Burgess: Embarassing? Uhm, well to see that there is a world in SL that is all sex, and I accidentally came to a place where they had some kind of orgy going on... I left that place as fast I could.
4. Do you have a picture or screenshot of the first place you hung out in SL?
Josina Burgess: This was with Reslez Cheeplechase and Summer Serra at the 1st studio of FCMC radio on Second Life. They arrange manny performances of artist in Second Life and we became close friends.
5. 70% or more of your time in SL is used for ...?
Josina Burgess: When possible, I am in world almost every evening. For an approxomate of 7 hours. But, being here, I am also working in RL working on my paintings as well as ideas how to use them in Second Life. Here at diabolus I work with the CARP group. CARP stands for Cybernatic ART Research Program. It is a group of artists that experiment and develop new Art on Second Life.The Cybernatic Art is Art you can only create on sl... with its animations and scripts.We try to invent new things here and use all what is available in Second Life.The VJAZZ you saw is also a new artform, improvizing with objects that are steered through a menu and a musician plays life on a stream. The artists steer their objects and improvise on the music played.
Pelton: I attended it and I have to agree, it was a beautiful sight.
6. Whats the best item you ever built? Did you sell it? And do you have a picture of it?
Josina Burgess: Ahh, I made so many things here. :) First my dresses... I was the first one that started to use RL paintings as textures. All the dresses are pieces of Art, so I called it Wearable Art.At the moment I am making animated and scripted sculptures, emitters, particles, interactive objects and semi intelligent objects.
7. Are you happy with your avatar, or is there something you still want to change but havent done, or is impossible?
Josina Burgess: I am ok with my avatar. Pretty used to it now. I have no urge to change it anymore.
8. What was the most you ever paid for an item/object in SL? And what was it?
Josina Burgess: Laughs... I payed rent for a house for some time... I don't need a house at all. The rent was 700 per week in those days and I found that very that much, and I still think it's a bit silly to have a house and furniture like in RL.We are in SL, so think SL and don't stand in RL all the time :)That is why my dresses haven't got much to do with RL clothing anymore.
9. If you could sum up your SL in one sentence what would it be? Or if there is a oneliner you want to share with our readers what would it be?
Josina Burgess: 'Go with the flow' is my motto, in SL as well as it is in RL. But here on SL I would say: experiment with the possibilities SL gives you, learn to build , make art, be creative. Do not only hang about, but DO something with the talents you have !
