It's About the Art

Eureka Dejavu (left), in mulling over whether to buy a L40,000 dress made by Eshi Otawara, seeks counsel from the exquisitely attuned Bettina Tizzy, a collector of all the designer's work.

I've been teleporting every day to Eshi's shop to stare at her latest creation, a gown that looks like the view through my favorite kaleidoscope. I can only imagine the way it would move and shine. It reminds me of a story I loved passionately when I was little in a book of Italian fairy tales by Italo Calvino. A princess requests that her father, who travels, bring her back three gowns, one made of air, another of water and a third of stars, or the cosmos. Perhaps the universe itself. I wanted to live in that starry gown. I would fall asleep at night imagining myself in conversation with people whose eyes would glow with a million distant sparkling points of light.

Is L40,000 (about $150 in USD) really too much to spend for one of Eshi Otawara's magnificent gowns? It's nothing compared to the brilliant, pain-free fishhook dress that Eshi auctioned off for Relay for Life for L460,000. A dress made of light and motion is simply not possible in real life.

The question if whether the dress is "real" or not isn't the point.

"For me" Bettina Tizzy said, "it is art, not just fashion."

Say it again, sister.

What is "professional" dress in a virtual realm? Is it necessary to don a suit every time another meeting starts just to show that you mean business?

My mission is not to mimic the physical world in a virtual one, but rather to work toward a new global culture and economy. On April 6, Dancing Ink Productions will premiere our newest project, a documentary (co-directed with ILL Clan Animations Studios) about the Inaugural Broadcast from the Virtual Newsroom at the American University in Cairo at the Virtual Journalism Summit at WSU. On April 23, we will be presenting at the National Association of Broadcasters.