This article explores the relationship between new media art and current culture. The argument made by the author is that the avatars and the art made in digital media worlds like Second Life are really a reflection of art in our culture as well as stereotypes. The part that was the most interesting however was the part about the “13 Most Beautiful Avatars.” The fact that in a digital world where people are free to create whatever type of image they want, including animals, some people worked to make theirs as beautiful as possible. Something that would be very interesting to find out would be who the people are who made some of these 13 most beautiful avatars. Are they beautiful people making a representation of themselves? Do they not resemble their avatar at all and are they simply dreaming up what they wished that they looked like? Or, was it an unconcious decision, just creating what was aesthetically pleasing to themselves like maybe a man creating a woman of his dreams or a woman doing the opposite? There really is no way to know this unless someone were to interview each one and even then who would really even know if they were telling the truth or fabricating it to fit the story they want.
