Design degree show on Second Life

The students' avatars will present their work in Second Life

Design students at a London university are to stage their degree show in the virtual, online world of Second Life.

Goldsmiths students have created digital versions of their work which their Second Life characters will present in their online world.

The virtual degree show will take place in an online replica of the venue used for the real show.

Course tutor Matt Ward said Second Life allowed students to show their work in a different type of virtual space.

"This expands the reach of their degree show and allows them to present themselves to a far larger audience, in ways that can only improve and enhance their work.," said Mr Ward.

Second Life enables its users to interact socially and is already a virtual home to big businesses such as Adidas, IBM and Reuters.

Virtual profile

Student Emily O 'Dwyer, whose Second Life character (or avatar) is Lilly Losangeles said: "We were aware of the importance and power of virtual networking and feel that having a Second Life profile will soon become a necessary requirement.

"The class were all in favour of utilising the most up to date methods of digital communication in order to make our degree show as accessible as possible.

"Now it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can still see our show, and even meet us at our event."

The students will host their show in a to-scale version of the real Truman Brewery on Brick Lane - where the degree show will be held in real life - on 6 June.

And those who have a Second Life presence can visit the event entitled Annotations from 18 May. The real life exhibition runs from 1 to 4 June.

Goldsmiths, University of London, art students have been at the innovative edge of modern art in recent years - with artists such as Damien Hirst and Gary Hume attending the college in south London.